Lahaina languishes three years after the August 2023 wildfires

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Beach near historic Lahaina still beautiful

In the first week of June, I visited historic Lahaina in Maui, nearly 3 years after the wildfire that destroyed the town and killed more than a hundred people. I was told by the security guard sitting near the banyan tree that it had only been open since May.

Tropical courtyard of Pioneer Inn pre-fire

I last visited historic downtown Lahaina in June 2023. My wife and I had a leisurely, delicious fish lunch in the luscious courtyard of the Pioneer Inn. First opened in 1901, it housed such luminaries as Mark Twain, Jack London, Frank Sinatra, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Hawaii’s last reigning monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani, and Sun Yat-Sen. While the plan is to rebuild the iconic hotel, construction has not started yet.

Front Street once designated a great American street

Historic Lahaina’s fire destroyed shoreline today

Historic Lahaina, until 2023, was a town that wore its years well. Vibrant and crowded with tourists and locals, it was the thriving center of West Maui. Its historic buildings weren’t artifacts but reminders of a bustling history. The Old Lahaina Courthouse, built in 1859, dominated the wharf area and served as a customs house for the Hawaiian monarchy and the seat of government. When I last visited in June 2023, it was a heritage museum and art gallery.

The banyan tree was so colossal it practically made the Old Lahaina Courthouse look lilliputian. 60 feet high and spanning an acre, it was the spiritual heart of the town. Miraculously, it survived the fire. Although with many damaged limbs removed, it is now a much smaller tree than before. When I visited, I was told that it was being treated for a fungus.

A smaller Banyan Tree still dwarfs the Old Courthouse

Further down Front Street, the Wo Hing Temple, built in 1912, and the Baldwin Home Museum, built in 1835, were both destroyed, as were the buildings that housed shops and restaurants that once lined the shoreline. The gatehouse and jail cells of the Old Lahaina Prison were burned in the fire. The perimeter walls did survive and are being restored.

At the other end of historic Lahaina, the Jodo Lahaina Mission’s main temple and pagoda, built in 1970, were destroyed by the fire. The big bronze Buddha miraculously survived.