Hawaiian Postmark

Welcome to the joy of collecting postmarks!

Honomū, Hawaii, is a small town in the Hilo district of the island of Hawai`i.   In the 19th century, the town was the local settlement for a nearby sugar plantation; the post office was housed in the plantation store. 

Honomu Postmark 1899

The postmark shown was placed in use when the post office opened in July 1896, and was in use until some point in April 1900, during which time Hawai`i was an independent country. Honomū, now a town of about 450 residents, still manages to maintain a post office with the ZIP code 96728.   

This postmark is interesting to me in part because it is so clear.  Being from a really small town almost ensures that this postmark is seldom encountered at all.   Unlike this example, the majority of examples of this postmark are almost never legible.  This can be seen a bit in the date, which printed very lightly even on this strike.  On a personal level, I got interested in collecting Hawaiian postmarks to maintain a connection to my homeland—even though it is a connection to the 19th century version of the place I grew up.  

The stamp was issued by Hawaii in 1899, Scott 81, and depicts a view of Honolulu.

Hawaii, Scott 81

Written by Gannon Sugimura. Gannon’s exhibit, “The Evolution of Hawaiian Circular Date Stamps to 1900,” was awarded a Gold in the Multi-Frame Competition at the Great American Stamp Show, Cleveland, OH August 10-13, 2023.