Sesquicentennial Commemoration, Palawai Basin

Sesquicentennial Commemoration in Palawai Basin

Lana'i, Hawaii

(2004)

The Palawai Basin
Photo courtesy Fred Woods

On October 3, 2004, a historic marker celebrating the sesquicentennial establishment of the City of Joseph was dedicated. The marker is in the Palawai Basin in Hawaii, the first official gathering place for Hawaiian Latter-day Saints in the Pacific.

On October 3, 1854, Ephraim Green, a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, began laying out a community for the gathering of Church members in Hawaii. Green wrote, "I took my compass and commenced to lay out a town . . . at the foot of the mountain and laid out one street running south to the sea three miles to a fine little harbor."

From left to right: Fred E. Woods, Oscar Aguilar, Kim Wilson, & Riley Moffat
Photo courtesy Fred Woods

The colony became home to about 300 Hawaiian Latter-day Saints. The Church eventually located another spot in La'ie on O'ahu to move to. The monument, located three miles south of the city Lana'i, is a tribute to the faith and dedication of the early Hawaiian Saints.

The Mormon Historic Sites Foundation and the Mormon Pacific Historical Society provided funding for this historic marker.

The plaque reads as follows:

PALAWAI PIONEERS

Located one mile north of here at the foot of the mountain between Wai’apa’a Gulch and Palikoa’e Gulch in the ahupua’a of Palawai lies the site of the Mormon community known as the “city of Joseph” in the “valley of Ephraim.” On 3 October 1854, Ephraim Green, a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commenced laying out a community for the gathering of Church members in Hawaii on land leased from Chief Levi Ha’alelea. Green wrote, “I took my compass and commenced to lay out a town . . . at the foot of the mountain and laid out one street running south to the sea three miles to a fine little harbor.” This colony became home to about 300 Hawaiian Latter-day Saints learning and living a “practical religion” in the midst of their homes, gardens, a church and a school.

Due to difficult conditions, three years later at the October 1857 mission conference, the decision was made to begin searching for a new gathering place. The land passed into the hands of Walter Murray Gibson, who made it his ranch. The Church eventually located another gathering spot in La’ie on O’ahu. However, the seeds planted here in Palawai in the hearts and minds of the people were later harvested in La’ie.

Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
Mormon Pacific Historical Society
October 3, 2004