Union Hall / Morosco's Theatre

S. side of Howard St. between 3rd & 4th | map |

Opening: The building was constructed in 1863. The August 6 photo from that year is on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. The photo also appears on the Open SF History Project website where they call our attention to the sign hanging above the car doors: "It Shall Be Preserved."

Upstairs was originally called Union Hall. Art Siegel notes that it was so named because of the Union of the Civil War era, as was Union Square. It wasn't used by labor organizations. The ground floor was used as a car barn and stables for the Omnibus Railroad Co. until 1895. 

When Walter Morosco took over the hall in 1886 it was initially known as Morosco's Amphitheatre, later as Morosco's Theatre. Earlier he had been running a circus that morphed into a variety show at the Wigwam, a venue at Stockton and Geary. He moved on to the Grand Opera House in March 1894. On the page about that venue see a fine July 1901 article from the S.F. Call discussing his varied career. He died in December 1901. The Chronicle's obituary is at the bottom of the page.  

Early railroad magnate J.L. Willcutt was evidently responsible for allowing Walter Morosco's use of the hall. Thanks to Mark Reed for spotting a mention in a February 28, 1917 Examiner obituary of Willcutt, although the writer seems to have Walter confused with his adopted son Oliver.

"In the early days of the career of Oliver Morosco, who has achieved success as a theatrical producer, Willcutt befriended him by permitting him to use the old street car barn of the Omnibus company for his first performances..."

Art Siegel notes that Oliver wasn't born until 1875. And Walter certainly had many performances under his belt by this time.

After Morosco left, the house was called the Howard Street Theatre, under the management of Eugene Haswell, Morosco's former press agent. That venture closed after one production running about six weeks and then was dark for about a year and a half. George P. Clayton reopened the house as People's Theatre in October 1895. 

Architect: Samuel Charles Bugbee, usually referred to as S.C. Bugbee. Art Siegel notes that there's a page about him on the Architects in Canada site. He was born in New Brunswick. 

Seating: 3,000 was the number in one Examiner article.

The demise: The building was destroyed by a spectacular fire on May 2, 1898. 

 

 

 

An Eadweard Muybridge photo c.1875. It's on Calisphere from the UC Bancroft Library. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it. There's a cropped version on the Open SF History Project website where they comment: "The building at left is Union Hall... California was filling up with easterners from northern states who fled west to escape the Civil War draft. Instead of fighting, they named a prominent building after the Union." That's the Union Market on the right. 

 

 

 

Another Muybridge Union Hall photo c.1875 from the Bancroft collection. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it on Calisphere.

 

An 1887 Sanborn map showing the hall as Morosco's Amphitheatre. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the map. He wonders how much noise the streetcars made below and next door to the theatre space. Note the map's mention of the gallery as being held up by wooden posts and the use of gas footlights. 

 

 

An 1889 ad for "The Yankee Sailor in Brazil," beginning May 6 at Morosco's Amphitheatre. It's on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. 

 

 

An 1892 copy of Morosco's "Advance Courier" advertising "The Outcasts of New York." Thanks to Art Siegel for finding this on the auction site Worthpoint. 

 

 

A c.1893 image of the building as Morosco's. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this one in the San Francisco Public Library collection. The Library takes two tries at dating this. They think it's 1922 and then they add: "Written on Back: "Morosco's SF Theatre 2-16-33."

 

More information:

Chapter One of Edmond McAdoo Gagey's "Famous Playhouses" deals with the Union Hall. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it on Internet Archive. The 1940 publication, in the collection of the San Francisco Public Library, was a project of the Federal Writer's Program of the WPA. His text:

"CHAPTER I - UNION HALL (1863- 1898) - In the sixties the neighborhood of Third and Howard Streets, a fashionable residential Area, was 'too far out of town' to be considered a theatrical district. Nevertheless, Union Hall was located in this neighborhood. Peter Donahue's horsecar company was responsible not only for the location but for the hall's construction above a car barn and stables. According to the Chronicle of March 22, 1896: 

'The structure was built and intended for the protection of the ninety cars of the Omnibus Railroad Company. A double purpose animated the projectors. Building and realty speculation occupied the public mind. The temptation of high rentals, the need for a first-class hall for social gatherings, and the travel over its lines induced by the entertainment a to be given there, all combined to make the speculation a good one.'

"In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that Union Hall had a curious, unrivaled reputation. Its pre-theatrical career started in the tradition of Tucker's Academy and Platt's Hail, opening to the public April 30, 1853, with 'a promenade concert and ball' given by the Pennsylvania Steam Fire Engine Company Number 12, at which the Bianchis, Mrs. W. G. Leighton, Josephine D'Ormy, and Signor Fellini were featured in vocal selections.

"ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION - The Bulletin of April 30, 1863, came out with a description of the interior which must have been responsible in part for the 'very great assemblage that was present' — much to the advantage of the Omnibus Railroad Company: 

'The main room is 94 by 104 feet in area and 30 feet from floor to ceiling. On the south side are the orchestra platform, with a ladies' toilette room adjoining, and two private rooms on each side very tastefully fitted up and superior in comfort and accommodation to any of our theatrical boxes. The Corinthian columns with gilt capitals give a fine effect to the stage proper. On the north side are the ladies' dressing and cloak rooms; the gentlemen's dressing and hat rooms, and a large refreshment room above, with a fine gallery comfortably supplied with seats for the convenience of spectators. The dressing rooms are luxuriously furnished and have all the requisite conveniences. The walls and ceiling of the hall are pure white, with the wainscot and platform painted in imitation marble of veined and mottled yellow, very pleasing to the eye. The seats on the side of the hall are covered with crimson plush, which makes a fine and agreeable contrast.'

"The following day, after attending the inaugural, the Bulletin' s correspondent saw fit to temper his report with reproachful criticism: 

 

'A very great assemblage was present, to seat which during the concert no provision was made. However, after a while, most of the ladles found chairs. The proprietors of the building may hereafter think it expedient to construct galleries on throe sides of the hall, which would give seating room for nearly a thousand people. At present there is only one small gallery, at the north end of the apartment, which is not capable of seating more than one or two hundred persons. Owing in some degree to the immense empty floor, the solid walls, unbroken by openings of any kind, and the long stretch of level ceiling, with only here and there a skylight window, the music rang and reverberated through the hall most unpleasantly. The cross echoes so confused the orchestral music as to make it a little better than a discordant noise. There ought to be some remedy found for this acoustic defect. It was a strange scene to look down from the gallery upon the brilliant mass of dancers on the floor beneath. Notwithstanding the spaciousness of the hall, the number of persons present was so great that the dancers were limited to infinitesimal spaces.'

"FESTIVALS AND DANCING -  Union Hall's name reflected the strong Northern sentiment that prevailed in San Francisco during the Civil War. Its next series of festivals was given by several thousand school children who recited pieces and sang songs of loyalty to the Union cause. This was followed, as in the case of Tucker's and Platt's, by a dreary succession of concerts, lectures, and balls interspersed with all-too-frequent amateur theatricals. In 1865 Professor 0. A. Lunt established a dancing academy in the hall, and devoted three nights a week 'to the children of prominent families.' But it must be assumed, in view of his admission in the Chronicle of March 22, 1896, that the enterprise was not profitable despite its persistence: 

'I gave up possession in 1874,' the Professor states, 'on account of Union Hall's waning popularity. Subsequently other dancing masters leased the hall, but the days of its glory had passed and it steadily fell behind the procession, until one dancing master gave a series of Sunday night entertainments at ten cents admission and was successful. These were variety performances and opened up a new field of usefulness to the old place.'

"ENTER MOROSCO - The nameless dancing master referred to by Professor Lunt, with his cheap entertainments, provided the opportunity for a theatrical era under Walter Morosco, who converted Union Hall into a variety theatre sometime during the seventies; but although there is ample evidence that Morosco's Amphitheatre -- or Morosco 's Howard Street Theatre, as the former Union Hall was called -- was popular for nearly a decade, almost no details about it can be learned. Apart from contributing brief and scattered reviews, the press appears to have ignored this house until provided opportunities for news coverage independent of straight theatrical reporting. Consequently, its record leaves room for conjecture about specific events and dates. Even the new theatre's opening was described vaguely, some 20 years after its actual occurrence, in Morosco's obituary. Said the Examiner cf December 27, 1901: 

'Walter Morosco induced his friend John Byrnes, proprietor of the Brooklyn Hotel Bar, to join him in the vaudeville management of the Union Hall. Byrnes put up the money and Morosco contributed expenses. The vaudeville show failed steadily for two months. Then Morosco hit upon the idea of running vaudeville from 8 to 10 and melodrama from 10 to 12 — prices ten and twenty cents. The double bills captured South of Market, especially the melodramas. Union Hall was a success for eight years.' 

"A playbill dated April 11, 1887, is evidence that Morosco scorned newspaper advertising in favor of his own methods, for he employed one Eugene Haswell as publicity agent. With the assistance of Frank Cole, 'advertiser,' Haswell published and distributed by mail a sheet called the 'Advance Courier' which kept patrons informed of coming attractions. Haswell's playbill proves illuminating in other respects, listing among Morosco' s dozen employees a 'head barkeeper, steward and porters.' The melodramatic offering, 'Hazel Kirke,' was elaborately produced in four acts with an enormous cast, most of whom were evidently members of a regular stock company, and attracted audiences of about 2,000 week after week. William A. Brady played the leading role, Pittacus Green, and Lottie Beaumont was Hazel Kirke, A synopsis of the four acts leaves no doubt regarding the fare that appealed most to the crowds 'South of Market Street.'

"Act I -- Dunstan Kirke's Mill. 'I cast thee out forever from father's love, and may my eyes no more
behold thee.' Act II — The villa at Fairy Grove. 'I go to cover his infamy with my shame, and may heaven forgive you all.' Act III -- Kitchen of Blackburn Mill. 'I was blind when I drove her out and now when I could save her, I cannot see! I I cannot see!' Act IV -- The same. 'At last, Dunstan, the iron of thy will has melted in the fire of a woman's heart.' 'Why,' asked Morosco (in print) at the end of the program, 'can we produce the same plays as high-priced theatres, with new scenery and mechanical effects, strong company and all accessories each week, when the price of admission is only 10 cents? Answer — It is owing to the great seating capacity of the house.'

"Ironically enough, although Union Hall had begun as a place of expensive amusements designed to please 'polite society,' it had become the stronghold of frankly 'impolite society,' a variety theatre of the 'very worst sort,' looked down upon by moralists rich and poor. The house under Morosco 's management, however, was utterly democratic; its patrons had a voice in matters pertaining to their likes and dislikes, and when they voted in favor of smoking in the galleries only, their wishes were observed.

"DENOUNCED AS FIRETRAP - On January 24, 1889, just after the fire commissioners had inspected the building, the Examiner came out with a full column of judicious comments which tended to show by indirection how popular this theatre was and how unsuited to theatrical uses. Both the Examiner and the authorities considered it a fire trap: 

'Morosco's is one of the largest halls used as a theatre in the city. It is situated over the stables of the Howard-Street car line, and is but poorly adapted to the uses to which it is now applied, being merely a vast rectangular room 90 feet in width, with a stage at the southern end and a deep gallery around the walls. A variety show is conducted there and the place is so popular that almost every night in the week tho house is well filled, while on Saturday and Sunday evenings it is crowded to overflowing. Sometime ago Mr. Morosco, the proprietor, said that the house could seat 2,700 persons, but yesterday he said 2,000 in round numbers. As there are only two exits of an aggregate width of thirteen feet, it is obvious that should a fire break out when the theatre was crowded, a frightful loss of life would ensue. The necessity of some official action looking to the lives of the frequenters of this resort is apparent...

'After surveying the interior of the theatre with grave apprehension, Mr. Edwards, one of the Fire Commissioners, remarked: "I think this is the worst deathtrap I ever saw. Look at that narrow flight of stairs leading down from the west gallery. It is almost impossible to walk down alone without falling. The galleries will probably seat 700 people and there are, besides this three-foot flight, two other staircases, each four feet six inches wide. The steps are steep and winding, and a frightened crowd would be certain to tumble over each other in the haste of escaping from fire and smoke."

'The seats and framework throughout the interior of the building were found to be of wood, and the chairs on the main floor were not fastened down as required by law. Going back towards the stage the inspectors were surprised to find that instead of the required proscenium walls of brick, the partition separating the auditorium from the back part of the theatre was nothing but upright boarding, covered on the outside with canvas and wall paper. "Nothing would burn quicker than that," said architect Laver. "Put a match to that and it would go up like a flash."

'Mr. O'Connor scanned the narrow staircase leading to the gallery on the west side and observed that the door at the top had been nailed up. Looking about at heaps of rubbish and other inflammable material, he remarked: "Just as I said. It is a perfect firetrap." The stage manager called Mr. O'Connor's attention to the fact that he had provided some hose for putting out fire. There was a length of twenty-five feet under the center of the stage, which the manager said "would throw water all over the house." He was Informed that even if the theatre was in good shape, the hose would be wholly inadequate.

'After hunting around the stage for some time for a back entrance, Mr. O'Connor found a stairway leading down to the car stables. The width of this exit was two and one-half feet. At the bottom was a door which was found to be open. "That door is always open," called the stage manager from the top of the stairs. "Did you ever see this door unfastened before?" asked Mr. Barry of a man who was at work in the stables. "No, it's always fastened from this side with a bolt; how did you get in?" was the reply. This stairway was the only possible mode of exit for the actors, and in case of fire in the front part of the building, the players would be cooped up effectively. 

'In the galleries numerous cigarette butts and cigar stumps lying about the floor told the inspectors smoking was allowed during the performance. A match thrown by a careless smoker against the wooden, paper covered proscenium would be all that would be necessary to set the building on fire.The inspectors left the building unanimously of the opinion it would have to be closed up.'

"PROS AND CONS OF PRESS AND PULPIT - Despite this unanimous opinion, which the Examiner seems to have shared with relish, Morosco's theatre did not close. It was still flourishing in 1892 — amid a barrage of criticism from various pulpits -- with such melodramas as the 'Pearl of Savoy,' 'The Hidden Hand,' starring Ben and Adeline Cotton, and varied vaudeville performances. On July 3 of that year the Examiner again printed a lengthy article -- this time in defense of Morosco's theatre:

'The recent adverse criticism of theatrical matters in this city by the public, and more particularly by the pulpit, in which a very prominent and very popular amusement resort was involved, prompted your reporter to thoroughly investigate the matter, particularly regarding Morosco's on Howard Street, between Third and Fourth. No doubt thousands of San Francisco's patrons of amusements have either scoffed or ridiculed the mention of attending a performance at this family resort by a local divine, and through this source no doubt emanated this recent caustic comment. The fallacy of his statements would entirely be put to rout by the attendance, and the minister would be brought to realize that he was associated with the bone and sinew of our great metropolis.  

 

'From prattling babe to the pater familias of the household, all seemed highly pleased with the pleasant surroundings. And well they might, as there is a commendable absence of the fumes of tobacco and the presence of liquors in the audience. Here is the one cheap-priced theatre In San Francisco that presents creditable dramatic and comedy productions, and lives entirely upon its door receipts. How excellent dramatic talent can be employed, plays rented and mounted at such low prices has always been an enigna to the writer, and doubtless is so to the general public, but the solution is the simplest and founded on the principle that many at a low price are the equal of few at higher prices.

'The first time the writer alighted from the Howard Street car and ascended the stairs, a scene was presented that gave him one of the greatest surprises of his life. There were at least 2,500 of as enthusiastic and intelligent people as can be seen in any theatre in this country. A look over the audience revealed a sea of heads and faces assembled in what proves to be the largest theatre in the city. Here was found a representative assemblage, from laborer to the thrifty merchant, with their families, viewing with evident pleasure what proved to be a dramatic production of sterling merit, even if the admission prices were but ten and twenty cents. Nearly all the past successes are eventually produced here, and a number of the brightest lights of the dramatic stage gained their experience at this house.  

'The stage scenery was grand and is said to be as good as any in the best theatres. The seating capacity of the place is 3,000, and the ventilation is superb. It is nothing like the sweat boxes that one gets into now and then without going very far from town for the dignifying privilege of paying a dollar or so. Appearances except when they become too gaudy, are still synonyms of respectability to many. It is truly first-class in every respect, with the exception of its being ten and twenty cents, and the present stock company is reputed to be one of the strongest dramatic organizations extant, the members being selected for his or her versatility and individual merit. Their compensation is gauged by their talents. The performer at the Baldwin or California today may be a member of Morosco's stock company tomorrow.'

"EXIT MOROSCO - Morosco must have made some improvements in the house after the fire commissioners had visited it, and it is also likely that his patrons voted against smoking and drinking during performances. Until he opened his Grand Opera House on March 26, 1894, a block distant at Third and Mission Strepts, Union Hall continued to be highly successful as a variety house.

"It is reasonable to assume that Morosco's patronage followed him, for the most part, to the new location. But Eugene Haswell, his erstwhile publicity agent, did not. Instead, he remained at the old stand and tried to manage the place on his own as the Howard Street Theatre, an attempt that dismally failed after one production, 'O'Neill the Great,' which lasted about six weeks. The name of this production is thought to have been a pseudonym for 'The Great O'Neill' which was then entangled in controversy as the result of Haswell staging it as a rival to one called 'The O'Neill'; or that of William Greer Harrison, 'The Prince of Ulster,' which he is believed to have pirated, at least in part, from the Irish original advertised by Haswell. Thereafter Union Hall was tenantless for nearly two years.

"One last effort to revive Union Hall's popularity despite discouraging competition from Morosco's Grand Opera House was made by George P. Clayton. On October 12, 1895, this manager reopened the hall as the People's Theatre, with Dion Boucicault's 'After Dark.' Prices were still 10 and 20 cents. Despite a fresh coat of paint and some remodeling, the hall's decline could not be disguised. 'Through by Daylight' followed the Boucicault piece on October 20, with James M. Ward, Margaret Reid, Josie Haines, and Charles Edmonds in its cast; then came an Irish play, 'Shamus O'Brien,' followed by 'The Black Flag,' which apparently closed the house to all further theatrical activity.

"By March 22, 1896, according to the Chronicle of that date, the hall stood 'empty and tenantless' again. In the writer's opinion there seemed no hope of its being revived, since the cost of renovation would be prohibitive and the location itself had ceased to attract the public. He added:

'And so Union Hall, dedicated to the cause of human liberty and the preservation of Federal Unity, bids fair to pass from the minds of men, and although it has played quite as important a part in California history as Faneuil Hall at Boston and Independence Hall at Philadelphia did in the early history of the nation, yet unlike them bids fair to lose its identity and to be forgotten in the rush and bustle of Western life.'

"A FIERY FINISH - Whether or not people forgot Union Hall during its last days, they certainly remembered its vivid end. May 2, 1898 -- 35 years after its erection -- when it caught fire and was completely destroyed by one of the 'hottest conflagrations the city has soon in years.' The Chronicle of May 3 described the scene in detail:

'Historic Union Hall, on Howard Street, near Third, went up in flames late last night, furnishing the Fire Department with as difficult and dangerous a task as has been set to its hands in a long time. But for the skill and energy of Chief Sullivan and his men, this morning's story would, have been sorrowful telling. For some reason not explained no alarm was rung until the fire had been under way for three-quarters of an hour, or possibly longer, and by the time the department arrived on the scene the big structure was belching flames a hundred feet in the air. People residing in Tehama Street, in the immediate vicinity of the hall, declared that the building was burning all evening, and say with positiveness that a bright glow was visible through the Tehama Street windows of the building an hour before any alarm was sounded...

'Union Hall extended through from Howard to Tehama Street, and the interior of the vast auditorium, from street to street and from basement to roof, was a seething mass of flames when the firemen tackled their jobs... It seemed as if no building eastward to Third Street could escape the general conflagration. The brick walls of the building, and the excellent work of the fire-fighters kept the flames from spreading disastrously...

 

'At 11:45 p.m. the flames were under control. At midnight the fire was practically extinguished. The damage from the fire was confined almost exclusively to Union Hall and its contents. A large number of old 'bobtails' and some old two-horse cars of the defunct Omnibus Railroad Company and the North Beach and Mission Line were stored in the building. They were the property of the Market Street Railway Company, but none of them was worth more than $l5.00 to $30.00...The St. David, one of the most notorious lodging-houses in the city, abuts on Tehama Street and that part of it was scorched by the flames...Opium fiends, rudely awakened from their dreams, ran over each other in their anxiety to escape, and men and women in various stages of scant attire crowded into the hallways...'

"The rundown condition of its neighborhood, thus revealed, was one reason Union Hall was not rebuilt."  ### 

The building was across the street from the Albany Brewery in the 1860s. See a 2016 post by Mark Reed discussing that establishment on the San Francisco History Facebook page.  

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