Before moving to 514 1/2 Pacific, an earlier Thalia location was closer to Kearney St. at 580 Pacific. See the Thalia / Diana Hall page for a shot showing Thalia signage at that location.
A SFPL photo looking east from Kearney in 1913. The Thalia Theatre sign is sticking out way down there on the left at 514 1/2 Pacific. The Thalia was a combination variety theatre / saloon.
The Diana Hall building we see in the foreground on the left at 580 Pacific was an earlier location of the Thalia. See the Diana Hall page for several more views. Beyond Spider Kelly's we get the bottom half of the
Hippodrome's sign at 560 Pacific.
The windmill on the right
is at 555 Pacific, here the called Red Mill / Moulin Rouge. Later the Hip
would move across the street and take up residence there. Later yet 555
would be a new home for Diana Hall. Got all that? The photo appears on a Wikipedia page about the "Terrific Street."
The north side of the 500 block of Pacific as seen on page 32 of Volume 1 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. On their site it's image 41 out of 120. See page 2 for an index to this volume. Also see the page from the LOC's collection of the map as it was with updates as late as 1950.
Spots of interest on this very busy block include the Hippodrome at 560, the Midway at 516 and the Thalia Theatre at 514 1/2. That's Broadway at the top of the image, Kearny at the left and Montgomery at the right.
"Sal. & Dance Hall - Vaudeville & Moving Pictures - Stage - No Scenery." It's a closer look at the Thalia from the Sanborn map. That "Sal" designation was for saloon. On the left it's the Hippodrome location at 560. At times they were also on the other side of the street at 555.
A 1910s view looking east. From the left it's Purcell's / The So Different at 520 Pacific, The Kozy, the Old Golden City bar, and the arched entrance of the Thalia at 514 1/2. It's a photo from the Marilyn Blaisdell collection appearing on the Open SF History Project website. They note that Purcell's was an African-American club.
A terrific perhaps late 1910s view of the two entertainment emporia and their fine signage. We're looking east from Kearney toward Montgomery St. The photo, from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library is on Calisphere. It's also on a Found SF page about the Barbary Coast and on the San Francisco Public Library website.
Thanks to Jack Tillmany for this detail of the Thalia's vertical from the image above.
Another version of the view east is in the San Francisco Public Library collection, which they date as 1908. It's obviously later as the vertical signs we see weren't in place that early.
A lovely c.1919 look at the entrance to the variety theatre / dancehall after removal of the huge vertical sign. "Featuring the best music & Finest Entertainment." It's from a glass negative in the Emiliano Echeverria/Randolph Brandt Collection. It's on an Open SF History page. Note the fancy remodel on the building to the left.
A mid 20s view of the east end of the block showing the effects of the signage removal program organized by reformer and law enforcement official Jesse B. Cook. Down the block is the Thalia, with its sign support still visible. The photo, from the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library, appears on Calisphere.
In the photo that's Cook on the sidewalk. He was at times a Police Chief and a Police Commissioner. Later he collected photos and other items regarding S.F. law enforcement. The photo is from his collection. Wikipedia has more about Mr. Cook. The photo also appears on the Found SF page about the Barbary Coast.
Here, in what the Bancroft dates as February 1925 (with reformer Jesse B. Cook in front) we're looking toward Montgomery St. at the Thalia's second location. By this time the place had been long closed. The UC Bancroft Library photo is on Calisphere.
The photo also appears, with several other fine views, with a Found SF article on the history of the Barbary Coast. Nick Wright has a post of the photo on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.
The street in 1929. In the foreground is the unused Hippodrome building. They had earlier moved across the street to 555 Pacific and closed upon the advent of Prohibition. Look down the block at the short building just before the corner building -- that had been the Thalia Theatre, here seen with its facade redone. It's a photo from the San Francisco Public Library.
Status: The building has been demolished.
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