{"id":3259,"slug":"lahaina-banyan-tree-lahaina-hawaii","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["The banyan is the '73 — the 8-foot sapling that's the gift, the '50 years' that's the mission. The '23 was the fire — the charred that's the standing, the 'roots' that's the hope. The 46 are the trunks — the 1.94 acres that's the coverage, the 'largest in US' that's the claim.","The Kamehameha is the site — the first palace that's the ground, the 'Lele' that's the old name. The India is the origin — the missionaries who sent, the 'quarter-mile' that's the circumference. The banyan is the heart — the gathering that's the Lahaina, the fire that's the survived.","The file keeps the banyan: the 1873 planting, the '23 fire, the 46 trunks, and the Kamehameha site.","The Lahaina banyan is the archive's Hawaii file — the tree that lived."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["The Lahaina banyan is the archive's Hawaii file — the charred survivor.","A tree keeps its roots — the file's suggestion being that the banyan's hold is the survival: the '73 gift, the '23 fire, and the 'roots' that are the hope."]}],"name":"Lahaina Banyan Tree","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","LOCAL_FOLKLORE","LEGEND_SITE","HISTORIC_LANDMARK"],"groups":["dark-history","legends"],"desc":"The 1873 banyan—burned 2023, still standing.","full_desc":"A site in Lahaina, Hawaii, Lahaina Banyan Tree is filed here for what the record attaches to it. The 1873 banyan—burned 2023, still standing. The file’s recurring figure goes by a name, not a description: the banyan. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend and 1 documented fact, with the verified spine filed separately from the lore. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Lahaina","county":null,"state":"Hawaii","postal":null,"region":"West","lat":20.886048,"lon":-156.666195,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site","research_notes":"HI2 batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":3322,"type":"LEGEND","description":"The tree’s lore is documented. The banyan is the name the reports keep returning to. The reports at Lahaina Banyan Tree are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. 'Lahaina Banyan' preserves the telling; the record keeps it filed where it belongs, as lore. Sources including 'Lahaina Banyan' keep the claim in circulation. As folklore it's unkillable: the story is too good, and the place too fitting, to let go.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"The banyan","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Lahaina Banyan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":3323,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported a presence at the tree. The reports at Lahaina Banyan Tree are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. Witness accounts, no evidence file: the claim is anecdotal and stays that way. The figure remains the site's most-repeated sighting. The lore keeps its witness.","evidence":"ANECDOTAL","evidence_label":"Anecdotal","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Lahaina Banyan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The 1873 planting and the 2023 fire are documented. Lahaina Banyan Tree's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer beneath whatever lore attaches. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. 'Lahaina Banyan' documents the entry. The entry's timeline holds it; the lore holds the rest.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":"1873","date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Lahaina Banyan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"The tree’s lore is documented. The reports at Lahaina Banyan Tree are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. The legend does what legends do — it explains the place in a way the records can't.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Lahaina Banyan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"The banyan","claimed_identity":"The banyan","verified":null,"summary":"The tree’s lore is documented. The presence goes by The banyan. The reports at Lahaina Banyan Tree are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. The report is preserved in sources like 'Lahaina Banyan'. Named presences persist where anonymous reports fade — the file's name here is The banyan.","behavior":"The tree’s lore is documented.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Lahaina Banyan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Lahaina Banyan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}