In 1973, it was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places and its boundaries were increased in 1995,[1] after 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land which included the site became a state park in 1992.

[2] The site is not only the place from which the history and power of the island was birthed, known as a piko, but its placement across from the Waiʻanae Range may have been used as a calendar.

The Hoʻolonopahu Heiau associated with the site was later destroyed, as were many others in the area, to make room for sugarcane and pineapple fields in the rich soils where sweet potato and yam once grew in abundance.

Chiefly families lived along the slopes of the Waiʻanae overlooking the plateau and along the shores of Waialua to the north, and many key battles between rivals for control of Oʻahu were also fought on the central plains surrounding Kūkaniloko.

[8] In April 2000, a team from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy recorded designs and shapes on the stones that could have been used to track the movements of celestial objects for calendrical purposes.