Berkeley Chamber of Commerce / Wells Fargo Bank
Berkeley, Alameda County, California
Marker Inscription
CITY OF BERKELEY LANDMARK designated in 1984. Chamber of Commerce/Wells Fargo Bank. Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr., Architect, 1925–1927. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For nearly a half century, this steel frame and concrete structure, clad in brick and terra cotta, was Berkeley’s only “skyscraper.” Walter Ratcliff, highly respected for his fine residences and public buildings throughout Berkeley, designed this Classical Revival commercial tower at the peak of his career. Six ground floor arches were added soon after construction to replace original storefronts. The west wing was designed to accommodate additional stories at a later time, a plan derailed by the Depression. In 1930, the contested Stanford Axe, on its return to the bank’s vault for safekeeping, was stolen outside the Center Street doors by Stanford students disguised as news reporters and Cal students. Berkeley Historical Plaque Project 2010
Erected by Berkeley Historical Plaque Project
The Story
For nearly half a century this 1925–27 Classical Revival tower was Berkeley's only "skyscraper," designed by Walter Ratcliff Jr. at the height of his career. Steel-framed and clad in brick and terra cotta, it housed the Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo Bank, its planned upper stories cancelled by the Depression. In 1930 the prized Stanford Axe was famously stolen from outside its doors by students in disguise.
Why it matters
The building embodies the ambitions of a fast-growing California college town in the 1920s, and the limits the Great Depression imposed on them.
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Related people
- · Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr.
Related events
- · Theft of the Stanford Axe, 1930
Themes & tags
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