South Hall is the oldest building on the campus of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, built in 1873 in the

Napoleon III style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

. It is the only remaining building of the original campus. South Hall was originally the counterpart of North Hall, which no longer exists, but was located where the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

currently stands. The first

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

laboratory in the United States was hosted in South Hall in 1879. It also has been home to the College of Agriculture, a business school, and a temporary museum for the state geological survey. It currently houses the

UC Berkeley School of Information The University of California, Berkeley, School of Information, also known as the UC Berkeley School of Information or the I School, is a graduate school and, created in 1994, the newest of the schools at the University of California, Berkele ...

. When

Wheeler Hall Wheeler Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California in the Classical Revival style. Home to the English department, it was named for the philologist and university president Benjamin Ide Whee ...

was planned, the entrance of South Hall was removed from the west side and added on the east side entrance. The original wooden porch was replaced in 1997 with glass fiber reinforced concrete. Campus tour guides often point out a small stone bear, sculpted by Michael H. Casey, in the architecture of South Hall, on the balcony railing above the entrance, in the third circle from the left, claiming it is the smallest bear statue on campus. The four-story building is located southwest of

Sather Tower Sather Tower is a bell tower with clocks on its four faces on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. It is more commonly known as The Campanile ( , also ) for its resemblance to the Campanile di San Marco in Venice. It is a recog ...

References

External links

UC Berkeley's School of Information: About South Hall
Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California University of California, Berkeley buildings University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley, California Second Empire architecture in California University and college administration buildings in the United States 1873 establishments in California {{AlamedaCountyCA-NRHP-stub