King David Kalakaua Building

The King David Kalakaua Building in Honolulu, Hawaii is a government building formerly known as the U.S. Post Office, Customhouse, and Courthouse. It was the official seat of administration in the Territory of Hawaii and state of Hawaii for the United States federal government.

U.S. Post Office, Customhouse, and Courthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Building in 2019
Location	335 Merchant Street, Honolulu, Hawaii
Coordinates	21°18′22″N 157°51′38″W
Area	2.8 acres (1.1 ha)
Built	1922
Architect	York & Sawyer
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.	75000620[1]
Added to NRHP	January 27, 1975

The building as it appeared in 1931

Federal building

The building was designed in 1918 and built from 1921 to 1922 in Mission/Spanish Revival architecture. An addition to the building was started in 1929, and opened in 1931.^[2] Among other functions, the building held courtrooms and offices for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on January 27, 1975, under the former name as site 75000620. In 1978 it was also included as a contributing property in the NRHP listing of the Hawaii Capital Historic District.^[1][3]

State building

In December 2003, the federal government sold most of the building to the state of Hawaii for US$32.5 million, upon which the building was renamed in honor of King David Kalākaua — last king of the Hawaiian monarchy. By that point in time, all federal agencies and departments had already moved their Hawaii-based offices years earlier to the Prince Kuhio Federal Building near Honolulu Harbor, except for a small section of the building that is still used as a post office.^[4]

Today, the building is home to the offices of the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.^[5]

See also

• List of United States post offices

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Randall J. Biallas and Gerron S. Hite (May 22, 1973). "U.S. Post Office, Customhouse, and Courthouse nomination form". National Register of Historic Places. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
3. Dale M. Lanzone and Gary Cummins (Spring 1976). "Hawaii Capital Historic District nomination form". National Register of Historic Places. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
4. Gordon Y.K. Pang (December 30, 2003). "Old post office assumes new role". Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
5. "Directory of Services" (PDF). Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. January 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.

External links

• "U.S. Post Office, Court House, and Custom House; Honolulu, Hawaii". History of the Federal Judiciary. US Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. HI-525, "United States Post Office, Custom House and Court House, 335 Merchant Street, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page