The original Harmon Gymnasium was a gymnasium on the campus of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. It was the fourth building built on campus, after North Hall, South Hall and Bacon Hall, and the first built with funds from a private donor. In 1878, Albion Keith Paris Harmon, an

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

businessman, donated $15,000 ($ in dollars) to the University for the construction of a gymnasium and assembly hall, which was to be named in his honor. In 1879, the octagonal wooden building opened, north of Strawberry Creek. The building served as a gymnasium, a theater, assembly hall, dance hall and the headquarters of the military cadet corps. In 1892, it was the site of the first competitive collegiate women's basketball game, between the University's women and Miss Head's School. By 1900 the needs of the campus had outgrown the gymnasium, so the decision was made to expand the building, by cutting the octagon in half, moving one half and building the new gymnasium between the two halves. The expanded Harmon Gym held 1,400 by the time the

California Golden Bears men's basketball The California Golden Bears men's basketball team is the college basketball team of the University of California, Berkeley. The program has seen success throughout the years, culminating in a national championship in 1959 under coach Pete Newell ...

team started competing in 1907. However, even this expansion proved to not be enough for the growing interest in college basketball. By 1925, only lesser non-conference games were held in the gym, with conference games and important games being held in the Oakland Civic Auditorium. In 1931, construction was started on its replacement, the current

Haas Pavilion The Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion is an indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley, California. It is the home venue of the Golden Bears men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, a ...

, which would eventually share the same name as its predecessor from 1959 to 1999. The building was torn down not long after the completion of the new Men's Gymnasium, and in 1950 Dwinelle Hall was built on the site.

References

{{Coord, 37.870310, -122.260057, type:landmark, display=title 1879 establishments in California 1933 disestablishments in California California Golden Bears basketball venues Defunct basketball venues in the United States Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Sports venues in the San Francisco Bay Area Sports venues in Berkeley, California Sports venues completed in 1879 Sports venues demolished in 1933 Demolished sports venues in California