Museum sights in O'ahu
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US Army Museum of Hawai'i
The US Army Museum of Hawai'i traces the military history of consolidation of power under King Kamehameha in the 1700s to the US army's ongoing role on the island. Located at Fort DeRussy Military Reservation, the museum occupies Battery Randolph, a reinforced concrete building erected in 1911 as a coastal artillery battery.
The battery once held two formidable 14-inch disappearing guns with an 11-mile range, designed to recoil into the concrete walls for reloading after firing, which shook the whole neighborhood. A 55-ton lead counterweight then returned the carriage to position. Also on display is a Cobra helicopter and various military tanks and machinery. On the 2nd …
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USS Missouri
The decommissioned battleship USS Missouri, nicknamed 'Mighty Mo,' provides a unique historical 'bookend' to the US campaign in the Pacific during WWII. If you're a history buff the USS Missouri is a worthwhile sight, but if your time or money is limited a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial will suffice. The 887ft-long USS Missouri launched near the end of WWII and served as a flagship during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
On September 2, 1945, the formal Japanese surrender that ended WWII took place on the battleship's deck. The USS Missouri is now docked on Ford Island, just a few hundred yards from the sunken remains of the USS Arizona and is managed by the nonpro…
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Mission Houses Museum
Containing three of the original buildings of the Sandwich Islands Mission headquarters, the Mission Houses Museum is authentically furnished with handmade quilts on the beds, settees in the parlor and iron cooking pots in the stone fireplaces. The first missionaries packed more than their bags when they left Boston; they actually brought a prefabricated wooden house, now called the Frame House, around the Horn with them!
Designed to withstand cold New England winter winds, the small windows instead block out Honolulu's cooling trade winds, keeping the two-story house hot and stuffy. Erected in 1821, it's the oldest wooden structure in Hawaii. The coral-block Chamberlain …
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Contemporary Museum
Occupying an estate with 3.5 acres of tropical and meditative gardens, the Contemporary Museum is an engaging modern-art museum, with views of Honolulu below. The cafe has healthy nibbles from salads to sandwiches, and you can just pop in for lunch without paying the museum admission. Admission to the museum is free every third Thursday of the month. The estate house was constructed in 1925 for Mrs Charles Montague Cooke, whose other former home is the present site of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. A patron of the arts, she played a founding role in both museums.
The main galleries feature changing exhibits of paintings, sculpture and other contemporary artwork by local, n…
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Hawaii's Plantation Village
The lives of the people who came to Hawaii to work on the sugarcane plantations are showcased by Hawaii's Plantation Village. The setting is particularly evocative, as Waipahu was one of O'ahu's last plantation towns, and its rusty sugar mill, which operated until 1995, still looms on a knoll directly above this site.
The site encompasses homes and buildings typical of plantation villages of the early 20th century. Period furnishings illustrate the lifestyles of the different ethnic groups - Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Puerto Rican and Filipino. The Chinese cookhouse (c 1909) was originally on this site, and the Japanese shrine (1914) was moved here; …
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North Shore Surf & Cultural Museum
You can get a sense of how integral surfing is to the town's character by visiting the funky North Shore Surf & Cultural Museum, where the tone is marked by a key North Shore word, 'usually' - it's staffed by volunteers who surf so, naturally, when the surf's up expect the place to be closed up! There's a good collection of vintage surfboards, period photos and classic surf posters, along with reasonably priced lost beach jewelry.
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First Hawaiian Center
The headquarters of the First Hawaiian Bank also houses the downtown gallery of the Contemporary Museum, featuring fascinating rotating exhibits of Hawaiian art. Docent-guided tours usually meet at noon on the third Thursday of the month while exhibitions are being held. Honolulu's tallest high-rise features some of its own artwork, including a four-story glass wall that incorporates 185 prisms.
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Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum is considered the finest Polynesian anthropological museum in the world. Impressive cultural displays include the newly refurbished, epic Hawaiian Hall, while the Science Adventure Center puts you inside an erupting volcano.
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Polynesian Cultural Center
Run by the Mormon Church, this is a Polynesian theme park (and all that implies) with villages, performances and luau buffets. Only Pearl Harbor draws more visitors.
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USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park
Walk to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, poke around the WWII relics and clamber down into a retired submarine
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Honolulu Academy of Arts
The exceptional Honolulu Academy of Arts has must-see collections of Asian, European and Pacific art.
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Hawaiʻi State Art Museum
The Hawaiʻi State Art Museum showcases the work of Hawaiian artists.
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