Dreamland / Winterland

Northwest corner of Post St. & Steiner St.  | map |

The first building: 

Opened: The first Dreamland Rink was in use by mid-August 1906 for some boxing matches -- and movies of boxing matches. The formal opening as a skating rink didn't occur until September 24. The entrance was mid-block on the west side of Steiner between Post and Sutter. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the July 11, 1906 news item.

Architect: Arthur T. Ehrenpfort  

 

A detail from page 277 volume 3 of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map with the entrance to Dreamland seen on the right mid-block along Sutter St. The larger portion of the building was behind the National Theatre, another 1906 building (initially a tent). The National's entrance was at Sutter and Post. St. Post runs along the bottom of the image. The Dreamland and National lots seen here became the location for the second Dreamland building erected in 1928. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this in the Library of Congress collection. Their site calls it image 54.

Pierce St. is on the left with the Pavilion Rink, later known as the Winter Garden, occupying the west third of the block. It opened in September 1906. In the upper center along Sutter is a house plus the Golden Gate Commandery Hall, a building used by a number of fraternal organizations. In the upper right is the Republic Theatre. It had opened in 1907 as the Alcazar and would end up as a film house called the Uptown.

Also see a black and white version of the map detail that John Freeman located and scanned from Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970, volume 3, sheet 277 via the San Francisco Public Library. He notes: "There was only one dwelling, but the rest of the entire block was taken up with some variation of entertainment or fraternal secrecy!" 

 

Movies every night except Fridays. It's an ad in the Sunday, September 23, 1906 SF Call. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it via the California Digital Newspaper Collection website. 

 

 

 

An ad for the September 24 grand opening as a skating rink. It appeared on the same page in the Sunday, September 23 SF Call as the ad for the boxing movies.   

 

 

A 1907 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. taken after the theatre got a roof. Looking up Steiner we get a view of the Dreamland Rink. Beyond is the stagehouse of the New Alcazar / Uptown Theatre at Sutter and Steiner.  There's a smaller version of the photo on the San Francisco Public Library website.  

A detail from the 1907 photo. 

Part of the Dreamland facade is seen on the left edge of this early 1907 view of the Alcazar. The theatre is facing onto Sutter St. The photo is on Calisphere from the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library collection. There's also a copy of the photo from the scrapbooks of Henry Hamilton Dobbin in the California State Library collection, their item #01393119.  


The 2nd Dreamland: 

Opened: 1928 as the New Dreamland Auditorium. Jack Tillmany notes that the official opening was Tuesday, June 26 with the first of a series of Summer Symphony concerts. The public had been given an advance peek at the new site Sunday afternoon  June 24. The building was reported to have cost one million dollars.

It was built on the site of the much smaller original Dreamland rink as well as the lot once occupied by the National Theatre. The June 29, 1928 photo is from the San Francisco Public Library collection. We're looking north on Steiner. Beyond the new building one of the towers of the Alcazar/Uptown Theatre at Steiner and Sutter is visible.

Seating: Varied depending on the setup for a particular attraction. 8,500 was the announced capacity in an early article. Presumably that number included seats on the main floor. 5,400 was evidently the capacity for shows like "Ice Follies." 

 

A main floor seating chart for the March 1930 engagement of the German Grand Opera Company. The promoter promised that Dreamland would be "transformed into an Opera House." This appeared in a February 1930 program for a performance by Lawrence Tibbett, part of a 1929-1930 season promoted by Selby C. Oppenheimer Attractions. Another performance in the series was an appearance by Josef Hofmann.  

 

"All Seats Command Perfect View." It's a balcony seating chart for the 1930 engagement of the German Grand Opera Company. Thanks to Rick Bellamy for sharing the seating charts from a program in his collection. For additional pages from the program see his post on the BAHT Facebook page.

The venue re-opened as Winterland May 12, 1939 with "Ice Follies of 1939." The Ice Follies became a well-attended annual event for the next 4 decades with the last performances in 1978. Over its life this building hosted almost everything at one time or another including the San Francisco Opera and the Follies Bergere (1944). It became a rock venue in 1966 with many concerts promoted by Bill Graham. By 1971 Graham's firm, Bill Graham Presents, had taken it over exclusively.

Closing: The last show was New Year's Day 1979.

Status: It was demolished in 1985. There's now an apartment building on the site.  


Interior views:

A 1928 photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection. 

 

 

A September 7, 1938 photo taken by Merrill G. Rawson for the Examiner. The occasion was a meeting of the members of the Retail Department Store Employees Union, then out on strike.

 

 

A shaky shot by Mr. Rawson to the rear of the house. Thanks to Paul Penna for sharing these two Examiner photos in a post for the San Francisco Remembered Facebook group. And thanks to Art Siegel for spotting the post. Both photos are in the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library collection.

A 1940 Gabriel Moulin Studios photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection.  

More exterior views:

A June 27, 1928 photo from the San Francisco Public Library collection.

A July 14, 1928 photo in the San Francisco Public Library collection.

A c.1928 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.

A May 1930 photo by the Morton-Waters Co. appearing on the Open SF History Project website.

A billboard for the "Ice Follies."  Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the June 1949 photo. He comments: "These 6-sheet poster boards were to be seen all over SF when there were still vacant lots in the neighborhoods in which to mount them. This one was at 23rd Avenue & Balboa, at the bottom of the well known Balboa dip, featured in the 1972 comedy classic 'What's Up Doc?'"

A look up Steiner toward the Uptown Theatre (the former Alcazar) and St. Dominic's Church on Bush St. It's a c.1968 Tom Gray photo in the Jack Tillmany collection. 

Waiting for a Rolling Stones concert in the 70s. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the photo.

A c.1978 photo by Tom Gray that's in the Jack Tillmany collection.

A December 1978 photo by Tom Gray from the Jack Tillmany collection.

A c.1980 photo from Isabella Acuña on the Facebook page San Francisco Remembered.

Demolition beginning in 1985. It's a photo from the San Francisco Public Library.

A 1985 demolition view from the San Francisco Public Library collection.

A September 24, 1985 Chronicle article. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this from his collection.  

 

 

The sign coming down in 1985. The image was shared by John Aguis in a post for the Bagdad By The Bay San Francisco Facebook group. Thanks to Art Siegel for spotting a share of the post on the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation page.

More information: Jack Tillmany's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.

See the San Francisco Public Library website for more Winterland photos. Wikipedia has an article on the Winterland Ballroom. 

See "The rise and demolition of the Winterland Ballroom," a 2021 Chronicle article. Thanks to Rob Doughty for spotting it.

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