The Belvedere Music Hall

30 O'Farrell St. | map |

Opening: 1904. It's listed in the 1905 city directory but not earlier. The Belvedere was just east of the Oberon Music Hall, located at 38 O'Farrell St. The buildings were on the north side of the street between Stockton and Grant.

Jack Tillmany reports: "In May 1904 A. J. Rich and Company, dba the Belvedere Music Company, signed a 10 year lease on the O'Farrell Street site previously occupied by Kohler & Chase and began remodeling. It was operating as the Belvedere Music Hall by July 1904 and already running into trouble with the police because of the same sort of problems that occurred in dives on Pacific Avenue." See an ad announcing the 1891 Kohler & Chase opening at this location down at the bottom of the page.

Previously there had been a Belvedere Hall at 105 1/2 9th St. circa 1901-1904. That one is in the 1904 city directory. It got a mention in the October 30, 1901 issue of the San Francisco Call with an erroneous address of 105 5th St. In the June 7, 1902 issue they have it as 105 9th St. and at 105 1/2 9th on August 5, 1902. It's unknown if it had any connection to this venue on O'Farrell.

 

We're looking east toward Market in this November 1901 photo by an unknown photographer. The Kohler & Chase Pianos building would house the Belvedere beginning in 1904. The second building in, the Shiels apartment building, was the home of the Oberon Music Hall, with its swing-out sign. That's the Call Building across Market. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for spotting this on the Open SF History Project website.  

 

Thanks to Art Siegel for dating the photo. He spotted a sign on a building across Market for Sarah Cowell LeMoyne in "The First Duchess Marlborough" at the Columbia Theatre, which played there in November, 1901. He adds that this photo and image #WNP27.7594 were taken moments apart.  

 

 

A 1904 report of troubles at the Belvedere unearthed by Jack Tillmany. Thanks, Jack!

Unsavory things were going on downstairs from the main performance space. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding this September 2, 1904 article about the demise of the Belvedere Grotto.

More rowdiness at the Belvedere. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding the October 24, 1904 story.  

 

 

The Belvedere is at the center of the photo with the Oberon Music Hall, 38 O'Farrell, on the far left.  Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing the photo from his collection. He comments: "The photo is by Ted Hecht who we must be grateful to for documenting so much of pre-1906 SF. It's not dated, but most of his stuff that I've seen is circa 1905."

The Belvedere is seen as "Concert Hall" at 26-28-30 on the left, just below the Oberon, in this detail from Volume 1, pages 35-36 of the 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas. It appears on the website of the David Rumsay Historical Map Collection. Also see a discussion page on the site's blog with links to various pages of the six volume publication. Geary St. is running along the right edge of the image.   

 Closing: April 18, 1906.

 

 

The crowd is watching the fire in this view looking toward Market St. On the left it's the Oberon (with its facade missing) and the Belvedere (just beyond). The photo is on Calisphere from the California State Library. W.E. Worden of Bear Photo is credited as the photographer.

Another version of the photo is on Calisphere from the California Historical Society. Also see another photo taken during the fire from a slightly different position, also from the California Historical Society.

The Belvedere, with the sign over its entrance still intact, is to the right of center. The signage on the side of the building says "Belvedere Music Hall - Polite Vaudeville." The photo appears on Calisphere from the Bancroft Library. Thanks to Kevin Walsh for spotting the photo for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.

In the center with the three arches it's the Shiels apartment building, housing the Oberon Music Hall. The Oberon Shaving Parlor on the far left doesn't appear in the 1905 city directory. It's evidently a dba for a barber named Max Schwartz, who was listed at 44 O'Farrell St.

A detail of the entrance from the Bancroft Library photo. The signage above the Belvedere's says "French National Benevolent Society."

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.

An April 25, 1891 ad located by Jack that announced the opening of the Kohler & Chase music company at the location later occupied by the Belvedere:

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