ʻĀpua, Hawaii
former settlement on Hawaiʻi Island
ʻĀpua was an ancient village in the Puna district on the southern coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi in the Hawaiian Islands. A small fishing village was located at about 19°15′41″N 155°11′46″W, an elevation about 59 feet (18 m) above sea level.
The village was destroyed by a tsunami following the April 2, 1868 Hawaii earthquake and never resettled.
ʻĀpua Point, just south of the former village site, has a backcountry campground for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. There is no drinking water nor other facilities at the site. Weather and surf conditions can be very dangerous. The trail crosses both old and new lava flows from the active volcano.
The public source identifies “ʻĀpua, Hawaii” as former settlement on Hawaiʻi Island. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around ʻĀpua, Hawaii and former.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “ʻĀpua, Hawaii”, the useful work is to connect “former settlement on Hawaiʻi Island” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4782278. Authority coordinates are 19.261, -155.196. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1868.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “ʻĀpua, Hawaii”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow ʻĀpua, Hawaii primary sources, ʻĀpua, Hawaii archive and ʻĀpua research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “ʻĀpua, Hawaii”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “ʻĀpua, Hawaii” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.