Merced Theatre

The Merced Theatre, built in 1870, was one of the oldest structures erected in Los Angeles for dramatic performances and served as the center of theatrical activity in the city from 1871 to 1876. It was built by William Abbot, the son of Swiss immigrants who settled in Los Angeles in 1854. In 1858, he married Maria Merced Garcia, for whom he named the theatre; she was the daughter of Jose Antonio Garcia and Maria Guadalupe Uribe, long-time residents of the Los Angeles pueblo. The theatre was designed by Ezra F. Kysor, architect of the Pico House. Like the Pico House, it used the Italianate style, but in a more ornate form. The theatre occupied the second floor of the three-story building, whose higher second-story ceiling accommodated the stage, scenery, and props, causing the structure to rise somewhat above the Pico House next door. Construction was completed in December 1870, and the first performance, the melodrama "Fanchon the Little Cricket," opened on January 30, 1871. Performances were mainly in English, though some were in Spanish, and ticket prices ranged from 50 cents in the balcony to $1.00 for parquette chairs. The opening of Wood's Opera House in 1876, four doors to the south, and a smallpox epidemic in the area that same year led to the theatre's decline. Its last performance was held on New Year's Day, 1877.

Los Angeles, California · United States