Mokuʻula

According to author P. Christiaan Klieger, "the moated palace of Mokuʻula...was a place of the "Sacred Red Mists," an oasis of rest and calm during the raucous, rollicking days of Pacific whaling". When the capital of Hawaiʻi moved from Lahaina to Honolulu and plantations diverted Mokuhinia's water source to irrigate their crops, Mokuʻula fell into disrepair.

Loko o Mokuhinia

Mokuʻula was surrounded by Mokuhinia, a 17 acres (6.9 ha) spring-fed, wetland pond. The pond was reported to be the home of Kihawahine, a powerful moʻo or lizard goddess. According to myth, the moʻo was a reincarnation of Piʻilani's daughter, the chiefess, Kalaʻaiheana. Hawaiians cultivated loʻi, or taro patches, and fishponds within Mokuhinia. Lahaina was once known as the Venice of the Pacific for its fishponds. The sugar cane industry diverted water from mountain streams in the late 1800s, which dried up the water source. In 1919, the county turned the land into a park and buried it beneath a baseball field.