Oliver Lowe
ca.1920
Chapel of the Chimes
4499 Piedmont Avenue
Oakland, CA, US
Instrument ID: 131 ● Builder ID: 3866 ● Location ID: 127
⬆️ These are database IDs that may change. Don't use as academic reference.EXPLORE IMAGESSomething not quite correct?Suggest an Edit
IMAGES
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STOPLISTS
No stoplist details are available. If you have stoplists, please consider sharing them with us.
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CONSOLES
Builder: Unknown
Position: Unknown
Design: Unknown
Pedalboard Type: Unknown
Features:
3 Manuals 14 StopsElectrical Key ActionStop Layout: Unknown
Expression Type: Unknown
Combination Action: Unknown
Control System: Unknown or N/A
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DETAILS
This instrument is: Extant and Playable in this location
Instrument was inspected on January 6, 2026 and found to not be playable. Power was not able to be turned on at the console.
Database Manager on April 30th, 2016:
Updated through online information from Thomas L. DeLay.
The organ was built in Berkeley by Oliver Lowe who owned the Oliver Organ Company. He had previously been an employee of the American Photoplayer Company and took over their Berkeley plant when American Photoplayer was absorbed in the the Robert Morton Company in Van Nuys.
The organ was installed circa 1930 and used the 7-rank style E Wurlitzer from the State Theatre in Martinez, CA, not the State Theatre in Monterey as shown in this entry. In 1939 the organ was enlarged to the 3-manual console with 14-ranks including a new relay built by Wurlitzer for the organ. The organ is completely unplayable and highly unlikely it will ever be restored.
The original 2m console was in the back of the chapel and the newer 3m console on a rotating platform at the front. Prior to WW II, Richard I. Purvis broadcast this organ in a theatre organ program, but under the name of Don Irving.
Database Manager on October 30th, 2004:
From State Theatre, Monterey, CA. 10/89 form.
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