Location
6290 North Valentine Avenue
Fresno, California 93711
United States
Contact
Telephone: 559-437-9451
Facsimile: 559-437-9443
Details
Announcement: 8 January 1999
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 20 March 1999 by John B. Dickson
Public Open House: 25 March–4 April 2000
Dedication: 9 April 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley
Site: 2.34 acres.
Exterior Finish: White Sierra granite quarried in Raymond, California.
Ordinance Rooms: Two ordinance rooms (two-stage progressive) and two sealing.
Total Floor Area: 10,700 square feet.
Temple Facts:
The Fresno California Temple was the fourth temple built in California, the second built in Northern California, and the first built in the Central Valley.
History:
The Fresno California Temple serves about 28,000 members from eight stakes including the Fresno, Fresno North, Fresno East, Fresno West, Hanford, Visalia, Merced, and Porterville stakes, and the California Fresno Mission.
"From the days of the sailing of the ship Brooklyn to San Francisco Bay in 1846 and the forced march of the Mormon Battalion, California has taken a key role in the history of the Church," said Elder John B. Dickson of the Seventy and president of the North America West Area, who presided over the groundbreaking services."This is another of those great days."
Elder Dickson said that since the Church's organization in April 1830, it has begun to fill the whole earth. "We now find ourselves on the threshold of unprecedented growth and expansion," he declared.
Speaking of the Book of Mormon, he continued: "What a blessing it is to have this other testimony of the Savior amidst the unbelief of the 20th and 21st centuries. Through these scriptures we have more fully come to understand that God is our Heavenly Father, that we dwelt with Him before this earth life and that part of His plan for our happiness was that a way be prepared for us to return to Him one day….
"We have also learned that the family is the central unit in Heavenly Father's plan for His children," Elder Dickson explained. "This brings us to the purpose of our being here today, for we know not only that families are basic and important, but they can also be eternal. The building that will rise on this sacred piece of property is a building dedicated to the proposition of helping us to establish eternal families" (Church News, 27 March 1999).