benicia clocktower

I have been going to functions here since I was a kid. Weddings, pop warner dinner dances, fundraisers. It is a beautiful old stone building that was part of the old Arsenal and fortress. It has a warning sign saying enter at your own risk like all old unreinforced brick buildings in California. It has withstood many earthquakes and is still sound. I was married here in the 1980's. I loved the stone walls and hardwood floors and the super long bar at one end. This is one of the few venues that lets you bring your own rentals and catering in. It is a very affordable fee to rent for the day. I have seen it decorated up for many weddings and it always looks so different depending on how you arrange it. I really like this place!

It's not open like a museum but rather a rentable upstairs ballroom with a bar built in for hosting events like Boy Scouts pine wood derby, etc. Has nice views outside walking around of Benicia-Martinez bridge but nothing really to do.

According to Benicia Historical Museum " When the new arsenal commander, Franklin D. Callender took over in 1856, he requested appropriations to be set aside for a new storehouse. His correspondence to the ordnance office in Washington show his interest in the aesthetic as well as functional aspects of the design. He wanted a building with towers on all four sides to be used for flank defense in the case of attack by local citizens! Two of the four towers were deleted and replaced with turrets at the final stage of the design. This was probably justified from a functional point of view, however it certainly changed the monumental symmetry of the original design. The clocktower was constructed from the fine Benicia sandstone which was very carefully cut and joined. The exterior was done in a rough "rock-face" finish and the roof was of slate."This a beautiful part of Benicia, overlooking the bridges and the entrance to the Bay Area Delta.