From the Archives

30 years ago

January 28, 1980

Joan Chloupek, St. John's historian, located the cornerstone at the original site (1859) and second construction (1897) of St. John's Episcopal Church in Oakland. The building stood at Eighth and Grove and was demolished in January 1980 to make way for the Grove Shafter Freeway.

Joan Chloupek, Jan 28, 1980The Diocese had sold the building in 1947, and proceeds of the sale helped fund the construction in 1954 of the parish hall at St. John's in Montclair.

The contents of the copper box buried in the cornerstone included The Oakland Tribune, June 3, 1897, listing the legal title of the church, her officers, rectors, bylaws, vestrymen, charter of incorporation. Parish publications and copies of the Tribune, Chronicle, Enquirer, Examiner, and Call Bulletin were also found in the box.

"Monday, January 28th, was the day set to pull the massive . . . stairs from the foundation where I was told we would probably find ‘The Stone.' Arriving on the scene at 7:15 a.m., I wandered by the still standing stairs onto Grove Street . . . when suddenly there it lay - a large 18" x 12" x 12" block of concrete adjacent to the Baptistry foundation. The Stone had been miraculously exposed and left unnoticed by weekend gleaners." - Joan Chloupek