The name itself is a small piece of poetry. In 1866 the trustees of the College of California stood on a rocky outcrop above the new townsite — still called Founders' Rock — looked out through the Golden Gate, and decided to name the place for the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley, remembering his line, ‘Westward the course of empire takes its way.’ The land was Ohlone homeland for thousands of years, then a piece of the Peralta family's Rancho San Antonio, then a Gold-Rush settlement called Ocean View; in 1878 the campus town and the waterfront village merged and incorporated as Berkeley.
And then there are the hills. Berkeley climbs from the Marina, with its kite fields and Golden Gate views, up through the flats to the Berkeley Hills and Tilden Regional Park — Lake Anza, the botanic garden, a vintage steam train, and the sunset view from Indian Rock. The terraced Berkeley Rose Garden, a WPA amphitheater from 1937, looks straight at the Bay. The Hayward Fault runs right under the city, a reminder that all this sits on living ground. Even the curb cut for wheelchairs was pioneered on these streets, in 1972.
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.
