Century-old map helps reveal border of buried island
FRIENDS OF MOKUULA
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working with a nonprofit group and Maui County to help to restore the wetlands of Mokuula islet and Mokuhinia Pond on Maui, home of the first three Kamehameha kings. This is a rendering of how the Friends of Mokuula envision the restored site.
WAILUKU » Archaeologists have uncovered several sections of rock walls that are helping define the perimeter of the buried island of Mokuula, where Hawaiian royalty once lived.
The Maui News reports the rock walls were discovered with help from a 100-year-old map. Previous studies of the site didn’t have access to the map, which was found in a 19th-century printing shop on the grounds of a western Maui high school.
Members of the community in Lahaina say they hope the discoveries will lead to restoration of the island.
The nonprofit Friends of Mokuula says the island was a 1-acre sandbar island within a freshwater pond that served as the home of the high chiefs of Piilani in the 16th century. The group says King Kamehameha III ruled there between 1830 and 1845.
