California College - Oakland

Baptist College, Oakland, California (1892) ¹

California College (sometimes called Baptist College or California Baptist College) was founded in Vacaville in 1871, and moved to East Oakland's Highland Park neighborhood in 1887. The cornerstone for the Oakland site was laid on June 29, 1886. Mrs. E. H. Gray, wife of Rev. E. H. Gray, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Oakland, donated $10,000 towards the purchase of the site. Both young women and young men were "admitted on equal footing to the advantages of the College." The Board at the time consisted of: H. E. McCune, President, J. H. Garnett, Secretary; and C. W. Dearborn, Treasurer.

In 1912, the college relocated to Berkeley, changing its name to Berkeley Baptist Divinity School. Following a series of mergers, the surviving school is now known as the American Baptist Seminary of the West.² The Oakland site and the College buildings apparently remained vacant for a number of years. In 1917, the property was purchased by Alameda County as a site for a new county hospital. In 1927, Highland Hospital opened on the former site of the College.

Excerpt from 1911-1912 Sanborn map showing former College site and buildings (public domain)