CC SA-BY Our Oakland
St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church is an Armenian church dating back to the 1920s.
History
March 4, 1956 ground breaking
courtesy Lee Brenkman
The first church service was held Sunday, June 1, 1924 at the Greek Church in West Oakland. Reverend Father Vartan Kasparian officiated.
During the Great Depression, the congregation bought a church on the southeast corner of 23rd Avenue and East 17th Street for $5,000.
1950 Sanborn excerpt
The congregation grew, and in the 1950s they needed more room. On May 25, 1955, they purchased a lot at Spruce Street and McKinley for about $35,000. The church's history page says, "The buildings on the lot were a large home and carriage house from the estate of F. Borax Smith. The house was razed to allow Phase I construction of the church building but the carriage house remained and was put to good use." 1 [ However, the "Borax" Smith estate was on the other side of Park Blvd., and this location is beyond where even the Mary Smith Home for Friendless Girls homes were, so I'm not sure what the story is. ]
On Sunday, March 4, 1956, they held a ground breaking ceremony. They planned to hold a "sacred foundation" ceremony about 10 weeks later.
Present Day
The church is still going; the current parish priest is Reverend Father Hovel Ohanyan. They hold an annual Armenian Food Festival in October. In front of the church is a memorial commemorating the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
Photos CC SA-BY Our Oakland.
