Albert Spencer Wilcox Building, Museum and library building in Lihue, United States.
The Albert Spencer Wilcox Building is a two-part museum complex on Rice Street in Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi. The 1924 Wilcox building, designed by Hart Wood, holds exhibits of the Kauaʻi Museum, and the adjoining Rice building, designed by Kenneth Roehrig, opened as the museum in 1960. The Wilcox building became museum space in December 1970, after a new state library was built in 1969.
Built in 1924 from a design by architect Hart Wood, this structure was Kauai's first public library. Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox, widow of Albert Spencer Wilcox, funded its construction as a memorial to her late husband.
The building carries the name of Albert Spencer Wilcox (1844–1919), a businessman and politician; his widow Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox gave US$75,000 in 1922 for a public library in his honor. The Kauaʻi Museum's first director was Juliet Rice Wichman, who chaired the 1954 fundraising committee and later co-founded the National Tropical Botanical Garden.
The location on Rice Street in Lihue makes it easy to find from most main roads in town. Visitors should allow time to explore the multiple exhibition areas that display local history and collections.
The building carries two separate listings from 1979: Hawaiʻi state historic site 50-30-11-9344, added February 17, and National Register site 79000760, added May 31. Its address is 4428 Rice Street. The museum it now holds grew out of a separate Rice building opened December 3, 1960, designed by Kenneth Roehrig.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,891 contributors worldwide.
