California Theatre (San Francisco)

California Theatre
California Theatre c. 1870
Map
Address414 Bush St.
San Francisco
OwnerBank of California
OperatorWilliam Ralston
DesignationCalifornia Theatre
Construction
OpenedJanuary 18, 1869
Demolished1906
RebuiltMay 18, 1889
ArchitectS. C. Bugbee & Son
Reference no.86[1]
William Ralston
California Theatre ruins 1906

The California Theatre was located at 414 (now 440) Bush Street, San Francisco.[2][3] It was built in 1869 by William Ralston, at that time the treasurer of the Bank of California. S. C. Bugbee & Son were the architects and the theatre cost $250,000 to build.[4][Note 1] The original theatre was demolished and rebuilt in 1889. It was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The former site (north side of Bush Street, between Kearny and Grant) is now a California Historical Landmark, with a historical marker commemorating the theatre and its artists.[1] The original theater encompassed 165 feet of frontage, 117 feet in depth, resting on 4 1/2 foot foundation walls; a handsome building with a dress circle, gallery and 51 foot ceiling space in the interior auditorium.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CHL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Lois Rather, Bonanza Theater, (private publishing, Rather Press, 1977), 23-25
  3. ^ K. Baedeker (1904) The United States: with an excursion into Mexico
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference wilmeth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Rather, Bonanza Theater, 26.


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