Comments on: Hawaii Fact 6 of 50: Hawaii Has 5 Counties

By: sheila

sheila — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:19:08 +0000

@ Rick – In some ways I agree it might be odd that the entire island is a county, but on another hand it does make sense — particularly when I consider that the islands are predominately populated along the coastal areas.

By: sheila

sheila — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:15:57 +0000

@ David – Yeah, the Kalaupapa settlement is still pretty isolated. The only ways you can get there is by a long hike or donkey ride or by plane or boat. To me that’s pretty fascinating.

I think it’s funny to look at the list of county names matching with the island names….and then queue the record needle scratching sound….the island of Oahu is the county of Honolulu? Strange, huh?

By: Sensei J. Richard Kirkham B.Sc.

Sensei J. Richard Kirkham B.Sc. — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:29:08 +0000

Kind of wierd having an entire island as one county

Rick

By: David

David — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:10:52 +0000

Kalawao County. First I’ve heard of it. Makes sense when you consider how isolated the Kalaupapa settlement was for years. Excellent research!

Interestingly Honolulu County is officially the City and County of Honolulu. So everyone who lives on Oahu technically lives in Honolulu.

By: sheila

sheila — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:25:42 +0000

@ Janet – oh good, I’m glad you let me know you like the series.

I’m not sure why that small area of Molokai is separated from the rest of the county. That’s a great question. I would guess that it probably has something to do with the Kalaupana Peninsula being the Hansen’s disease (leper) colony. Though the residents have all been cured, they have and continue to receive full federal funding.

In case you aren’t familiar with the history of the Kalaupana Peninsula, see this post: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2008/02/07/a-brief-history-of-father-damien-and-the-kalaupapa-settlement-in-hawaii/

By: Janet Rivera

Janet Rivera — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:01:53 +0000

love this series, I am a Hawaii nerd as well so interested to learn things I didn’t know. What is the purpose I wonder of having the little piece of Molokai in a different county? Don’t worry, even if I don’t comment, always know I am definately reading and interested! :>)

By: sheila

sheila — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:21:23 +0000

Thanks for the positive feedback on this series. For a while there, I was wondering if anybody was reading this new series or not. Maybe people are catching up from the holiday, but good feedback is just starting to trickle in.

It wasn’t until I started doing some research for this post this morning that I first learned about Kalawao County. Isn’t that kind of weird that Maui County is made up of those four islands, with the exception a tiny piece of Molokai?

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:15:17 +0000

I knew about the four islands making up Maui County, but never heard of Kalawao County until just now.

I always love learning new things about the islands.

Great job with this new series.