Headquarters Hawaii, United States | Founded 1996 | |
The Mānoa Heritage Center is a non-profit organization founded by Sam and Mary Cooke in 1996. It is intended to promote the thoughtful stewardship of Hawaii's natural and cultural heritage through preserving and interpreting historic sites. The Center includes Kūka‘ō‘ō Heiau, a Native Hawaiian garden, and the 1911 Charles Montague Cooke Jr. home, known as Kūali‘i. The Heritage Center is also dedicated to documenting the dynamic history of Mānoa Valley.
On the hill of an ancient lava flow, Kūka‘ō‘ō Heiau commands a view of Mānoa Valley. The heiau is thought to be an agricultural site, where rites and rituals were held to insure the fertility and abundance of taro, sweet potato, and other crops that were once grown in the valley.
Kūka‘ō‘ō Heiau is one of the few traditional Hawaiian structures that still exists in the urban Honolulu landscape.
Surrounding Kūka‘ō‘ō Heiau, a native Hawaiian garden features the endemic and indigenous flora of the islands. The garden collection includes many rare and endangered species, as well as the plants introduced by early Polynesians.
The historic Tudor revival home, Kūali‘i, was built in 1911 by Charles Montague Cooke Jr. and his wife Lila Lefferts Cooke. It was placed on the National Historic Register in 2000. The home is still a private residence, but will one day be open to the public as a historic home museum.