Heiau means “temple” and this site protects a heiau built by King Kamehameha during his quest to unite the Hawaiian islands. In a prophesy, he saw that if he built this temple to please the war god, that he would finally unite the Hawaiian Islands and become their ruler. It’s said that men stood in a line more than 20 miles long passing each rock one by one from the northern coast to this spot to build the heiau, at the top of Pu’ukuhola, or Whale Hill.

King Kamehameha’s prophesy eventually came true when the islands were united in 1810 following years of unrest among the many chiefdoms.