Merced Theatre (Los Angeles, California)

The Merced Theater is a building in the City of Los Angeles. It was the first theater in the Pueblo of Los Angeles. The theater is located at 420 North Main St, Los Angeles. It is next to the Pico House, and near Junípero Serra, Union Station and Los Angeles Plaza, next to Olvera Street. The theater was designated a California Historical Landmark (No.171) on March 6, 1935.

Not to be confused with Merced Theatre, in Merced, California.
Merced Theater
Merced Theater in Los Angeles Plaza
Location420 Main St, Los Angeles
Coordinates34°03′22″N 118°14′23″W
Built1870
DesignatedMarch 6, 1935
Reference no.171
Location of Merced Theater in the Los Angeles metropolitan area

Architecture

The Merced Theater is built in a brick Victorian Italianate style. It was designed by Ezra F. Kysor (1835-1907) who also designed the Pico House.

History

Cabinetmaker, William Abbot, built the theater in what is now called the El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument in 1870. He named it after his wife, Merced Garcia.

Merced Theater offered live theatre from January 30, 1871 to 1876, then moved to minstrel and burlesque shows. When the Wood's Opera House opened nearby in 1876, and there was an outbreak of smallpox, the Merced ceased being the city's leading theatre. The Merced closed in 1877; it was used for informal entertainment events. Eventually, it gained an "unenviable reputation" because of "the disreputable dances staged there, and was finally closed by the authorities."[1][2]

In the 1960s and in the 1980s, the theatre had renovations inside and out side. From 1985 to 2014, the theatre remained vacant. Current renovations are working on use for broadcast TV studio use.[3]

Founder

William Abbot (1830-26 July 1879) and his parents came from Switzerland. William Abbot married Maria Merced Garcia (1839–1908) in 1858. Maria Merced Garcia grew up in El Pueblo de Los Ángeles. Her parents were Jose Antonio Garcia and Maria Guadalupe Uribe. They had eleven children: John A. (1859 - before 1937), Selina F. (1860 - after 1920), Francisca (1860 - before 1879), William II (1862 - before 1937), Aaron (1864 - after 1897), Maria Merced I (1866 - ca.1866-69), Amos (1867 - ca.1896-1908), Maria Merced II (1869 - ca.1937-54), George (ca.1872 - before 1908), Katherine Carmelita (1875-1937), and Frank Abbott (1878–1957).[4][5][6]

Marker

Marker on the site reads:[7]

  • NO. 171 MERCED THEATRE -The Merced Theatre was built in 1870 and is one of the oldest structures erected in Los Angeles for the presentation of dramatic performances. It served as the center of theatrical activity in the city from 1871 to 1876. The theatre was built by William Abbot, the son of Swiss immigrants who settled in Los Angeles in 1854. In 1858, he married the woman for whom he would name the theatre, Maria Merced Garcia, the daughter of Jose Antonio Garcia and Maria Guadalupe Uribe, who were long-time residents of the Los Angeles pueblo."

See also

References
  1. Rose L. Ellerbe (1925-10-25). "City's Progress Threatens Ancient Landmarks: Structures Once City's Pride Now Hidden in Squalor". Los Angeles Times.
  2. Cal Parks, Site 171
  3. Lois Ann Woodward (1936). "Merced Theater" (PDF). State of California, Department of Natural Resources.
  4. hmdb.org, Merced Theatre
  5. Findegrave, William Abbot
  6. Huber, Robert Christopher (1980). The Merced Theatre of Los Angeles: An Analysis of its Management and Architecture, 1870-1879. Online.
  7. Cal. Markers Merced Theatre, 171
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