Church of One Tree

A small wooden church built in 1873 from a single redwood log.

A tiny white wooden Baptist church on the edge of Juilliard Park, the Church of One Tree was built in 1873 entirely from boards milled from one enormous redwood tree felled near Guerneville. It is now a city-owned event space, not a working church, and is normally locked except for weddings and private functions — but it is photogenic from the outside, and the small park around it is a pleasant lunch spot.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and a few minutes' walk from the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens.

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A story
The entire church — pulpit, pews, wainscoting, and all — was milled from a single 275-foot coast redwood felled in the Russian River valley. Robert Ripley featured it in his 'Believe It or Not!' cartoon panel in 1922; the building later housed Santa Rosa's Ripley museum for decades before closing in 1992.

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