The Church of One Tree is a historic building in the city of

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

, United States. It was built in 1873/4 from a single redwood tree milled in Guerneville, California. Guerneville was the site of an ancient coastal redwood forest, much of which was logged for the rebuilding of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Prior to being renamed for one of the local milling families, Guerneville was called Stumptown for the giant redwood stumps left by the loggers. The tree used to construct the church stood high and was in diameter. The single tree, when milled, produced of lumber, with the lumber costing a total of $3,000. The church was the original home of the First Baptist Church of Santa Rosa, located in downtown on B Street. It was moved to its current location to avoid destruction. In recent decades, the building has been used for several other unique purposes.

Robert Ripley LeRoy Robert Ripley (February 22, 1890 – May 27, 1949) was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, and amateur anthropologist, who is known for creating the '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' newspaper panel series, television show, and radio sho ...

, a native of Santa Rosa, wrote about the Church of One Tree – where his mother attended services – in one of his earliest installments of “Believe It or Not!” In 1970, the Church of One Tree was repurposed as the Ripley Memorial Museum which was stocked with curiosities and “Believe it or Not!” memorabilia for nearly two decades. From the 1950s until 1998 it was the Ripley Memorial Museum. Starting in 2008 and continuing through 2009, the City of Santa Rosa utilized grant funding to re-lead the

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows, as well as repair, paint and renovate the interior of the church, and the Recreation and Parks Department rents out the space for events. It is located adjacent to Juilliard Park and less than one block from the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens historic site.

References

{{coord, 38.4360, -122.7140, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title Wooden houses in the United States Churches in Sonoma County, California Buildings and structures in Santa Rosa, California Wooden churches in California Houses in Santa Rosa, California Churches completed in 1874 1874 establishments in California