The Howard Theatre

738 Howard St. | map |

Opening: 1924. The theatre was a tenant in a building on the north side of the street in the middle of the block between 3rd St. and 4th St.  Jack Tillmany notes that the address comes from a city directory and telephone directories of the time. 

The Howard was an operation of Aaron Goldberg. Jack notes:  "He was a true grind house operator and seemed to thrive on them. Some of them made it, some of them didn't." The Ferry Theatre was one of his that didn't make it. Other more successful Goldberg operations at various times included the Peerless and Majestic on 3rd St. and several on Market: the Silver Palace, the Unique, the Circle (later renamed the Crest) and the Pompeii (later known as the Regal.)  

Closing: 1925. 

Status: The building was demolished in 1967. The site is now occupied by stairs and a parking garage that are part of Yerba Buena Gardens/Moscone Center. 

 

The theatre gets a mention in this May 17, 1967 Examiner article about the demolition. They use a 734 address for the building. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating the article. 

The Howard was located somewhere near those stairs on the left. On the right we're looking east toward 3rd St. Photo: Google Maps - 2014 

More information: Well, there isn't any yet. 

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.

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