The historical park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu (one of the ancient laws) could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or puʻuhonua.

[3][4] The 420 acre (1.7 km2) site was originally established in 1955 as City of Refuge National Historical Park and was renamed on November 10, 1978.

Hale o Keawe was an ancient Hawaiian heiau originally built in approximately 1650 AD[6] as the burial site for the ruling monarch (aliʻi nui) of the Island of Hawaii named Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku.

Oral traditions compiled by Dorothy Barrère are still considered the best for chronological order of the surrounding complex.

[10] The heiau would lay untouched after the banning of the Hawaiian religion while all other such temples were destroyed until Kaahumanu had the building dismantled and all the remains moved to the royal mausoleum in Honolulu.

[12] In 1829, High Chiefess Kapiʻolani removed the remaining bones and hid them in the Pali Kapu O Keōua cliffs above nearby Kealakekua Bay.