OAKLAND - M : USA - CA

*Location:

   El Campanil
   Mills College
   near The Oval (Wetmore Road)
   MacArthur Boulevard
   Oakland, California, USA
   LL: N 37.77872, W 122.18242

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*Former Location (Jan.-Jul.1894):

   California Midwinter International
     Exposition
   Golden Gate Park
   San Francisco, California, USA

   (none)

*Contact:

   Mills College
   5000 MacArthur Boulevard
   Oakland, CA  94613-1301
   Attn: Robert Donley, Building Sup't
   T: (510)430-2243   F: (510)430-2306
   E: bobd@mills.edu

*Schedule:

   Cambridge (Westminster) quarters,
   hour strike on the lowest quarter bell
   (second-largest), from Seth Thomas
   3-train tower clock (No.1234, Dec.1903),
   fully restored in 2005, wound weekly.

*Remarks:

   Bells purchased for the College in
   1902, but not installed until 1904;
   their whereabouts from 1894 to 1902
   is not documented.  They were reputed to
   have been originally (May-Oct.1893) at
   the World's Columbian Exposition in
   Chicago, Illinois, USA; more likely
   they were made as an identical match.
   Added semitone is flat 7th.  Original
   chimestand was removed 10 to 15 years
   after installation, and perhaps sent
   to Berkeley; but no evidence of its
   location remains.  Some bits of an old
   electric action remain, but the six
   non-clock bells are unused (except for
   the swinging tenor).

*Technical data:

   Chime-sized instrument with action described in Remarks above of 10 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is E  in the middle octave
   Transposition is unknown
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   There is one added semitone
   The whole instrument was installed in 1904
     with bells made by Vanduzen in 1893
   Year of latest technical information source is 1994

*Links:

The college Website has a photo of the tower, but no real description of it and its architectural significance.

A news article about the tower has 4 photos

Local Wiki article about the tower, with numerous photos

The first of a large collection of images of Mills College is of El Campanil.

A page about the architect tells more about the bells and puts this tower in the context of some of her other work, which includes Hearst Castle.

A waymarking page has a set of 6 photos

An old photo gives the clearest depiction of how the bells are arranged in the tower. (Two of them are hidden by the clock face in this view.)

The first of a large collection of images of Mills College is of El Campanil.

Local Wiki article about the tower, with numerous photos

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Vanduzen bellfoundry.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American chimes by weight (pitch).
Ranking among all North American chimes by year of completion.

Why this chime was a milestone in North American chime history (1893).

Index to all tower bell instruments in CA.

*Status:

   This page was built from the database on 16-Aug-09
   based on textual data last updated on 2009/08/12
   and on technical data last updated on 2008/05/06

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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