Berkeley Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), Berkeley

The Ohlone people were the original inhabitants of the area that is now known as Berkeley, California. Many of them were casualties of the presence of the first settlers of European descent who arrived with the De Anza Expedition of 1776.

Among the soldiers in this expedition was Luis Peralta, who was gifted the land that would become Berkeley by the King of Spain. Peralta gifted the land to his sons upon his death, but the area was swiftly divided into a series of tracts for squatters and others who visited the region during the 1848 Gold Rush.

By the mid-19th century Berkeley was mostly farmland and ranches. That would change with the advent of the College of California. The college was founded in 1866, and then transformed into the University of California two years later.

The city of Berkeley is almost synonymous with the flagship state university. Most think of the Free Speech movement of the 1960s when they conjure images of Berkeley. People's Park is a prime example of a throwback to the civil unrest and protests that put Berkeley in the public eye. However, there were a number of discoveries and inventions at UC Berkeley that bear mentioning. Carbon 14 and photosynthesis were both discovered in Berkeley laboratories. The atomic and hydrogen bombs were invented there as well. The first flu vaccine was created at Berkeley as was the polygraph machine.

Visitors to Berkeley today can tour the campus, walk down historic Shattuck Avenue, marvel at Sather Tower and take a photo at Founders' Rock.

Take this self-guided tour to see these sites and others in Berkeley, California.