All of it grew up around the University of California, chartered in 1868 and built on the first campus here — the institution that made Berkeley a city of learning, bookshops, and cafes that double as seminar rooms. In the 1930s, Ernest Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory and its cyclotrons made the hills a birthplace of modern physics. More than most American towns, Berkeley has been organized around ideas and the people who argue about them.
Our Berkeley logo carries California's grizzly bear above ‘California Republic — Est. 1850,’ the shared retro emblem of our California towns; the bear is the state's own icon, from the old Bear Flag Republic, and 1850 marks the year California joined the Union. Rendered in black-and-white, it ties Berkeley to every other California town we make. What makes this one Berkeley is the city behind the bear — the Little Castle, the cafes of the Gourmet Ghetto, and the hills above the Bay.
Why People Visit Berkeley
Berkeley balances learning with the outdoors. Visitors mix landmark architecture and famous kitchens with regional parks, rose terraces, and waterfront breezes. It is curious, green, and welcoming, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces. History and everyday culture sit side by side here in a welcoming way, from the Little Castle to the cafes of the Gourmet Ghetto and the trails of the hills above the Bay.
