Chinese Temple in Oroville

Oroville, CA has a "rich" history, no pun intended. The name of the town explains a lot...ORO is the Spanish word for gold and VILLE is the French word for town. Oroville is literally "gold town, USA." Gold was found along the banks of the Feather River--millions of dollars of gold was found. The news spread rapidly and people from all over the world came to get rich. A few of them did get rich, such as John Bidwell, the founder of Chico, CA. Among the miners, were about 10,000 Chinese men. They were not allowed to bring their wives, so they came alone. By the 1850s they requested artifacts from the Emperor and Empress of China to build a Temple. After the first two wooden Temples burned, a third was built of local brick (from Palermo, CA) in 1863.

That Temple is still standing, and during normal times, it's open to the public as a museum. (Due to Covid restrictions, it's not open right now.) Don't let that stop you from walking around the Temple to see the 3 main buildings and enjoy the beauty. 

A bright red Moon Gate leads into one of the 3 parts of the Temple which houses tapestries and carvings from ancient China. As a treat, the redbud tree beside the gate is starting to bloom.

Sadly, the Temple has had hard times. It is located near the Feather River and in 1907 the river flooded not only the Temple, but Oroville too. Lots of work was done to restore the Temple, but the Chinese community was getting smaller and smaller. Remember, only single men came from China and by 1907 they were not young any more. The remaining Chinese restored the Temple and by 1935 they knew they could not keep it so they donated it to the City of Oroville with 3 provisions: 1) the Temple would be a museum to house their artifacts 2) The Temple would be available for worship and 3) that volunteers would teach about the importance of the Chinese culture in the area.  

The Temple is a California Historical Landmark and as Huell Howser (of PBS Fame) would say, "Part of California's Gold." If you have some time, follow the green line in Oroville to discover more of the history of the town.