Historical Marker · No. 889
Bok Kai Temple
Marysville, Yuba County · California
Erected by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Yuba County Historical Commission, 1976
A flood took the first temple. Marysville's Chinese built the Bok Kai Miu around 1854 near First and B Streets, the great flood of 1866 is thought to have carried it off, and the congregation raised the present building in 1880 with its main altar turned to face the river. The god inside controls water. Bomb Day was once kept at a dozen California temples from Grass Valley to Yreka, and Marysville's is the only one still held, the bombs throwing good-fortune rings out over the crowd.
What the plaque says
Bok Kai Temple Dedicated March 21, 1880, this building replaced the first temple built nearby in the early 1850's. It has been a Chinese community project since 1866, serving as a meeting hall, court, school, and place of worship. In this "Palace of Many Saints", Bok Eye, the water god, is the central deity and has been celebrated in Marysville on Bomb Day since Chinese settled here. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 889 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Yuba County Historical Commission, October 16, 1976.
Where it stands
39.13564, -121.58832 · Directions
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