Built between 1836 and 1842, this Neoclassical and Mediterranean Revival style church was designed by Hiram Bingham to serve as the primary royal church for the Kingdom of Hawaii.  The building, built of approximately 14,000 1000-pound coral blocks quarried from a reef on the south coast of Oahu, was started during the reign of King Kamehameha II (1819-1824) and finished during the reign of Kamehameha III (1825-1854).  Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the congregation was founded by Hiram Bingham I, a Christian missionary from Connecticut whom introduced christianity to the Hawaiian Islands in 1820, initially worshipping in a large grass-covered structure that was constructed according to Native Hawaiian traditions, and could apparently hold up to 4000 people.  As the Kingdom of Hawaii grew wealthier and more connected to the outside world, the construction of the present church was intended to give the kingdom its own equivalent to Westminster Abbey, where coronation ceremonies and other important royal religious ceremonies could take place, as well as a place for the royal family and chiefs to attend weekly church services.  The church was the site where Kings Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Kalakaua all swore their oaths of office to the Hawaiian Constitution, as well as baptism of various members of the royal family, even those who worshipped other denominations.  The church is a relatively simple rectangular structure clad in rusticated coral stone, featuring an upper row of arched six-over-six double-hung windows and a lower row of rectangular six-over-six windows, a tower at the peak of the roof at the center of the front facade, which originally featured a tall pyramidal steeple and wooden Gothic Revival-style belfry surrounded by a balustrade, which was later removed and replaced with the present stone belfry with arched vents and a crenellated parapet, large clocks on all four faces of the tower, an arched main entry door flanked by two smaller arched entry doors and four doric pilasters, and a rear entrance flanked by two large arched windows.  The building sits next to the historic Kawaiahaʻo Cemetery, which includes the mausoleum of King Lunalilo, which sits in front of the church, and the Mission Cemetery, which sits behind the church.  The church was later somewhat supplanted by the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in the 1870s, which serves as an Episcopal or Anglican Cathedral, as most of the Hawaiian Royal Family were affiliated with the Church of England rather than the United Church of Christ, though ceremonies continued to occur at the church after the construction of the cathedral.  The church was also the location where Queen Liliʻuokalani’s body laid in state following her death in 1917, prior to her funeral at ‘Iolani Palace.  The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1962, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
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