In 1842, Kawaiahao Church stood complete at last. Designed by Rev. Hiram Bingham (grandfather of explorer and politician Hiram Bingham III) and supervised by Kamehameha III, who ordered his people to help build it, the project took 5 years to complete. Workers quarried 14,000 coral blocks weighing 1,000 pounds each from the offshore reefs and cut timber in the forests for the beams. This proud stone church, complete with bell tower and colonial colonnade, was the first permanent Western house of worship in the islands. It became the church of the Hawaiian royalty and remains in use today. Some fine portraits of Hawaiian royalty hang inside, on the upper level. English- and Hawaiian-language services are held Sundays at 9am.