{"nrhp_refnum":"75000498","name":"Bok Kai Temple","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Yuba River Levee at D St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marysville","county":"Yuba County","state":"CA","lat":39.13489017200004,"lon":-121.58803018799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Chinese temple on the Yuba River levee at D Street in Marysville, Yuba County, California, dedicated in March 1880 on the site of former public bathhouse property after an earlier 1854 temple fell into disrepair.","why_significant":"The nomination states it is the only temple in the United States honoring Bok Eye, the Chinese Water God. It anchors the surviving Marysville Chinatown and hosts the annual Bomb Day festival, which is described as one of the oldest public Chinese festivals in America. It preserves Chinese American religious traditions from the late 19th century.","narrative":"Bok Kai Temple, on the Yuba River levee at D Street in Marysville, California, is a Chinese temple dedicated in March 1880. Its sanctuary has plastered brick walls, a mission tile roof, a tiled porch on turned wood columns, carved wood trim and a hand-painted scene above the entry. Side rooms flank the sanctuary, and a wood-frame kitchen and dwelling room was added at the northeast corner. It replaced a first temple of 1854 built about two blocks upstream. The temple honors Bok Eye, the Water God believed to control floods, rains and irrigation waters, alongside other deities. It is described as the only temple in the United States devoted to him. It stands in what remains one of the oldest Chinatowns in the country, once a rest and supply center for miners and laborers. Each year the Bomb Day festival, held since 1880 with interruptions, draws thousands of visitors. The community began restoring the building in 1947.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Built by a handful of faithful members of the Chinese community; no architect named","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked fair and altered; in regular use by the local Chinese community as a temple and open to visitors on request. Restoration work began in 1947 and stabilization work was later planned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.240635-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/75000498.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000498/e764f70768-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000498/e764f70768-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Isaac Crumm at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BokKaiTempleFar.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Isaac Crumm at en.wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BokKaiTempleFar.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862420","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_Kai_Temple","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4938700"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/yuba-county/bok-kai-temple-75000498/"}