2 Best Sights in Big Island, Hawaii

Built in 1839 by a missionary couple from New England, Sarah and David Lyman, the beautifully restored Lyman Mission House is the island's oldest wood-frame building and displays household utensils, artifacts, tools, and furniture used by the family, giving visitors a peek into the day-to-day lives of Hawaii's first missionaries. The Lymans hosted such literary dignitaries as Isabella Bird and Mark Twain here. The home is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and docent-guided tours are offered. An adjacent museum has wonderful exhibits on volcanoes, island formation, island habitats and wildlife, marine shells, and minerals and gemstones. It also showcases Native Hawaiian culture and the culture of immigrant ethnic groups. On permanent exhibit is a full-size replica of a traditional 1930s Korean home. The gift shop sells great Hawaiian-made items.

Behind a stone loading platform of the once-famous Hawaii Consolidated Railway, constructed about 1900, the former manager's house is now a museum and a reminder of the era when sugar was the local cash crop. It displays artifacts from the sugar plantation era, the 1946 tsunami, local railway history, and the rich culture of the Hamakua Coast. The museum's Wye railyard has a vintage switch engine, large standard-gauge caboose, and narrow-gauge explosives boxcar. The trains even run a few yards along the restored tracks on special occasions. Call before coming: hours may vary according to docent availability.