Oakland California Mormon Temple
The second of California’s temples, the Oakland California Mormon Temple was announced on May 26, 1962. That same day, the 18.3-acre site for the temple was dedicated by David O. McKay, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The church purchased the land for the temple in 1942 after 14 years of negotiations. The location offers a gorgeous view of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Before the temple itself was dedicated, an open house was held during the month of October 1964, allowing members of the public to tour the interior of the Mormon temple, which housed four ordinance rooms and seven rooms designed for sealing ordinances in which families are bonded together for eternity. More than 347,000 people visited the Oakland California Mormon Temple that month, including dozens who stood in line in the rain for almost two hours on the final day.
The Oakland California Mormon Temple is 95,000 square feet and incorporates Sierra white granite from nearby Raymond, California. The only Mormon temple with five spires, the Oakland California Mormon Temple rises 170-feet into the air. The temple is an icon of the East Bay. The exterior of the Oakland California Mormon Temple features two 35-foot panels of sculpture – one on the north depicting Jesus teaching in Jerusalem and one on the south depicting Jesus appearing to the peoples of the Americas after his resurrection. The grounds are landscaped with connected fountains of trickling water and big, coastal palm trees.
On the site of the Oakland California Mormon Temple is a public visitors’ center, which houses a reproduction of Thorvaldsen’s “Christus” statue, and the East Bay Interstake Center, in which Sunday services are held, welcoming any and all visitors.
The temple was closed for almost two years for renovations and was reopened on October 30, 1990. Today, Latter-day Saints from northern California gather there to worship and to perform sacred ordinances in this breathtakingly beautiful house of God.
4770 Lincoln Ave.