Bailey House Museum

Old Bailey House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	2375 Main Street, Wailuku, Hawaii
Coordinates
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1833
NRHP Reference #	73000678
Added to NRHP	March 20, 1973

Kamapua'a statue: a wooden sculpture of the Hawaiian demi-god, created before the early 19th-century purge of the indigenous Hawaiian religion.

An Edward Bailey painting of Maui's central valley and Bailey House, looking west to Wailuku, and the Iao Valley behind it.

The Bailey House Museum, also known as Old Bailey House, is a historic house museum of Hawaiian history and art located in Wailuku, on the island of Maui, in Hawaiʻi. It is owned and operated by the Maui Historical Society. The Bailey House is a historic district contributing property within the Wailuku Civic Center Historic District, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Building and history

Seminary

The stone house is situated at the mouth of the Iao Valley, within the former royal compound of Kahekili II (c. 1737–1794), last ruling chief of Maui. Built in 1833 and being one of the first western-style houses in Wailuku, the “Old Bailey House” is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Originally intended as a mission for adults and children, in 1837 the mission was transformed into the Wailuku Female Seminary, a boarding school that not only taught its students Christianity and academic pursuits, such as the three Rs, but also domestic skills such as sewing and housekeeping. First managed by Theodosia and Rev. Jonathan Smith Green, in 1844 Caroline and Edward Bailey assumed responsibility, shortly after arriving in Hawaii.

Residence

Despite sponsorship by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Seminary was closed in 1847, a victim of funding shortfalls. The house and land reverted to the Hawaiian crown but were purchased by the Baileys in 1850. Later, the house and the Baileys' sugar cane fields became part of the Wailuku Sugar Plantation, which then became part of C. Brewer & Co.

Museum

The Maui Historical Society was established in 1951. The Bailey House Museum was opened on July 6, 1957, at that time named Hale Ho`ike`ike (Hawaiian for 'House of Display'). Masaru "Pundy" Yokouchi purchased the Bailey House in 1991 and donated it to the Maui Historical Society.

Exhibits

The Bailey House Museum contains diverse exhibits on two floors of the historic residence, and on the grounds. They include:

First floor

• Pre-European contact Hawaiʻian artifacts include utensils, tools, and weapons.
• Landscape oil paintings by Edward Bailey, the 'Sunday painter' works total over one hundred landscape paintings of 19th-century Maui .
• A wooden statue of Kamapua'a, a Hawaiʻian demi-god, created before the abrogation of native Hawaiʻian religious expression and art. Hidden in an upcountry cave for over a century, it is the only wooden statue on Maui to survive the 1819 purge of the indigenous religion by King Kamehameha II.
• A portion of the Land Snails Shell Collection, of David Dwight Baldwin. After the arrivals of introduced species of alien land snails, many of the native non-marine Mollusk species endemic to Maui have become extinct species.
• A model of the Hokulea — which is a modern-day replica of an ancient Polynesian-style sailing vessel.

Second floor

The historic house museum displays are represented upstairs on the second floor, where the rooms are furnished as they would have been in early 19th century Hawaii. The museum also houses a significant number of historical papers available to researchers.

Grounds

A small outlying shelter displays Duke Kahanamoku's 1919 redwood surfboard. Also displayed here is the 33-foot (10 m) Honaunau, a 1900s era outrigger canoe used for fishing. The vessel was carved from a single koa log, and is one of the last koa fishing canoes made in Hawaiʻi.

The gardens of the museum grounds are designed to display native Hawaiian plants, including endangered species of Maui and the Hawaiʻian Islands. A gift shop, featuring locally made artisan items, is located on the south of the Old Bailey House. The museum and grounds are open Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM.

See also

• History of Maui

External links

• Official website