Mormon History Tour of Oakland

The Oakland Branch was organized on October 2, 1892 in a parlor at 525 Sixth Street. John Dalton presided, assisted by B.H. Roberts. Six members were present. From 1900-1903 the Oakland Branch met in the old California Academy at 1015 Clay ... Read more

Ina Donna Coolbrith was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community. Called the "Sweet Singer of California", she was the first California Poet Laureate.  She was also the fi... Read more

From 1918 to 1923, the Oakland Branch rented meeting space from this building located at 1918 Grove Street (Grove Street was renamed Martin Luther King Junior Way in 1984). This was the Oakland Branch's last rented meeting space before buil... Read more

This fenced parking lot, and sometimes homeless encampment, is the site of one of the Oakland homes of Marie and William Graves. Their home probably looked like the other older homes remaining on Magnolia Street.  The Graves were members o... Read more

This is another of Marie and William Graves's homes. The building has been substantially renovated and expanded in the back to create separate apartments.  But likely the front facade, including the bay window and other Victorian features... Read more

This building was the center of Mormon life in the East Bay from 1923 to 1959, when it was sold. Now owned by the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, it has been extensively renovated, but much of the original structure is still intact.  ... Read more

There are still remnants of the Saints arrival in Yerba Buena/San Francisco in 1846. Before it was annexed by Oakland in 1872, the area now called East Oakland was formerly an independent town called Brooklyn, named after the ship that brou... Read more

By 1935, the chapel at Moss and Webster had become inadequate for stake functions, so Stake Conferences were held in the Scottish Rite Auditorium until the Inter-Stake Center was dedicated in 1960. The Scottish Rite Temple was relatively n... Read more

The Dimond Ward chapel was built 1929.  It was built by volunteer labor in 90 days, and dedicated by Heber J Grant. It was later sold and now owned by The City of the Lord Zion church.

The Virginia Street Chapel was the home of the Oakland Fourth Ward, covering East Oakland, until that ward moved to the Interstake Center in the 1970s. The building was renovated in the late 1980s, and rededicated in 1988 by Elder Paul Dunn... Read more

William and Marie Graves joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1911 in Oakland, California. Marie was a dressmaker and William was a Pullman Porter and later a janitor. Marie remained a faithful member of the Oakland B... Read more

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Editor and poet Ina Coolbrith was born Josephine Smith to Mormon parents in Nauvoo, Illinois. Her uncle, Joseph Smith, was the founder of the Mormon Church. Her father died when Coolbrith was an infant, and her mother subsequently left the ... Read more

This building was built in the 1950s by the Claremont Ward. It was dedicated 1955. The Claremont Ward was renamed Oakland 5th Ward in 1965. The ward dissolved in 1970 and the building was sold to a Christian church – possibly the Unifica... Read more

In 1948, the Church purchased the former home and adjacent garden of Phoebe Hearst, an early UC regent and benefactor, and mother of William Randolph Hearst. The original large garden was replaced with a building attached to the home that ... Read more

The Berkeley Ward building was built 1934. The architect was Theodore G Ruegg.