United States Marine Hospital (Lahaina, Hawaii)

The land was granted in 1831 by King of Hawaii Kamehameha III to Joaquin Armas, a cowboy and immigrant from Alta California.[4][6] The construction of the building on the property was commissioned by the King in 1833 as an inn and store for sailors, and as a remote location for the King to escape the attention of the Christian missionaries.[6] The royal involvement in the building's construction was kept secret. The building held a Chinese store in its early years.[7][8]

The building was in use as a U.S. Marine Hospital for the benefit of civilian mariners beginning in 1844. At first, Armas leased the building to the U.S. government, but after his death, the property was auctioned off in 1855 to a John Nutter, who immediately resold it to James R. Dow, the physician in charge of the hospital at that time.[4] At the time of its opening, there were no other hospitals in Hawaii.[9] The hospital could accommodate about 60 men,[5] and had three staff.[10] During the boom years of whaling, it had well over a hundred patients each year.[9]

The hospital was closed in 1862 after a U.S. Department of State investigation found widespread graft in the administration of the hospital,[4][9] including doctors charging fees to the U.S. government for already-dead patients; and because the whaling industry had declined during the American Civil War.[6]

The building in 1868 in use as an Anglican school

The building prior to restoration in 1966

In 1865, the Anglican Church in Hawaii leased the property as the St. Cross School for Girls. After Dow's death, Priscilla Sellon, the Anglican Mother Superior, purchased the property in 1872. The school closed in 1877, and the Anglican Church then purchased the property from Sellon's estate in 1878. It was used for many years as a clergy house for the Anglican ministers, but gradually deteriorated.[4][9]

It was acquired by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate in 1909 in exchange for another piece of property.[4] As of 1962, it was in use as a tenement residence and was considered in fair condition, although the exterior stone walls had been covered with shingles.[5][11] Later, it was used as a community meeting hall.[12] However, by 1970 it was considered at risk of disintegration.[13]

The Lahaina Restoration Foundation acquired the building from the Bishop Estate in 1974.[6] That same year, approval was issued by the Historic Commission for construction of condominiums surrounding the Marine Hospital, which was described as a ruin. In 1976, two local residents opposed a shoreline permit needed to begin construction, in order to force an environmental impact statement to be made, since the Marine Hospital was by then listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, construction was approved because the requirement for an environmental impact statement was only instituted in June 1975, which was after the Historic Commission approval.[14][15] Ultimately, vibrations from the condominium construction caused the Marine Hospital's walls to collapse into rubble by 1980.[12][16][17]

Destroyed by fire, August 2023

It was restored by architect Uwe Schulz, who personally funded the restoration in return for a 20-year lease on the property. The restoration was completed in 1982. As of 2023, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation leased out the building for business use.[6]

The building's interior was destroyed in the 2023 Hawaii wildfires, with the stone walls remaining standing.[18]