Another saint out of Hawaii's Kalawao County

[oscar]

Earlier today, Pope Benedict elevated Mother Marianne Cope to the ranks of the Catholic saints.  Mother Marianne was most widely known for her work caring for Hawaiians exiled to the isolated Kalawao County (Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north coast of Molokai island) for what then was untreatable Hansen's Disease (a/k/a leprosy).  She carried on the work started by Father Damien, who himself was named a saint in 2009.

The news of particular interest to the county-counters among you, is that nine of the elderly Hansen's Disease patients who still reside in Kalawao County were well enough to travel to Rome for today's canonization ceremony.  Their continued residence in the county, and relative good health, make it unlikely that the county will be folded into Maui County anytime soon, for the reasons I explain in the Hawaii Highways FAQs.  So those of you who might've been waiting for Kalawao County to disappear, so you can avoid a trek to one of the more inaccessible counties in the United States (you can get there only by small plane, or a mule ride or a hike down a long cliffside trail), shouldn't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

[Duke87]

Depends on how you define "anytime soon". If the residents are all "elderly", I reasonably expect to outlive them all by a significant amount of time, even if it takes another 20 years for them to all die off.

Somehow I suspect a trip to Maui is not in the cards for me anytime before retirement, anyway, so...

[Scott5114]

I wonder if any other county in the US has as high of a ratio of saints per square mile as Kalawao County does...

[Duke87]

I wonder if any other county in the US has as high of a ratio of saints per square mile as Kalawao County does...

Orleans Parish, Louisiana?

[oscar]

Update: according to the latest Extra Miler quarterly newsletter, there are five Hansen's Disease patients still living in Kalawao County. They are all at least 84 years old, with the oldest 100 years old (and still in good health).

The county is still closed to the general public, for now.

[usends]

FWIW, the latest USGS topo indicates that hwy. 470 actually does enter Kalawao Co.  There are a lot of different boundaries shown on this map and it's not easy to keep them all straight, but it seems quite clear that 470 does cross the boundary of the Nat'l Historic Park.  Not only that, but the cartographers were intentional about including a label which indicates the area surrounding the end of the highway is a part of the Kalaupapa district.  Point being: if true, then that would mean it's not really all that hard to get into Kalawao Co. (at least not this tiny part of it).

[oscar]

FWIW, the latest USGS topo indicates that hwy. 470 actually does enter Kalawao Co.  There are a lot of different boundaries shown on this map and it's not easy to keep them all straight, but it seems quite clear that 470 does cross the boundary of the Nat'l Historic Park.  Not only that, but the cartographers were intentional about including a label which indicates the area surrounding the end of the highway is a part of the Kalaupapa district.  Point being: if true, then that would mean it's not really all that hard to get into Kalawao Co. (at least not this tiny part of it).

AIUI, both Hawaii and Maui County GIS have the Kalawao County boundary north of route 470, which means the USGS topo map is wrong. A tipoff is all the warning signs prohibiting entry into Kalawao County without a state permit are north of and downhill from 470, on the (now closed) mule trail down to Kalaupapa or at the exit from Kalaupapa airport, while there are no county line signs on 470. See http://www.hawaiihighways.com/photos-Kalawao.htm

[Rothman]

FWIW, the latest USGS topo indicates that hwy. 470 actually does enter Kalawao Co.  There are a lot of different boundaries shown on this map and it's not easy to keep them all straight, but it seems quite clear that 470 does cross the boundary of the Nat'l Historic Park.  Not only that, but the cartographers were intentional about including a label which indicates the area surrounding the end of the highway is a part of the Kalaupapa district.  Point being: if true, then that would mean it's not really all that hard to get into Kalawao Co. (at least not this tiny part of it).

c.1999?  I don't believe that's the latest USGS topo map?

ETA: It isn't:  See: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#10/21.2836/-157.4252

Shows where the county line is to the north of HI 470.

[cl94]

The only not explicitly illegal way into the county that I know of (that is, no signs or anything) is by climbing one of the peaks along the border, where the way up is through Maui County. None of these are trivial hikes and they all require a 4WD vehicle and navigation skills.

[Rothman]

I've reached out to the USGS.  The county line marked on their map looks a little off (i.e., doesn't follow the terrain).  Not sure if that's because of a legal definition goof or a cartography goof.  Also not certain at all that the adjustment to align with the terrain would cause HI 470 to enter the county.

Extra Miler Club members have reported a boundary line on HI 470 that seems like a county boundary, but isn't signed as such, I believe.

[usends]

The county line marked on their map looks a little off (i.e., doesn't follow the terrain).  Not sure if that's because of a legal definition goof or a cartography goof.

Absolutely a cartography goof, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that.  The offset is plain to see in the southeast part of the county.  The Nat'l Historic Park boundary is correct, but the county line is clearly offset to the northwest.  This mistake has propagated itself to all kinds of maps, including Maui County GIS and Google Maps.

Also not certain at all that the adjustment to align with the terrain would cause HI 470 to enter the county.

I agree, fixing the offset still doesn't seem to put any part of 470 inside the Kalawao Co. line as depicted.  However, my question is this: are Kalawao Co. and the NHP precisely coextensive?  The map clearly shows that 470 does enter the NHP.

[Rothman]

The county line marked on their map looks a little off (i.e., doesn't follow the terrain).  Not sure if that's because of a legal definition goof or a cartography goof.

Absolutely a cartography goof, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that.  The offset is plain to see in the southeast part of the county.  The Nat'l Historic Park boundary is correct, but the county line is clearly offset to the northwest.  This mistake has propagated itself to all kinds of maps, including Maui County GIS and Google Maps.

I'm not so sure, especially with local GIS being in agreement.  Sort of gets into who put the boundary down as it is first.  State defines the county boundary, not the Feds.

Also not certain at all that the adjustment to align with the terrain would cause HI 470 to enter the county.

I agree, fixing the offset still doesn't seem to put any part of 470 inside the Kalawao Co. line as depicted.  However, my question is this: are Kalawao Co. and the NHP precisely coextensive?  The map clearly shows that 470 does enter the NHP.
[/quote]

Given all the maps I've seen, including NPS maps, I'd find it hard to believe at this point that they are coextensive.

[usends]

...on the (now closed) mule trail down to Kalaupapa...

Apparently the destroyed bridge on the Pali Trail has been fixed.  So when you said "closed", did you mean physically closed due to the bridge?  Or legally closed, as in: it is illegal to enter Kalawao without a permit?

[Rothman]

...on the (now closed) mule trail down to Kalaupapa...

Apparently the destroyed bridge on the Pali Trail has been fixed.  So when you said "closed", did you mean physically closed due to the bridge?  Or legally closed, as in: it is illegal to enter Kalawao without a permit?

The latter.  Trail is closed by government action until further notice.

[oscar]

^ Repairing the bridge wasn't the only thing needed to reopen the park. First, overcoming the COVID epidemic that broke out while the bridge was being fixed. Then replacing the tour operators bringing tourists down the trail from and back to the mule stables on route 470, and driving them from the bottom of the cliff and the airport to Kalaupapa and Kalawao villages, while protecting the privacy of the patients who still live there.

While the park is still closed to the general public, the National Park Service and the Hawaii Department of Health can bring their employees into the county as needed, and personal guests of Kalawao County residents can enter after getting HDOH permits.

[wxfree]

I went hunting for maps and found that the Hawaii state park system is lacking in that area.  Apparently they want their hikers to either bring USGS maps or just wing it.

I've found electronic maps to be unreliable, because they're based on shapes and equations, and are evidently not checked at even the most basic level, as they sometimes have egregious errors.  I like old maps, which you know someone at least looked at when they were printing up.  A second choice, and often best online, is PDF maps, which may be versions of paper maps that someone actually looked at and would have recalled if defective.  This is the "Central Molokai" zoning map from Maui County.  It shows details such as individual lots.  I can't attest to its accuracy, but without such an attestation, I would suspect it's the most likely one to be accurate (particularly given its legal status).

https://www.mauicounty.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=10776

There's a little island within Kalawao County.  It looks like it's at the top of the ridge.  The tax record map says it's owned by the state.

[MikeTheActuary]

https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st15_hi/censustract_maps/c15009_maui/DC20CT_C15009.pdf

It looks like the Census Department says that 470 is wholly in Maui County, but looking at the NHP boundary on the census map, I suspect there's some cartographic weirdness in play....or the NPS boundary is independent of the county boundary.  (The lookout near the end of 470 seems to be in the park, and in Maui County?)

The State of Hawaii land use district map relies on 1967 topos that agree with the Census Department map: https://files.hawaii.gov/luc/maps/molokai_quadz/mo3_kaunakakai_12201974.pdf

The state's election district map, tied to the state's GIS, also concurs: https://histategis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=172d7186cc254798bb7c876cda941c1e

Kalawao County is statutorily defined as Kalaupapa, Kalawao, and Waikolu...but finding a defnitive map of those locales' boundaries is beyond my Google-fu.

Damn.  My ham radio side-activity of county-hunting (working people in all counties) had recognized an activation from HI 470 as being in Kalawao.

For those looking to legally visit the county and who might consider sitting in a plane on the ground, without exiting, to be sufficient, I'll point out that it seems to be possible to book a seat on Mokulele Airlines flight 998, a morning flight from MKK to HNL that has a stop at LUP (weather permitting).

[MikeTheActuary]

Addendum....I found a 1915 plat map of Molokai: https://dags.hawaii.gov/maps/search/files/pm/Plat1035.pdf

It suggests that the Palaau area (presumably now the state park where the section of 470 we're discussing) is not part of Kalaupapa.  If the tract map corresponds to the legal definition of Kalawao County, however, it looks like there may be a part of the county on the high ground...but it's not traversed by 470; you'd probably need to bushwack to get there, which I would assume involves trespassing.

Currently. the best shot for normal people to get the county is probably flight 9X998.

EDIT: One more map, this one from 1895: https://dags.hawaii.gov/maps/search/files/reg/Reg_1000-1999/Reg1771.pdf
That seems to further support the idea that Kalaupapa's boundary is the obvious topographic boundary.

EDIT2: Also, a 1953 survey map concurs: https://dags.hawaii.gov/maps/search/files/reg/Reg_4000-4999/Reg4054.pdf

[Scott5114]

Exactly how hard would it be to illegally enter Kalawao County? Is the border guarded in some way, or is it mostly protected by threats of fines if you are discovered being there without permission?

[oscar]

Exactly how hard would it be to illegally enter Kalawao County? Is the border guarded in some way, or is it mostly protected by threats of fines if you are discovered being there without permission?

Mostly threats. You can probably walk down the mule trail to the warning signs, step over the line, then walk back to highway 470 without anybody noticing you (especially on Sundays when the mule rides never operated) let alone giving you a hard time, except perhaps Maui County police patrolling route 470. If you went all the way down to Kalaupapa village, where your violation of the law would be more than technical, you might be busted by somebody with the state department of health or the National Park Service. One of the county residents may also serve as the county sheriff (when I legally visited in 1999, the guy who ran the tour bus was also the sheriff).