Due to the growth in the whaling industry, discussion had started in 1836 on the need for a new burial ground that was not associated with a specific church.

[3] In 1906, the first public crematory in the Hawaiian Islands, designed by architect Oliver G. Traphagen opened at the cemetery.

[4][5] After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, all paper currency on the islands was withdrawn and replaced with Hawaii overprint notes, in case the Japanese invaded.

Faced with the task of quickly destroying $200 million of cash, the crematory at the cemetery was used to burn it, instead of risking transport to the mainland.

[19] In 1989, a funeral for Ferdinand Marcos was planned at the mortuary,[20] but instead the body was kept refrigerated at the Byodo-In Temple until it was flown back to the Philippines in 1993.