{{Short description|Historic store in Hawaii County, Hawaii}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Greenwell Store | nrhp_type = | image = Greenwell Store.jpg | caption = Built circa 1870 | location = Hawaii Belt Road, Kealakekua, Hawaii | coordinates = {{coord|19|30|37|N|155|55|12|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Hawaii | built = {{start date and age|1870}} | architect = | architecture = | added = May 22, 1978 | area = {{convert|1|acre}} | refnum = 78001017<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }}
The '''Greenwell Store''' is a historic building now run as a museum by the Kona Historical Society.
==History== Henry Nicholas Greenwell (1826–1891) was an English merchant who originally came to Hawaii in 1850. He went back to England in 1867, and returned and married Elizabeth Caroline Hall (1841–1934). They lived in a wooden house, (the foundation is still visible) and had a stone house built that was used as a store since 1870. The building is a simple rectangle about {{convert|25|ft}} by {{convert|55|ft}} with a basement, main floor, and attic. Walls are {{convert|24|inch|cm}} thick, made of stones with mortar.<ref name="focus">{{cite web |title= Greenwell Store nomination form |author= John C. Wright |work= National Register of Historic Places |date= January 19, 1974 |publisher= U.S. National Park Service |url= {{NRHP url|id=78001017}} |accessdate= July 17, 2010 }}</ref>
Since Greenwell served as Postmaster, the town that grew up around the store was known as Kealakekua, Hawaii, even though the actual traditional land division of that name is further south. The Hawaii Belt Road now runs past the store.
Descendant Norman Leonard Greenwell (1926–1992) and his wife Jean Greenwell (1929–2009) were founders of the Kona Historical society in 1976.<ref>{{cite news |title= Jean Greenwell, 80, made Kona's history 'her passion' |author= Chelsea Jensen |newspaper= West Hawaii Today |date= October 16, 2009 |url= http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2009/10/16/local/local05.prt |accessdate= July 16, 2010 }}</ref> On May 22, 1978, the store was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii as site 78001017.<ref name="nris"/> The society restored the former store to its appearance circa 1875, and opened it as a museum. The store was added as site 10-37-7243 to the state of Hawaii registry of historic places on August 17, 1991.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/hpd/register/reghaw.pdf |title=Historic Places in Hawaii County |work=official state web site |accessdate= 2010-04-19 }}</ref> Another nearby Greenwell property, the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, is also open for tours by the society.<ref>{{cite web |title= Uchida Coffee Farm nomination form |author= Sheree Chase |work= National Register of Historic Places |date= February 22, 1994 |publisher= U.S. National Park Service |url= {{NRHP url|id=94001621}} |accessdate= 2010-03-28 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web |title= Kona Historical Society |work= official web site |url= http://www.konahistorical.org/ |accessdate= July 17, 2010}} * {{cite web |title= Kona Historical Society Museum |work= Hawaii web site |url= http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html/sites/kona_historical_society_museum.html |accessdate= July 17, 2010}}
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==Greenwell family tree== {{Greenwell family tree}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Category:Houses completed in 1870 Category:Buildings and structures in Hawaii County, Hawaii Category:Agriculture in Hawaii Category:Living museums in Hawaii Category:Museums in Hawaii County, Hawaii Category:Retail buildings in Hawaii Category:1870 establishments in Hawaii Category:Rural history museums in Hawaii Category:Houses in Hawaii County, Hawaii Category:National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii County, Hawaii Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1870