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El Campanil, bell tower on the Oakland campus, by Julia Morgan

Built in 1904, the tower survived the 1906 quake unscathed, proving the strength of reinforced concrete and launching Morgan’s career.

Headshot of Kate Rix.
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A bell tower outside in California with trees growing next to it.
Spanish for “the bell tower,” El Campanil was two years old in 1906 when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck. The tower survived without a crack. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Title: “El Campanil” (1904)

Artist: Julia Morgan (1872-1957)

Materials: Reinforced concrete (bell tower)

Size: 72 ft. x 12 ft. x 24 ft.

Location: Oakland campus, opposite Mills Hall, at the outer edge of the Oval

About: Spanish for “the bell tower,” El Campanil was just two years old in 1906 when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck, centered offshore about 2 miles south of San Francisco. Most masonry buildings in downtown Oakland were damaged and water mains were broken, leaving the city without water. But the new reinforced concrete bell tower on the Mills College campus survived without a crack and launched the career of its architect, Julia Morgan. 

A small clock and gears inside of the Mills clock tower.
A plaque that says 'Designed by architect Julia Morgan. Dedicated by Susan T. Mills April 14, 1904'.
Architect Julia Morgan’s first independent commission was for a tower on the campus of Mills College to house 10 bronze bells gifted to the college in 1902 by a railroad industrialist. Morgan chose a novel material — concrete — which tolerated seismic shifts better than masonry. Photos by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

After graduating in civil engineering from U.C. Berkeley in 1894, Morgan became the first woman admitted to the architecture program at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She earned her certificate there in 1902 and returned to the Bay Area, where she contributed to designs for major structures at U.C. Berkeley. But her first independent commission was for a tower at Mills College to house 10 bronze bells gifted to the college in 1902 by railroad industrialist David Hewes.

Morgan’s design referenced California missions and adobe structures and allowed the natural concrete color to contrast with red tiles and dark wood. A novel choice at the time, the concrete material was flexible and tolerated seismic shifts better than masonry — a fact that would land Morgan major commissions, including Hearst Castle in San Simeon.