First Church Of Christ, Scientist, Menlo Park, California, was organized in November 1950, and held its first services that Thanksgiving Day in the Menlo Players Guild Theater. The Sunday School held its sessions in the adjacent Burgess Gymnasium. These facilities were rented from the City of Menlo Park.

The Reading Room was established in February 1951, at 1029 Merrill Avenue. In February 1954 it opened its doors to the community in a more central location at 1129 Chestnut Street. (The Reading Room moved next door to its present location at 1127 Chestnut Street in 1998.)



Increased attendance at church services and Sunday School neccessitated more adequate facilities. A chapel located at Stanford Village was purchased that Spring from the Methodist Church. On Thanksgiving Day, 1953, just three years after the first Christian Science service was held in Menlo Park, the Church edifice was dedicated.

The present site, at 201 Ravenswood Avenue, was acquired from Stanford Research Institute in March 1957. The building now used as the Sunday School, designed by Leslie Nicols, was the first building erected on the new site, and was used initially for both Church services and the Sunday School. The first services in this building were held on Easter Sunday in April 1958.

Architectural drawings for the present Church edifice, by the firm of Inwood and Hoover, were accepted by the membership in May 1965. The next month ground was broken and construction started. The cornerstone was laid in September 1965, and construction was completed in January 1966. The 19-rank Austin pipe organ was added in October 1977. The original building, now used for the Sunday School and offices only, was extensively remodeled in the Spring of 2000