Qualla: Kalaupapa, Hawaii

Kalaupapa, Hawaii: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Coal town guy, CC BY-SA 3.0. The zip code still works. That is one of the stranger facts about Kalaupapa, a community on the north coast of Molokai where the post office continues to operate for a population that has dwindled to fewer than a hundred people. For more than a century, this flat peninsula at the base of cliffs rising 2,000 feet above the Pacific was a place of forced exile, where the Hawaiian government sent anyone diagnosed with leprosy and declared them legally dead. At its peak, about 1,200 people lived here against their will. Today, a handful of former patients remain by choice, growing old in a place the rest of Hawaii has agreed to leave mostly undisturbed.

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Image: Coal town guy | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kalaupapa, Hawaii: Carved by Catastrophe

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Winteronce, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Kalaupapa Peninsula exists because of volcanic violence. Between 230,000 and 300,000 years ago, an undersea volcano called Pu'u 'Uao erupted from the ocean floor near Molokai's north coast. The lava spread outward, cooling into a low shield that became the peninsula. Behind i...

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Image: Winteronce | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kalaupapa, Hawaii: A Century of Exile

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Edward Clifford, Public domain. In 1866, during the reign of Kamehameha V, the Hawaiian legislature passed a law requiring the quarantine of people with severe cases of leprosy. The disease was poorly understood, believed to be highly contagious, and had no cure. The government chose the Kalaupapa Peninsula for...

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Image: Edward Clifford | Public domain

Kalaupapa, Hawaii: The Trail Down

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen, Public domain. The Kalaupapa Pali Trail is the only way to reach the peninsula on foot, and it is not a gentle path. Over 3.5 miles, the trail drops 2,000 feet through 26 switchbacks carved into the cliff face. The National Park Service describes the hike as extremely strenuous. Historically, v...

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Image: Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen | Public domain

Kalaupapa, Hawaii: A Park Unlike Any Other

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen, Public domain. Kalaupapa National Historical Park was established on December 22, 1980, encompassing the entire Kalawao County and the sites of both former settlements. It is not a park designed for crowds. Only 100 visitors are allowed per day, and every visitor must have a sponsor, either a c...

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Image: Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen | Public domain

Kalaupapa, Hawaii: The Last Residents

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen, Public domain. The population tells the story in numbers. In 1900, the census counted 1,177 people on the peninsula. By 1970, there were 172. The 2020 census recorded 82, a mix of former patients, federal employees working on preservation, and state health workers. The former patients are all e...

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Image: Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen | Public domain