"For many visitors, the town of Lahaina is a place to go for tropical beaches. But for residents of Hawaii, it is a trove of history.
Its heritage museum, in a landmark courthouse, houses artifacts from before the rest of the world knew Hawaii existed. Its oldest building, the Baldwin Home, was occupied by the 19th-century physician who saved Maui from an epidemic of smallpox. Its central feature, a sprawling 150-year-old banyan tree, was planted to commemorate the arrival of Christian missionaries in 1873.
On Wednesday, that legacy and more appeared to be in ashes, consumed by the hurricane-driven wildfires that have devastated the island of Maui, razing much of the historic district of Lahaina, once Hawaii’s royal capital, in a matter of hours."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/us/lahaina-maui-hawaii-fires.html
@marcyrockman Its not really about museums. " the fire is a “scorching warning” of what’s to come if indigenous communities aren’t protected from the impacts of climate change. " “There needs to be a lot of intention and hard intervention there to make sure that federal resources and philanthropic resources go to support native folks, not to stop acute harm like this, but actually, lead us on the positive path forward.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/wildfire-decimates-lahaina-capital-hawaiian-kingdom-rcna99098
