Built in 1835, the oldest house still existing on Maui is a museum that provides an insightful look at 19th-century missionary life.
It was the home of the Reverend Dwight Baldwin and his family from 1836 to 1868.
To accommodate the growing family, a bedroom and study were added in 1840, and in 1849, a second floor was built, completing the sturdy structure seen today (built of coral, sand and lava rock with timber frames, the walls are 24 inches).
Baldwin’s heirs deeded the house to the Lahaina Restoration Foundation in 1967 with the stipulation that it would remain a museum in perpetuity.
Highlights include tools of Baldwin’s medical missionary trade such as syringes and surgical implements; letters and pages from his journal; and his passport, handwritten on a large piece of parchment, documenting his entry into the Hawaiian kingdom.
Most of the furniture and all of the dishes, clothing, Hawaiian quilts and accessories such as a whale ivory cane, beaver skin top hat and muslin parasol, are from the period, but are not Baldwin heirlooms.