First Unitarian Church - Berkeley, CA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

“The First Unitarian Church of Berkeley was founded on Sunday, July 12, 1891, in space rented from the Berkeley Odd Fellows Temple, then on Shattuck Street, a couple of blocks south of its present location. Some have said that this first meeting was held in a saloon on the first floor, but if so, suitable quarters were found for subsequent meetings.”


"The expanding University of California acquired the Unitarian Church property in 1960, and the congregation moved to Kensington the following year, where a new church was built on land donated by Maybeck. The Berkeley parish house and auxiliary structure were razed in 1965 to clear land for the Zellerbach Auditorium and Playhouse complex. The church building was retained and has been converted into the Dramatic Arts Department’s dance facility. In 1998, the building underwent seismic, life safety, and ADA upgrades at a cost of $778,000.00, a far cry from the original construction costs a hundred years earlier."

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Street address: 2401 Bancroft Way Berkeley , CA USA County / Borough / Parish: Alameda Year listed: 1981 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: Religious Structure Current function: Religious Structure Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/16/2014 grandmabetsy visited it 03/25/2010 saopaulo1 visited it 01/04/2008 ucdvicky visited it

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