Our Jacksonville Bahá’í Center (pictured above) was acquired in 1987, when it was donated to the community by Rahmat and Tallat Ashoorian and family.  The Center was dedicated on April 23, 1988 (15 Jalál 145 BE).  The Center is located at 2140 St. Johns Bluff Road. 

Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois

The U.S. Bahá’í community currently consists of more than 150,000 people residing in over 7,000 localities throughout the United States, including over 100 Indian reservations.

The first American believer was Thornton Chase of Chicago, who became a Bahá’í in 1894.  By the end of 1894 four other Americans had also become Bahá’í.  The Bahá’í Faith spread quickly and groups formed in cities across the country.  The first African-American believer was Robert Turner of San Francisco, who became a Bahá’í in 1898.  In 1909 the first National Convention was held and 39 delegates from 36 cities attended.

The cornerstone of the Bahá’í Temple (right) in Wilmette, Illinois, near Chicago, was laid by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during his visit to the United States in 1912.  Wilmette is the home of the National Spiritural Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, the elected administrative body of American Bahá’ís.

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Shrine of the Báb and terraces, Mt. Carmel, Israel

The worldwide Bahá’í community is estimated to be about 5 or 6 million people.  They come from more than 2,000 different tribal, racial, and ethnic groups and live in 236 countries and dependent territories, making the Bahá’í Faith the second-most geographically widespread religion in the world, after Christianity.

The Bahá’í world headquarters is located on Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Israel, near ’Akká where Bahá’u’lláh spent His final years as a prisoner and exile of the Ottoman Empire.  Mt. Carmel is the location of the Shrine of the Báb (right), the seat of the Universal House of Justice, and the Bahá’í World Center complex.