The Honokaʻa Heritage Center is located in the historic Botelho Building. This building was constructed in 1927 by Judge Manuel Botelho. Judge Botelho was born in the Azores, Portugal and came to Hawaiʻi in 1880 at the age of two. He attended college in Illinois and became an attorney and later District Magistrate. From 1921 to 1934 he was also the Postmaster for Honokaʻa. The Botelho Building was originally built as a Ford dealership and garage. Over the years the building has housed a beauty salon, a dance hall, a post office and the local draft board. During World War II it was a USO for the military.

· The Honoka‘a Heritage Center celebrates the unique history and people of Hawai‘i Island’s rural Hāmākua district, an area that was home to one of the earliest and most significant native Hawaiian settlements (including ali‘i), and that encompasses the cultural and geographic landmarks of Waipi‘o Valley and Maunakea. When sugar cultivation began in Hawai‘i in the early 19th century, Hāmākua’s rich volcanic soil and natural irrigation quickly made it an epicenter for the new industry. As plantation labor needs outpaced the declining population of native Hawaiians, foreign workers began to be recruited from China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, etc., and the face of Hāmākua permanently changed
·  Funding will go toward a bimonthly series of Cultural Heritage Events honoring the legacies of the diverse immigrant cultures that have shaped the history and identity of Hāmākua. HHC successfully piloted four back-to-back cultural heritage nights during our 2024 Sugar Days Festival. For the first year (March 2025-February 2026) they anticipate offering six events, ideally showcasing Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Rican, Portuguese and Filipino culture, but later hope to include other ethnic groups that also played a role in the local plantation economy and cultural landscape (e.g., Okinawan, Korean, Norwegian, etc.). The goal will be to engage attendees in accessible, authentic cultural experiences, thereby heightening cross-cultural understanding and appreciation for Hāmākua’s role as a microcosm of a diverse, resilient, and forward-looking Hawai‘i.