Volcano House
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Volcano Facts
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The 1877 building now houses an art gallery
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| Nearest city | Volcano, Hawaii |
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| Coordinates | 19°25′48″N 155°15′29″W / 19.43000°N 155.25806°WCoordinates: 19°25′48″N 155°15′29″W / 19.43000°N 155.25806°W |
| Area | 104 feet (32 m) by 110 feet (34 m) |
| Built | 1877 |
| Architect | Multiple |
| NRHP Reference # | 74000293 |
| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1974 |
Volcano House is the name of a series of historic hotels built at the edge of the Kīlauea volcano, within the grounds of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the Island of Hawai'i. The original 1877 building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now houses the Volcano Art Center. The hotel in use today was built in 1941 and expanded in 1961.
In ancient Hawaii the volcano was the place to make offerings to the fire goddess Pele. Archeological evidence shows activity for hundreds of years, including gathering of volcanic glass to use as cutting tools. Only a few rare eruptions such as the one in 1790 are explosive, and the northeast rim provides a relatively safe vantage point. The prevailing northeast trade winds and higher elevation cause poisonous gasses and lava to flow in the other direction. Rev. William Ellis describes camping in this area in his journal of his 1823 missionary tour with Asa Thurston. An enterprising Hawaiian was reported to have set up a small thatched hut in the early 1840s to sell food to visitors, who by then included sightseers as well as explorers.Charles Wilkes camped in this area on the United States Exploring Expedition in 1840, on his way to Mauna Loa. About 1846 a primitive one-room grass shelter was constructed at the rim of the Kīlauea crater by Benjamin Pitman, the first hotel to call itself "Volcano House". However, sometimes visitors would show up after the long journey and nobody would be home. A more substantial wood frame structure was built in 1866 with four bedrooms, parlor, and dining room. Mark Twain stayed here, and wrote about his visit in the book Roughing It.
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