Lahaina

Lahaina, anciently Lele, was a sheltered anchorage on Maui's northwest coast and the seat of its western chiefs. The island's eastern chiefs at Hana ruled separately.

Pi'ilani later united Maui from Lahaina and controlled Lanai, Kahoolawe and parts of Moloka'i. In 1738 Kamehamehanui fought his half-brother in the fields above the town. Kamehameha I anchored his war-canoe fleet there in 1802, and American missionaries opened a station in 1823. By the 1830s Lahaina was a leading whaling port, protected from unruly sailors by a stone fort built in 1831.