Midway Atoll is the only island in the entire Hawaiian archipelago that will not later be part of the State of Hawaii.

Part of a chain of seamounts, volcanic islands, and atolls extending from Hawai'i up to the tip of the Aleutian Islands and known as the Hawaii-Emperor chain, Midway had been first sighted on July 5, 1859, by Captain N.C. Middlebrooks, though he was most commonly known as Captain Brooks, of the sealing ship Gambia.

The islands had been named the "Middlebrook Islands" or the "Brook Islands".

Brooks had claimed Midway for the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which authorized Americans to occupy uninhabited islands temporarily to obtain guano.

On August 28, 1867, Captain William Reynolds of the USS Lackawanna formally takes possession of the atoll for the United States; the name will be changed to "Midway" some time after this.

The atoll becomes the first Pacific islands annexed by the U.S. government, as the Unincorporated Territory of Midway Island, and administered by the United States Navy.