Greenwell Store
Encyclopedia
The Greenwell Store is a historic building now run as a museum by the Kona Historical Society.
(1826–1891) was an English merchant who originally came to Hawaii in 1850. He went back to England in 1867, and returned and married Elizabeth Caroline Hall (1841–1934). They lived in a wooden house, (the foundation is still visible) and had a stone house built that was used as a store since 1870.
The building is a simple rectangle about 25 feet (7.6 m) by 55 feet (16.8 m) with a basement, main floor, and attic. Walls are 24 inch thick, made of stones with mortar.
Since Greenwell served as Postmaster, the town that grew up around the store was known as Kealakekua, Hawaii, even though the actual traditional land division of that name is further south. The Hawaii Belt Road now runs past the store.
Descendant Norman Leonard Greenwell (1926-1992) and his wife Jean Greenwell (1929–2009) were founders of the Kona Historical society in 1976.
On May 22, 1978 the store was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii
as site 78001017. The society restored the former store to its appearance circa 1875, and opened it as a museum.
The store was added as site 10-37-7243 to the state of Hawaii
registry of historic places on August 17, 1991.
Another nearby Greenwell property, the Kona Coffee Living History Farm
, is also open for tours by the society.
History
Henry Nicholas GreenwellHenry Nicholas Greenwell
Henry Nicholas Greenwell was an English merchant credited with establishing Kona coffee as an internationally known brand.His family became major land-holders in the Kona District of the island of Hawaii....
(1826–1891) was an English merchant who originally came to Hawaii in 1850. He went back to England in 1867, and returned and married Elizabeth Caroline Hall (1841–1934). They lived in a wooden house, (the foundation is still visible) and had a stone house built that was used as a store since 1870.
The building is a simple rectangle about 25 feet (7.6 m) by 55 feet (16.8 m) with a basement, main floor, and attic. Walls are 24 inch thick, made of stones with mortar.
Since Greenwell served as Postmaster, the town that grew up around the store was known as Kealakekua, Hawaii, even though the actual traditional land division of that name is further south. The Hawaii Belt Road now runs past the store.
Descendant Norman Leonard Greenwell (1926-1992) and his wife Jean Greenwell (1929–2009) were founders of the Kona Historical society in 1976.
On May 22, 1978 the store was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii
National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii
This is a list of properties and districts on the island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is coterminous with Hawaii County, the state's only county that covers exactly one island...
as site 78001017. The society restored the former store to its appearance circa 1875, and opened it as a museum.
The store was added as site 10-37-7243 to the state of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
registry of historic places on August 17, 1991.
Another nearby Greenwell property, the Kona Coffee Living History Farm
Kona Coffee Living History Farm
Kona Coffee Living History Farm depicts the daily lives of early Japanese immigrants to Hawaii during the period of 1920-1945.It is located on the Daisaku Uchida Coffee Farm historic Kona coffee farm first established in 1900....
, is also open for tours by the society.