The Powell Street / Stockwell's / Columbia Theatre

11 Powell St. | map |

Opening: December 15, 1890 as the Powell Street Theatre. The Schwartz Brothers were the initial proprietors. 

The theatre was on the west side of Powell between Eddy and Ellis St. opposite the entrance to the Baldwin Theatre. It was on the north side of the St. Ann's Building, which was on the northwest corner of Powell and Eddy. The 1903 city directory gives the address of the theatre (then called the Columbia) as 9 Powell, the 1905 directory says 11 Powell. In addition to the theatre, the building also included apartments.

Seating: After the 1892 renovations that turned it into Stockwell's it had 1,624 with two balconies. The main floor had 510 seats, the 1st balcony 370, the 2nd balcony 564.

Architect: Peter Richard Schmidt designed the building and a Mr. R. Ringrose was the contractor. Thanks to Art Siegel for the research. He comments: 

"Schmidt was a well-known and fairly prolific San Francisco architect. The Haas-Lilienthal house is his best-known surviving structure. There's a very incomplete biography of him on the Pacific Coast Architecture Database."

Colonel James Madison Wood, a noted theatre architect from Chicago, did some renovations in 1891. The Pacific Coast Architecture Database has a page about J.M. Wood. 

Stage specifications: Proscenium: 37' wide x 40' high  |  Stage depth: 48' from footlights to back wall  |  Curtain line to footlights: 3'  |  Stage wall to wall: 70'  |  Distance between fly girders: 54'  |  Grid height: 74' |  Depth under stage: 10' |  Number of traps: 6, "located regular" Illumination: electric and gas

This may have been the first San Francisco theatre with a fire curtain. The stage data largely comes from the 1899-1900 edition of the Julius Cahn - Gus Hill Theatrical Guide and Moving Picture Directory. It's on Google Books.

History: Work was underway for this new theatre in May 1890. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this item via the California Digital Newspaper Collection that appeared in a column listing "Builders Contracts" in the May 25, 1890 Daily Alta California:

"Schwartz Bros with R. Ringrose, brickwork, W Powell. 65 N Eddy, N 75, W 175, S 65, E 100, S 10, E 75, $30,500."

A June 2, 1890 Daily Alta California item Art found buried deep in a column of real estate news revealed that Mr. R. Ringrose was the contractor and P.R. Schmidt was the architect:  

"Powell, near Eddy — Four-story brick building; owners, Schwartz bros.; architect, P. R. Schmidt; contractor, R. Ringrose; cost, $30,500. The above is for brick-work, etc., on new Theatre building, and does not include carpenter work, painting or plumbing. The grading work has been reported."

In July 1890 two eleven year old burglars got into the Louvre Restaurant next door via the excavations for the new theatre. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating a story that appeared in the July 9, 1890 San Francisco Call. Part of the report headed "Boy Burglers - Police Capture a Bevy of Bad Children":

"Joseph Sullivan and Paul McMahon were arrested early yesterday morning after burrowing into the Louvre, corner of Eddy and Powell streets. They were in the steward's room preparing to enjoy a hearty repast when the policeman surprised them. They had broken through a flimsy wall from the excavation for the Powell street Theater building adjoining."
 
The September 15, 1890 Daily Alta California had news about additional work. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this item: 

"Powell, near Eddy— Additional contract on new theatre; owner, Schwartz Bros.; architect, P. R. Schmidt; contractor, R. Ringrose; cost $5472."
 
Interior work was underway in November. Thanks to Art for locating this item in the November 6, 1890 Daily Alta California:  

"Schwartz Bros with August Leitz interior decorations, W Powell, 65 N Eddy, $2300."


The opening was December 15, 1890 with a show headlined by "Baggesen's High Class Vaudevilles." Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this ad in the December 10 Daily Alta California. It's on the website of the California Digital Newspaper Collection.  

A description of the theatre appeared the day before the opening in the "Mimic World" column of the December 14, 1890 Daily Alta California. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this account:

"The Opening of the New Powell-Street Theatre. An important event in the local amusement world will be the opening of the new Powell Street Theatre to-morrow evening by the Schwartz Brothers, John E. Cain manager. The theatre will be one of the most elegant and commodious places of amusement in the city, and will be conducted in a first-class manner in every particular. It is the object of the management to present first-class vaudeville and specialty performances at popular prices, and to make the house so attractive that people will drop in and spend part of an evening when they have not the time or inclination to sit through a four or five act play. Such places of amusement have of late years been growing in favor in the large Eastern cities, and they supply the needs of a large class of people who prefer to take their amusement in homeopathic doses, and frequently. 

"The stage has been constructed with all the recent improvements, and will permit of the presentation of any kind of performance, from a farce-comedy to a grand spectacular sensation. The auditorium is handsomely and richly decorated, and is finished with the latest pattern of opera chairs, and connected with the theatre are smoking-rooms and every desirable convenience. The theatre has been constructed with special reference to safety in the event of a fire or panic of any kind, and while the building is practically fireproof, an ample number of exits have been provided in order to empty the house in a very few minutes. 

"For the opening night the entertainment will consist of Baggesen's High-Class Vaudevilles, secured in Europe and from the best American attractions. Among them will be seen Baggesen, the human corkscrew; Mazuz and Abacco, the Arab wonders; the great Sablon, mimic; the Walton brothers, musical kings; Miss Rosie Lee, an operatic vocalist; the Sheridans, comedy sketch artists; Bellac and Aonda, wonder-workers in magic, and many other clever specialty artists. There will be matinees Sunday afternoons at 2 o'clock."

The Chronicle had this article about the new Powell Street Theatre in their December 16, 1890 issue:  

Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the article. 


 
"A Grand Success! The New Company a Big Hit!" It's an ad that appeared in the December 21, 1890 Daily Alta California. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it via the CNDC.  
 
 

An ad that appeared in the February 19, 1891 San Francisco Call.

The Schwartz team were still involved but the thatre was soon managed by a Mr. C.D. Hess of the C.D. Hess Grand Opera Company, who soon closed it. While it was closed there were renovations by yet another management team. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this item deep in the "Theatres" column of the April 12, 1891 San Francisco Call:

" 'Master and Man.' The date of the opening of the new Powell-street Theater with Pettitt and Sims' melodrama is put forward to Saturday evening, April 18th.... Colonel Wood, the well-known theater architect, has made some important improvements in the auditorium of this theater. It is now pleasant to the sight, and so arranged that the audience may enjoy the performance in comfort."

The April 18 opening under the new management team was reviewed in the April 19, 1891 San Francisco Call:

"The New Powell-street Theater, under the management of Messrs. Thall and Ellinghouse, opened last evening to a full attendance, whose attention was about equally divided between the many important improvements the auditorium had undergone since Mr. C. D. Hess closed the theater so summarily, and the excellent acting of Pettitt and Sim's new play, 'Master and Man'..."

"All New Scenery" was promised for Dion Boucicault's "Formosa." It was noted that Mark Thall and Alf Ellinghouse were managing but the Schwartz Brothers were still involved as "Proprietors." It's an ad appearing in the May 8, 1891 San Francisco Call. "Avoid the crush to-night." Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it. 

"Formosa" was to be the last show for this new management team. By the middle of May the theatre closed again, unable to pay the salaries of the actors. Art Siegel located this item in the May 14, 1891 Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"THEATRE CLOSED. A Clamor for Salaries Brings the 'Formosa' Season to a Close. Clemens News Agency Special to the SENTINEL. San Francisco, May 13th - The 'Formosa' closed the doors of the Powell Street Theater to-day. It was to have run one more night, but there was a clamor for salary among the Thespians, who refused to please the public on empty stomachs. This beautiful little home of drama has scored a failure almost before the paint was dry on the walls."

The May 15, 1891 Morning Union noted in their "Scissors and Pen" column: 

"The new Powell street theater, San Francisco, has closed for want of patronage."

In a September 7, 1891 San Francisco Call item located by Art Siegel headed "Was It Bunco?," the paper reported that the house had been leased by a Mr. A.R. Knapp who tried to pass off an inferior show as some kind of benefit, and the audience revolted. Disquiet and police attention ensued.  

Becoming the Stockwell: A new lessee and yet another round of renovations was announced in the January 9, 1892 San Francisco Call. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the story:

"The Powell-Street House to Be Made One of the Handsomest in the Country. Lovel R. Stockwell will sever his connection with the management of the Alcazar Theater February 29th, prox., after being identified with that house for six years. He goes to his new quarters on Powell street, for which he has signed a lease running a term of years. The work of alteration will commence there on the 20th inst., and when the changes are completed, Stockwell's new theater promises to be one of the handsomest places of amusement in America. 

"The present auditorium will be entirely rearranged with a new dress circle, balcony and gallery. Everything new inside, except the walls and the interior, will be finished in ivory and gold. The cost of these alterations will probably reach $50,000. On the 1st of August the new theater will probably be opened to the public. Mr. Stockwell proceeds to New York early in March next for a list of attractions for this house, which are to be of the highest character. 

"It is no secret that in point of talent Stockwell's new theater will enter the field as a competitor with the Baldwin, and will place itself squarely on the same plane with it in regard to the kind of attractions engaged. Mr. George Osbourne will join forces with Mr. Stockwell in the management - a strong team in the opinion of the public. Mr. Alf Ellinghouse, long identified with theatricals on this Coast, will be interested with Stockwell and Osbourne, and take the position of manager of the new theater."

Some of the companies involved in the renovations were listed in an item Art Siegel found via Internet Archive on page 59 of the May 1892 issue, Vol. XIII, of the California Architect and Building News:

"Powell Street Theatre. Tinting and decorating: owners, Denicke & Siebe; architects, Wood & Lovell; contractors, Spierling & Linden; cost $3,375; signed March 31; filed April 5."
 
It reopened July 7, 1892 as Stockwell's Theatre with "As You Like It" performed by Augustin Daly's Company of Comedians. Google Books has a listing for a copy of the four page opening night souvenir program, printed on silk, that's in the Yale University Library collection. 
 
 
 
The cover for a July 1892 program for the Augustin Daly troupe at what was modestly proclaimed "The most magnificent and perfectly equipped playhouse in America." Note the nice interior drawing. It's on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. They note: 
 
"Program for thirteenth annual tour of Augustin Daly's company of comedians from Daly Theatre, New York. Monday evening, July 18 will be acted 'The School for Scandal.'"
 
 
 
The Marin Journal issue of August 11, 1892 gave this description of the remodeled theatre and concluded that it was "magnificent." The article appears online via the California Digital Newspaper Collection.
 
 
 
"Absolutely fireproof." The magazine The Californian included this writeup about the theatre sometime between December 1892 and May 1893. It appears in Volume 3 of a set of collected articles from that period. It's on Google Books.
 
Despite his lease for a "term of years," Stockwell was out around the end of 1893. By early 1894 James O'Neill had taken over the lease on the theatre.
 
 

In February 1894 O'Neill was performing his big hit "The Count of Monte Cristo." The program appears on the Yale University website as part of their Eugene O'Neill collection.

Becoming the Columbia: Leonard Grover was the next to take over the operation. His lease was up in early 1895 and there was then another tenant and name change as it became the Columbia Theatre. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating this item in the "Local News In Brief" column of the February 17, 1895 San Francisco Call

"Leonard Grover's lease will expire on April 1, when Gottlob will take possession and spend two weeks in refitting it. When it opens on April 15 it will be known as the Columbia Theater."

In March 1895 Stockwell looked back on his his financial troubles and why he had lost the the theatre in an article titled "Stockwell and His Debts." Over a "late breakfast in the cafe of the California Hotel" he told this story:

 "There has been a good deal of talk about my getting into debt and the reason why I left San Francisco... The fact is that the explanation is a good deal more simple than people think. It was a mistake to say the Stockwell Theater did not pay— it did, but I was in debt when I started it and was badly in need of ready money. It cost somewhere about $60,000 to renovate the auditorium and buy scenery, etc. The owners agreed to pay $35,000 for building the front, and if the bill exceeded that I was to pay half. The front cost nearly $40,000, and that added to my debt. 

"The agreement was that I was to have a lease of five years, with the privilege of renewing it for another five years. Well, the theater opened, and we paid off a good part of the debt. The Daly engagement was a very profitable one, but even that did not put us quite on our feet. After the holidays things went worse, and ready money was terribly scarce. On the 7th of July, a year and a half ago, 'Maine and Georgia' pulled us out again, and in the following November I made a contract to take that play to New York... and the theater here, under Mr. Ellinghouse's management, had dwindled down to nothing. 

"The rent was not paid; they seized the scenery, and that's how the theater was closed. This summer, though, I am coming back to it again for eight weeks, under Gottlob and Friedlander's management. We shall present Daly's latest melodrama and Pinero's 'Magistrate,' which has been entirely rewritten. The company is not made up yet, but we expect to bring about eight people from the East, and shall do our best to make all the productions as good as anything that has been done here."

Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the story in the March 6, 1895 San Francisco Call. It's on the website of the California Digital Newspaper Collection.  

The actual opening as the Columbia was May 13, 1895 with 'Jake' Gottlob and a Mr. Friedlander running the operation. Later Melville Marx became a partner and eventually Friedlander was gone. Art Siegel located this account of the opening in the May 14, 1895 San Francisco Call

"The Columbia Theater. There was a crowded house at the Columbia Theater last night, it being the opening night under the new management. The foyer has been entirely renovated and presents the appearance of an elegant drawing-room. The interior of the theater, which was in the hands of painters, upholsterers and decorators for some time, was a transformation that attracted a great deal of attention and much favorable comment. The drop-curtain, a new one, is a gem, being a painting entitled 'The Merry Quartette,' illustrative of child-life. 

"As one of the ladies in the audience remarked, 'This theater la a perfect bijou.' 'Sweet Lavender,' the domestic drama presented, was well received and the members of the company sustained in a capital manner the parts assigned them. Miss Hope Ross as Lavender acted her part so true to life and carried out the character as the author would have it so well that she was the recipient of frequent and generous applause. The ladies' dresses worn in the drama were remarkably handsome and envied by many before the footlights. The orchestra, under the leadership of E. E. Schmitz, until recently leader at the New California, came in for a share of the well deserved praise. 'Sweet Lavender' will hold the boards during the week."



An undated facade view taken after the name change to Columbia. It's a photo from the Jack Tillmany collection. There's also a version on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library.



A June 1896 entrance view from the Jack Tillmany collection. 



A closer look at the entrance. The 1896 photo is from the Jack Tillmany collection. Thanks, Jack!


 
An 1897 program cover on Calisphere from the Museum of Performance and Design Performing Arts Library. The show was a farce titled "The Foundling" by William Lestocq and E. M. Robson.

Some repair work was going on in 1898. Art Siegel came across this item in the California Architect and Building News, Vol. XIX, No. 2, February, 1898, page iv:

"Powell bet. Eddy and Ellis. Alterations, additions and repairs to the Columbia Theatre, except painting, decorating and electrical work; owners, E. A. Denicke and F. J. Siebe; architect, E. Kollofrath; contractor, Charles Schutt; cost $5100."
 
 

Edward E. Rice's production of "1492" played the Columbia in 1898 with female impersonator Everett Stuart playing the part of Queen Isabella. This ad appeared in the March 22 S.F. Call. Thanks to Mark Reed for all his research about Stuart for a post on the San Francisco History to the 1920s Facebook page. He notes that Wikipedia has articles about Edward Rice and "1492."
 
 

An illustration of Stuart as Queen Isabella that was located by Mark. 
 
The review of the production written by Ashton Stevens that appeared in the March 20, 1898 S.F. Call can be seen on the California Digital Newspaper Collection site. The March 22 S.F. Examiner review commented on Stuart's performance: 

"The bright particular star however — if elaborate gowns and the unremitting pursuit of the calcium [stage lights] go for anything — is Stuart... The female impersonator deserves rank in neither art nor nature, but Stuart — one feels an aversion to pronouns after seeing him so comfortable in stays — is remarkable as Isabella and phenomenal as to voice. Stuart has a prima donna wardrobe... and has the prima donna airs and mannerisms to an uncanny degree."
 

The cover for the April 1898 program for "Shore Acres" that's in the collection of Jon Perdue. Thanks to Jon for scanning the program for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. The full 16 page publication is reproduced at the bottom of the page. 



A main floor seating chart that appeared in the 1900 edition of the San Francisco Blue Book. Thanks to Glenn Koch for sharing the three images of pages from a copy of the book that's in his collection.



A 1st balcony seating chart from the 1900 San Francisco Blue Book.  



A 2nd balcony (aka Gallery) seating chart from the 1900 San Francisco Blue Book. 
 
 

 
The Columbia is one of many theatres seen on this detail from a 1903 map. Note the cluster of Fischer's, Orpheum and Alcazar on O'Farrell St. between Powell and Stockton. Also on the map are the Tivoli on the SW corner of Mason & Eddy and the Alhambra at the NE corner of Eddy and Jones. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the map for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.

 

A look at the block from Volume 1, pages 47-48 of the 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas. It's Eddy St. on the left and Ellis on the right. The map appears on the website of the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Also see a discussion page on the site's blog with links to various pages of the six volume publication. That "Kreling Building" that we see part of in the upper left was on the site of the 1879-1903 Tivoli Opera House.
 

Part of a March 1905 program for Dustin Farnum in "The Virginian" from the Rick Bellamy collection. Lionel Barrymore was coming in April for a run of "Other Girl." It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page.  

A page from a May 1905 program for E.H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe in "Romeo and Juliet." It's from the Rick Bellamy collection. It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
 

A page from a September 1905 program for May Irwin in "Mrs. Black is Back" that's in the Rick Bellamy collection.  It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
 

A page from a February 1906 program from the Rick Bellamy collection. Florence Roberts and Max Figman were appearing in "The Strength of the Weak" by Alice M. Smith. It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page. Thanks, Rick!

A c.1905 look south on Powell toward Market St. Note the acquisition of a vertical sign and a swing-out readerboard below. Thanks to Glenn Koch for the photo that appeared in a 1906 souvenir program in his collection 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. See Glenn's post on the BAHT Facebook page for 26 more images from the program. 

 
Closing: It was destroyed in the earthquake and fire of April 1906.
 
 

The theatre (on the right) in ruins after the 1906 earthquake and fire, one of eight major downtown venues destroyed. On the left is the St. Ann's Building, on the NW corner of Powell & Eddy. The photo by Lisie C. Green is from the San Francisco Public Library collection.

The photo also appears on an ACT Geary Theatre history page where they comment: "Owners 'Jake' Gottlob and Melville Marx set up temporary theatrical facilities in tents and other makeshift structures while the work on the new Columbia starts." That new theatre at Geary and Mason, now called the Geary, opened in 1910.
 
 

An entrance detail appearing on Calisphere from the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library collection. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating it. 
 

Looking north on Powell with the theatre ruins on the left. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the photo by an unknown photographer that appears on the Open SF History Project website. It's from the Bill Kostura collection. It's the St. Francis Hotel in the distance and the Flood Building on the right. 


A UC Berkeley Bancroft Library photo looking north on Powell from Market. That's the Flood Building on the right. Thanks to Mark Ellinger for locating the photo. 



A view north on Powell from Market that appears in the USC Digital Library collection. On the left it's the St. Ann's Building on the corner with the theatre beyond.


 
A look at the 1906 mess from Eddy St. We're sort of behind the theatre looking through the ruins to Powell St. -- that's the burned out Flood Building beyond. The Albert Dressler photo is in the California State Library collection.

A later shot after a "Lease or Sale" sign was put up. Thanks to Art Siegel for locating the photo on Calisphere. It's from the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library collection.  
 
 

Sorry, no theatre ruins in this shot but it's another interesting view of the neighborhood. It's a photo by C.L. Aydelotte on Calisphere from the collection of the California Historical Society.

We're looking across Mason St. down Eddy toward Powell St. The building that housed the Poodle Dog restaurant is on the corner with the ruins of the Kreling Building (on the site of the 1879-1903 Tivoli) and the St. Ann's Building beyond. The Columbia was just around the corner to the left on Powell. Across Powell it's the Flood Building and the Emporium on Market over to the right. 

Later theatres using the Columbia name: In June 1906 Gottlob and Marx announced a New Columbia Theatre to be constructed at Van Ness and Geary. It was never built. From 1907 until 1910 they did their shows at the Van Ness Theatre, Van Ness and Grove.
 
They built a new Columbia Theatre at Geary and Mason in 1910, the venue now known as the Geary Theatre. By the 20s that Columbia was managed by the Broadway syndicate of Klaw and Erlanger. Gottlob and Marx moved the Columbia name (and their Broadway shows) over to the Tivoli Theatre on December 22, 1924. On March 10, 1930 the Tivoli got its name back.

On March 10, 1930 the Columbia name moved yet again to the Orpheum Theatre on O'Farrell St. Orpheum had sold it in 1929 to Klaw and Erlanger. The Orpheum, which had opened in 1909, was demolished in 1938. Its last use had been as a burlesque house.

Another theatre totally unrelated to these downtown houses that was called the Columbia was a neighborhood house at 1101 Railroad Ave. (now 4601 3rd St.) running under that name from 1909 to 1913. After 1913 it was called the Bay View and the Lorene or some variant of that. 

More Information:  See a listing for several other Stockwell's programs on the site World Cat. They list holdings at the California State Library - Sutro Library in San Francisco and the UC Bancroft Library in Berkeley.

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.

 
The April 1898 program for "Shore Acres" from the collection of Jon Perdue:
 











Thanks, Jon!


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