Qualla: Kilauea Point Lighthouse

Kilauea Point Lighthouse: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 3.0. An hour before dawn on June 29, 1927, Army Air Corps pilots Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger were lost. Their directional radio had failed somewhere over the Pacific during the first attempted transpacific flight from California to Hawaii, and they knew they had drifted north of course. Then, through the predawn darkness, they spotted a light on a narrow lava peninsula jutting from Kauai's north shore. The Kilauea Point Lighthouse, barely 14 years old, confirmed their position exactly as planned. The pilots corrected course and landed safely in Oahu, completing a flight that changed Pacific aviation. The lighthouse had done what lighthouses do -- it showed someone the way home.

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Image: Gillfoto | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kilauea Point Lighthouse: One Dollar, One Peninsula

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Collin Knopp-Schwyn, CC0. The land was purchased from the Kilauea Sugar Plantation Company in 1909 for one United States dollar. What the government got for its money was a narrow finger of lava rock protruding from Kauai's northernmost point, surrounded by churning surf and steep cliffs. The setting was ...

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Image: Collin Knopp-Schwyn | CC0

Kilauea Point Lighthouse: The Brightest Light in the Pacific

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alfred Richard Gurrey, Sr., Public domain. A radio beacon was added in 1930, and the light was converted from oil to electricity. Originally rated at 250,000 candlepower, the beacon was upgraded to an extraordinary 2,500,000 candlepower by 1958, making it visible far out to sea and serving as a primary navigation aid for ...

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Image: Alfred Richard Gurrey, Sr. | Public domain

Kilauea Point Lighthouse: Hurricane, Mercury, and Renewal

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, Public domain. In 1985, the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge was established around the lighthouse, starting with the original Coast Guard station and expanding to preserve the surrounding coastal habitat. A visitor center was built in 1988. Then Hurricane Iniki struck in September 1992, ...

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Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters | Public domain

Kilauea Point Lighthouse: Wings Over the Point

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jancarhart75, CC BY-SA 4.0. The wildlife refuge that surrounds the lighthouse has become one of the premier seabird viewing sites in Hawaii. Laysan albatrosses, red-footed boobies, wedge-tailed shearwaters, great frigatebirds, and nene -- the endangered Hawaiian state bird -- nest on the cliffs and grassy s...

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Image: Jancarhart75 | CC BY-SA 4.0