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| In 1820 the Brig Thaddeus arrived in Waimea
with missionaries that had been sent by the American Board of
Commioners for Foreign Missions of the Congregational Church out of New
England. This was the first mission to Kauai and one of the first three
missions in the entire State of Hawaii. |
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| Two couples, Nancy and Sam Ruggles and
Mercy Partridge and Sam Whitney, disembarked at Waimea. [The Whitneys'
graves are located in the historical cemetary behind the church today.] |
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| Then King Kaumulaulii granted the
missionaries property on the south side of Waimea River for a church
and school. There was enough land that the missionaries could also grow
their own food. |
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| In the 1830's construction began on a new
church structure on the north side of the Waimea River. The land
was given by Governor Kaiokaewa and is the site where the present
stone church stands today. Reverend George Rowell was the chief
architect and builder of the church. Limestone was moved from a ridge
about a mile away by oxcart and was cut and stacked by local labor to
build the walls. |
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| The timber was hand cut from ohia lehua
trees up in Kokee and dragged down the mountains and floated in the sea
to get rid of insects. |
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| The exterior of the church was coated with
crushed coral that had been fired in a limekiln. Local divers brought
the coral up by hand and loaded it into canoes. |
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| The original color of the church would have
been a brilliant white. The interior was completed in Victorian style.
A bell cast in Boston in 1836 was placed into the tower. The
inscription reads from Psalm 100: “E hele mai imua o kona ale me ke oli
ana i ike oukou o Jehova oia no ke akua” (Come before His presence with
singing that you may know Jehovah is God). This bell is still rung
every Sunday, calling the faithful to worship God. The first worship
service was held in 1854 when only the walls and roof were finished. |
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The church was nearly
completely destroyed in 1992 by hurricane Iniki. The award-winning
restoration was faithful to the original records of construction,
reusing as much of the old materials as possible. The mission and
ministry of this historic church continue to be blessed by Christ.
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Artwork by Marionette. Copyright
2008.
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