Alhambra Theater - Opera, a Saloon and Wyatt Earp
Photo: Youwei liang, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
A stop on Redwood City History Walk, a free self-guided tour.
This brick building on the 800 block of Main Street once held the biggest stage on the mid-Peninsula. The Alhambra Theater opened in 1896, and its hall seated about 1,500 people for operas, plays and concerts. It was the last work of architect A. Page Brown, who also designed the San Francisco Ferry Building.
There was a saloon on the ground floor, and that is where the local legend comes in. The story goes that Wyatt Earp of Tombstone fame drank here and came to the opening show, in which his companion Josephine Marcus is said to have performed. Historians dispute parts of the tale, so enjoy it as lore.
The 1906 earthquake damaged the facade, and the theater closed in 1919 as movies took over. The Masonic Order later bought the building for its meetings, and it survived a serious fire in 2001. Look at the upper floors to picture the grand hall that once filled them.
Getting here: Continue south on Main Street to 831 Main, on the east side of the street.
Did you know?: The Alhambra filled a gap between San Francisco and San Jose: it was billed as the finest showplace between the two cities.
Photo op: Cross to the west side of Main Street to fit the whole brick front and its upper windows into one shot.
More on Wikipedia: Redwood City Historic Commercial Buildings · Wyatt Earp · Josephine Earp · A. Page Brown
Stops on this tour
- Old County Courthouse - The Dome That Outlasted the Quake
- Lathrop House - Steamboat Gothic for the First Clerk
- Fox Theatre - Gothic Dreams on Broadway
- Redwood Creek Crossing - The Buried Landing
- Broadway and Main - The Kiosk at the Old T
- Diller-Chamberlain Store - The County's Oldest Shopfront
- Main Street Corner - A Bank and a Grand Hotel
- Alhambra Theater - Opera, a Saloon and Wyatt Earp
- Main Library - Fire Station No. 1 Reborn
- Courthouse Square - Climate Best by Government Test