Opened: June 30, 1906, just two months after the earthquake. The photo is one from 1906 appearing on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. There's also a version of it in the San Francisco Public Library.
The Davis Theatre was one of many quickly built venues springing up after the earthquake in the Fillmore, one of several districts functioning as a new downtown. The theatre was on the north side of the street between Fillmore and Steiner.
The opening ad in the June 30, 1906 Chronicle. The page can be seen on Newsbank. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the find. He covers the Davis on page 100 of his Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" where he comments: "It was a welcome, if humble, venue to entertainment deprived San Franciscans. It closed within a couple of years, as bigger and better sites were erected in the nearby Fillmore district, but for a time, it paid more than its share of dues by helping the shattered citizenry forget their woes."
Closing: The December 1, 1907 Chronicle announced the closure of the Davis Theatre as a result of the fire inspection of the day before, November 30. The page is on Newsbank. The theatre was closed immediately and it cancelled performances that day.
The article notes that the Lyceum, Novelty, National and Empire would be making improvements in order to stay open including creation of a foyer at the rear of the house, making aisles wider, affixing the seats to the floor, metal-lining the auditorium and dressing rooms, and adding exits. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the article.
A c.1906 card published by I. Scheff & Brothers. Thanks to San Francisco history buff and card collector Steve Ness for sharing this card from his collection. It appears on the San Francisco Postcards section of his website. It's indexed as Scheff 94.
A photo of the Davis that appeared in an October 1906 souvenir program for the Colonial Theatre, a house later known as the President. It was part of a portfolio honoring theatres lost in the fire and earthquake plus a few of the hasty replacements. Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the program from his collection. See his post on the BAHT Facebook page for 26 more images from it.
A 1906 or 1907 photo from an anonymous collector appearing on the Open SF History Project website. The theatre had done some work on their signage. When they opened their "Davis" sign was mounted lower.
This photo from the Jack Tillmany collection was taken in May 1907. The "Kolb and Dill" sign, advertising a German dialect comedy team, isn't backward -- at night it would swing out onto the sidewalk. Smaller versions of the photo can be seen on Cinema Tour and on page 100 of "Theatres of San Francisco."
Jack comments: "Sam Davis was a member of the SF Board of Supervisors and got a lot of flack from the SF Call about the unsafe conditions there. The building was built with redwood boards, covered on the inside with red burlap, and the ceiling was a canvas tent top."
The seating chart for the theatre from a 1908 guidebook to the city. Thanks to Kevin Walsh for the find. It was a post of his on the BAHT Facebook page. By 1908 the theatre had already closed.
More information: See the Fillmore District album on the BAHT Facebook page for photos of many other theatres in the area.
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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