Kona Historical Society for the interior restoration and interpretation of the Greenwell Store
By Popular Demand...
In response to many requests, this page contains the photos and transcript of the 2008 Honor awards presentation. All photos are courtesy of Kona Historical Society.
2008 Preservation Honor Awards
H.N. and Elizabeth Greenwell built the store in 1870 as an important commercial outpost in the isolated Kona district. It was the general merchandise store for American, European, Chinese, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Japanese residents, and served as the local post office and informal community meeting place.
Over a century later, Kona Historical Society saved the historic stone structure which had been the Greenwell Store, and was in danger of demolition. That project received a previous Preservation Honor Award in 1982.
Since then, the Greenwell store has been in use as the Kona Historical Society’s museum and gift shop, but it had long been a goal of the Society to restore the building as it was in the 19th century in order to provide an engaging and interactive way to introduce visitors to the shopping experience of 1890.
The original shelves, floor, and counters were cleaned and repaired, and restored using vintage or new, full-cut lumber.
Some of the beams were replaced, but those that visibly bore the initials ‘HNG’ were kept; and new ceiling boards were installed.
One of the greatest challenges of the project was researching the store’s inventory of goods. Although Greenwell kept a diary, no inventory list survives, so they turned to more unusual sources for clues about the inventory.
Receipts from an auction where Greenwell purchased goods, the probate record of the Spencer store in Hilo (which listed that store’s inventory,) and the records of a lawsuit in which Greenwell sued Princess Ruth for non-payment of her account, which included, among other things, parasols. All of these primary sources, and others, provided clues.
Using the research, cans and boxes were made by hand, and the labels for them were gathered from the Smithsonian Museum, the Henry Ford Museum, and a private collector. The labels were scanned, retouched, and printed.
Other items were found at auctions and antique stores. Modern reproductions were occasionally purchased, and some items are still being made the way they used to be and were readily available, such as corn husk brooms, twine, clothesline rope, cast iron pans, and pitchforks.
It is now fully furnished as it was an a general store in 1890 and is the centerpiece on Kona Historical Society’s education and interpretive efforts.
The floor-to-ceiling shelves hold cans and boxes that represent the multi-cultural residents of Kona in 1890, and how the gathering of these international goods at the H.N. Greenwell Store connected the residents of Kona to the world economy.
To maintain interest, enhance learning, and involve visitors in a discovery process, the living interpretation uses inquiry as the primary educational strategy.
Today the H.N. Greenwell Store continues to be a gathering place for visitors to Kalukalu, just as it was in the 19th century.
