Opened: December 21, 1910. It was a project of the Nasser Bros., who would open a replacement theatre up the block in 1922. In this 1915 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection we're looking north toward Market St. The photo appears on the website of the Open SF History Project.
Seating: 200
Closing: The Castro Street closed in 1922 the night before the new Castro Theatre opened up the block at 429 Castro St.
Status: The building became a Bon Omi variety store after closing. Jack comments: "The family name was Bonomi and they just split it in half, secretly knowing its French sounding synonym would tickle the eardrums of their customers." Since the demise of Bon Ami c.1971 it has been Cliff's Variety.
The December 21, 1910 opening night crowd. The photo by San Francisco photographers Turrill & Miller is in the Tom B'hend - Preston Kaufman Collection, part of the Margaret Herrick Digital Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
A 2015 interior view by Bob Ristelhueber. It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
More exterior views:
A wider version of the 1915 photo at the top of the page. Kevin Walsh calls our attention to the rails and slots for the Castro St. cable car. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding the photo for the BAHT Facebook page. It was added as a comment to his post of the SFMTA photo below.
The theatre is on the left in this July 12, 1915 view south on Castro from the SFMTA Historic Photo Collection. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for finding it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page. The photo also makes an appearance on the blog San Francisco Pictures. It's also on the Open SF History Project site via Jack Tillmany.
The former theatre as a Bon Omi variety store in October 1963. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the photo by an unknown photographer in the Open SF History Project collection.
Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for this 2015 view of the former theatre. It was a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
More information: The Castro Street Theatre has a page on Cinema Treasures.
See the pages here on this site about the replacement Castro Theatre, opened in 1922: history + exterior views | interior views |
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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