Frommer's Review
The oldest house in Lahaina, this coral-and-rock structure was built in 1834 by Rev. Dwight Baldwin, a doctor with the fourth company of American missionaries to sail to Hawaii. Like many missionaries, he came to Hawaii to do good -- and did very well for himself. After 17 years of service, Baldwin was granted 2,600 acres in Kapalua for farming and grazing. His ranch manager experimented with what Hawaiians called hala-kahiki, or pineapple, on a 4-acre plot. The rest is history. The house looks as if Baldwin has just stepped out for a minute to tend to a sick neighbor down the street.
Next door is the Masters' Reading Room, Maui's oldest building. This became visiting sea captains' favorite hangout once the missionaries closed down all of Lahaina's grog shops and banned prostitution. By 1844, once hotels and bars started reopening, it lost its appeal. It's now the headquarters of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation (tel. 808/661-3262), a plucky band of historians who try to keep this town alive and antique at the same time. Stop in and pick up a self-guided walking-tour map of Lahaina's most historic sites.
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