Mowry's Opera House

601 Grove St. at Laguna  | map |

Opened: 1879 as Mowry's Opera Hall. The building was in the Hayes Valley neighborhood on the southwest corner of Grove and Laguna. It's listed in the 1880 Langley's city directory.

In 1882 it was rebranded as Niblo's Garden. The new operators, Alfred Wyman and a Mr. Graham, opened January 14 with the play "Yakie." It's listed as Niblo's Garden in the 1883 Langley's city directory under Places of Amusement with the location shown as the southwest corner of Grove and Laguna.

 

A January 8, 1882 ad in the Examiner. 

 

A January 13, 1882 item in the Examiner. 

Thanks to Mark Reed for locating the Examiner items. The name was evidently an homage to the very popular Niblo's Garden in New York City, opening in 1823. See the Wikipedia article about that one.  

The San Francisco Niblo's evidently was short-lived. The 1884 directory doesn't show Niblo's but does have a listing for Mowry's Hall. 

 

This 1906 photo from the Jack Tillmany collection shows the building functioning as a temporary City Hall after the earthquake and fire.

A 40s view from the Jack Tillmany collection. 

Destroyed: It was finished off by fire July 17, 1970. At the time, the building was abandoned and scheduled for demolition.

 A fire photo from the Jack Tillmany collection.

The July 18, 1970 Chronicle article about the blaze. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for locating it. That 701 Grove address in the story was a typo.

More information: 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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