Site of College of California

The bronze now looks out through the window of a forty-story tower that in 2020 replaced the parking structure it hung on. The college it names was in debt from the start; bill collectors stopped Henry Durant in Oakland's streets. In 1868 its trustees gave their buildings and their Berkeley land to a state college that existed only on paper, and the two became the University of California. Durant served two years as its first president, stepped aside for a younger man, and in 1873 was elected mayor of Oakland. He died in office in 1875.

What the plaque says

Site of College of California Original Campus of University of California University of California, chartered March 23, 1868. Located between Franklin and Harrison, 12th and 14th Streets, from 1869 to 1873, using buildings of former College of California, successor to Contra Costa Academy founded by Henry Durant, June 1853. He was elected first university president in June 1870. University moved to present Berkeley site September 1873. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 45 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the University of California, the Alameda County Historical Society, and the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. May 22, 1968

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Muir Woods National Monument — 18 mi
  A redwood canyon saved from a reservoir by a gift, and named for a man who had been there once.
• Muir Beach Overlook — 18 mi
  A cliff edge on Highway 1, and the concrete dugouts where two-man crews watched the sea after Pearl Harbor.

More markers nearby

• First Unitarian Church of Oakland — 0.4 mi
• Pardee Home — 0.4 mi
• Paramount Theatre — 0.5 mi
• Coast Guard Lightship WLV 605 - Relief (decommissioned) — 0.8 mi