Berkeley, California was named for Bishop George Berkeley and inspired by poetry – specifically his allusions to ancient Greece, the original “model” for the University of California as envisioned by its founders.

Berkeley Perspective

In 1866, the trustees of the College of California gathered on a hillside overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Before them was a rough-and-tumble town called Ocean View, 200,000 acres of bay laurel and live oak trees, and the coastal headlands that would soon become the University of California.

Why is Berkeley called Berkeley?