Lihue - Kauai Museum

Located in a building dating from 1924, which originally housed Kauai Public Library, the museum offers a comprehensive account of Kauai's history and culture. Visitors can learn about its geology, flora, ethnology and history. Kauai's main events are portrayed - its evolution, its discovery by James Cook in 1778, the attempted Russian expansion on the island after 1815, the arrival of the missionaries and the changes which they effected, life on a plantation during the 19th c. and the immigration of different ethnic groups from Europe and Asia.

A model of an old Hawaiian village is displayed on the ground floor, as well as photographs of Kauai from the turn of the century, furniture which belonged to missionaries and examples of Kauai's natural history. Exhibits on display upstairs include photographs of missionaries and a large shell collection.

An aerial film of Kauai's more inaccessible areas, above all the Na Pali Coast and the interior of the Waimea Canyon, is shown at regular intervals - it is a pity that it does not last longer than six minutes. The visitor is finally introduced to the world of the legendary Menehune.