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Mormon Temple, Oakland Hills
On July 31, 1846 the sailing ship, Brooklyn arrived in San Francisco Bay with 230 Mormons led by a man named Sam Brannan. These pilgrims doubled the size of the city and many of the new arrivals would later go on to build the industry, agriculture, and commerce that created San Francisco. Brannan himself made a fortune selling mining supplies during the Gold Rush and became one of the great civic leaders of early San Francisco. But a falling out with the church leaders led to Brannan's excommunication and when his investment schemes failed he eventually died penniless and without friends in Southern California in 1889.

This huge Mormon Temple built in 1973, sits on the hills of Oakland and offers magnificent views of the Bay. At night the Temple's central ziggurat and four shorter towers of white granite and gold are floodlit and can be seen from across the Bay. The Temple's Visitors' center offers guided tours and explains the tenets of the church as well as the history of the faith in the Bay Area.
[ MAP L-13 ]


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