F I R S TP R E V242NEXTLAST

People's Temple, Geary Avenue
In 1959 Jim Jones founded the People's Temple Full Gospel Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1965, to avoid state investigations of phony faith-healings, Jones lead his multi-racial congregation to San Francisco. Here he continued to expand his church to 2,000 members. But in 1977 a magazine article exposed his dark side which included cocaine use, pornography, a paternity suit, and meglo-mania. Again Jones decided it was time to move his church and he and 1,000 of his followers relocated to "Jonestown", 300 acres of church-owned land in Guyana. Concerned relatives of the departed church members asked Congressman Leo Ryan and some reporters to go to Jonestown and investigate. Fearing their report, Jones sent gunman who killed Ryan and the reporters at the airport. Jones then ordered his entire congregation to drink poisoned Kool-Aid. When the Guyanese army arrived the next morning 914 people were dead including Jones, who had been shot in the head. The site of the People's Temple in San Francisco is now a post office.
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