Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii

It is believed that the watershed area of the Kohala mountains once supported several thousand native Hawaiians, who practiced subsistence agriculture, made kapa, and thatched dwellings. As the Europeans arrived in the area, most of the sandalwood (Santalum ellipticum) forests were harvested and the land became ideal for grazing animals. California longhorn cattle were given as a gift to Hawaiian King Kamehameha I by British Captain George Vancouver in 1793.{{cite book |last=Bergin |first=Billy |title=Loyal to the Land: The Legendary Parker Ranch, 750-1950 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8248-2692-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iToXn2GGHpQC |page=21}} In 1809, John Palmer Parker arrived to the area after jumping ship and over time became employed by the king to hunt and tame the population of cattle, which at this point had grown out of control. In 1815 Parker married Kipikane, the daughter of a high-ranking chief, and as a family developed what is now Parker Ranch, the largest ranch in the area.{{Cite web |date=2012-03-17 |title=Waimea (Kamuela) Big Island of Hawaii - Brief History |url=https://kamuela.com/history.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317012347/https://kamuela.com/history.asp |archive-date=2012-03-17 |access-date=2022-09-11 }}

The early 19th century also saw the arrival from the Viceroyalties of New Spain and Río de la Plata of the horse and Spanish vaqueros ("cowboys"), bringing the traditional Euro-Latin culture of riding and roping skills. The king hired these vaqueros to teach Hawaiians herding and ranching skills, and by 1836 the island had working cowboys. As the Hawaiian culture and Latin vaquero cultured commingled, a unique breed of cowboy emerged, the paniolo.{{Cite web |first=John |last=Fischer |url=http://gohawaii.about.com/od/bigisland/a/waimea_001a.htm |title=A Short Guide to Waimea on Hawaii's Big Island |archive-date=2012-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216024633/http://gohawaii.about.com/od/bigisland/a/waimea_001a.htm|url-status=dead}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=July 2024}}

During World War II, beef and vegetable prices increased, and farmers returned to cultivate corn, beets, cabbage and a variety of other green vegetables. Farm and ranchland acreage increased from 75 in 1939 to 518 in 1946.{{Cite web |title=Waimea (Kamuela) Big Island of Hawaii - Brief History |url=http://www.kamuela.com/history.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515214206/http://www.kamuela.com:80/history.asp |archive-date=15 May 2017 |website=kamuela.com}} Waimea saw many soldiers during this time, who were stationed at Camp Tarawa. When the war was over and the military had left, Waimea had an entertainment center, the Kahilu Theatre, and an airstrip, Waimea-Kohala Airport.

Waimea is located in the northern part of the island of Hawaii at an elevation of {{convert|2676|ft}} above sea level. It sits at the southern foot of Kohala, the oldest volcano on the island, and it is near the northwestern base of Mauna Kea, the highest volcano.

Waimea's post office name "Kamuela" is the Hawaiian name for "Samuel", after Samuel Parker (1853–1920), the grandson of John Parker.{{Hawaiian Dictionaries |Kamuela |dic=pp |access-date= October 26, 2010 }}{{Hawaiian Dictionaries |Kamuela |HASH9ec9ddf4f17295c28c5b02 |dic=hpn |access-date= October 26, 2010 }}{{cite web |last=Young |first=Peter T. |date=8 November 2019 |title=What's in a name? |url=https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/whats-in-a-name |website=Images of Old Hawaiʻi}}

Hawaii Route 19 passes through the community, leading southeast {{convert|56|mi|km}} to Hilo and southwest {{convert|43|mi}} to Kailua-Kona via a route close to the shore. Hawaii Route 190 leads south from Waimea and provides a shorter inland route to Kailua-Kona of {{convert|39|mi}}.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Waimea CDP has a total area of {{convert|101.9|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|101.8|sqkm|order=flip}} are land and {{convert|0.1|sqkm|order=flip|2}}, or 0.10%, are water.

Waimea displays a warm summer Mediterranean Climate (Köppen climate classification Csb). The town sits at the transition between the wet and dry sides of the Big Island, and its weather therefore often changes dramatically over less than a mile.

{{Weather box

| location = Waimea

| single line = Y

| collapsed =

| Jan high F = 72.6

| Feb high F = 72.2

| Mar high F = 72.5

| Apr high F = 73.3

| May high F = 74.0

| Jun high F = 74.5

| Jul high F = 74.6

| Aug high F = 75.7

| Sep high F = 76.8

| Oct high F = 76.8

| Nov high F = 74.7

| Dec high F = 72.1

| year high F =

| Jan low F = 50.4

| Feb low F = 50.6

| Mar low F = 51.7

| Apr low F = 52.8

| May low F = 54.3

| Jun low F = 55.4

| Jul low F = 56.4

| Aug low F = 57.1

| Sep low F = 56.9

| Oct low F = 55.2

| Nov low F = 54.2

| Dec low F = 52.3

| year low F =

| rain colour = green

| Jan rain inch = 4.74

| Feb rain inch = 3.76

| Mar rain inch = 3.84

| Apr rain inch = 3.08

| May rain inch = 1.74

| Jun rain inch = 1.34

| Jul rain inch = 1.97

| Aug rain inch = 2.27

| Sep rain inch = 0.89

| Oct rain inch = 1.89

| Nov rain inch = 2.94

| Dec rain inch = 4.22

| source = http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?hi3077

}}

{{US Census population

|2000= 7028

|2010= 9212

|2020= 9904

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}

}}

File:Kamuela, Hawaii post office.jpg

As of the census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}} of 2000, there were 7,028 people, 2,371 households, and 1,782 families residing in the CDP. The population density was {{convert|181.4|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 2,589 housing units at an average density of {{convert|66.8|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the CDP was 30.65% White, 0.33% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 20.29% Asian, 15.61% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 32.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.80% of the population.

There were 2,371 households, out of which 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the CDP the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $51,150, and the median income for a family was $55,822. Males had a median income of $36,710 versus $27,217 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $20,773. About 4.2% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

The Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival is held on the first weekend of February.{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2017 |title=Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival |url=https://bigislandnow.com/2017/01/31/waimea-cherry-blossom-heritage-festival/ |website=Big Island Now}}{{Cite magazine |last=Miner |first=Meghan |date=2015-02-04 |title=22nd annual Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival on Hawaii Island, Feb. 7 |url=https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/22nd-annual-waimea-cherry-blossom-heritage-festival-on-hawaii-island-feb-7/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |magazine=Hawaii Magazine |language=en-US}} The rodeo and Horse Races are held at Parker Ranch{{Cite press release |url=http://parkerranch.com/wp-content/uploads/Media-Release-Parker-Ranch-July-4th-Rodeo-2016-Final.pdf |date=2016 |title=Parker Ranch July 4th Rodeo and Horses |publisher=Parker Ranch}} on July 4 each year.

• Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho, American conceptual artist
• Sonny Lim, Musical artist

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Category:Census-designated places in Hawaii County, Hawaii

Category:Populated places on Hawaii (island)