National Register of Historic Places

First Unitarian Church of Oakland

Oakland, Alameda County, California
Listed
June 15, 1977
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
77000284

About this property

The First Unitarian Church of Oakland is located in western Downtown Oakland, California. It is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The building site was purchased in November 1888 from Jane K. Sather, a patron of the University of California. Construction began in 1890 and was completed in September 1891, although it began to be used for various activities while still unfinished. The church building was designed in 1889 by Walter J. Mathews. This solid masonry Romanesque Revival style church departed radically from California's then predominant wood framed Carpenter Gothic style churches. It is noted for its famous stained glass windows produced by Goodhue of Boston, and for its arching redwood spans that were the widest at the time west of the Rocky Mountains. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake damaged the building, but did not destroy it. The church is listed as California Historical Landmark #896, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NPS-77000284). The church remains a significant cultural and architectural landmark in Oakland. "First Unitarian Church of Oakland". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved March 30, 2012. Corbett, Michael (1997). "First Unitarian Church" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2014. Harvard.edu: Historical records of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland — at the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School. Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. CA-2670, "First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 Fourteenth Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA", 12 photos, 41 data pages, 2 photo caption pages

Location

685 14th St.
Oakland, Alameda County, California
37.80689, -122.27633

Categories

ARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Oakland Public Library
Industrial
0.1 mi
Pardee House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Pacific Press Building
Industrial
0.2 mi
Alameda County Building and Loan Association Building
Industrial
0.2 mi
Pacific Gas & Electric Company Building
Industrial
0.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was First Unitarian Church of Oakland listed on the National Register?

First Unitarian Church of Oakland was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 15, 1977.

What type of historic resource is First Unitarian Church of Oakland?

First Unitarian Church of Oakland is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for First Unitarian Church of Oakland?

The period of significance for First Unitarian Church of Oakland is recorded as the industrial era.

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