San Francisco’s “Great White Way”; so many to choose from

I took a walk east along Market Street from 9^th Street to 4^th Street to photograph the locations of the movie theater palaces that lined both sides of this portion of Market Street from the beginning of the 20^th Century until most of them were closed and demolished by the 1970s. It’s fascinating to think what this area must have been like, especially on Saturday afternoons during that period. This stretch of Market Street is boring at best now, and often uncomfortable to walk along, but here long ago with its fashionable department stores, clean sidewalks, and a host of movies to select from, was the area for the residents, not the tourists (Thumbnail images)

  

I started at 1350 Market Street, and where the Fox Theater, probably the most beloved San Francisco movie theater, used to be. Demolished in 1963, it’s where the Fox Plaza is now. (Vintage picture from the SF Chronicle)

  

Mentioned in the Gelett Burgess poem, ‘The Ballad of the Hyde Street Grip’ and destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, the rebuilt Orpheum Theater at 1192 Market Street is still around and has a performing arts only venue now. (blogspot.com)

  

In spite of efforts in the 1990s to keep it around, the Embassy Theater at 1125 Market Street was demolished in 1994. (SF Gate)

 

Across from Jones Street, the United Artists Theater at 1077 Market Street, originally the Market Street Cinema, was demolished in 2016. The Centre Theater next to the United Artists Theater at 1073 Market Street survived as a film theater until 1987. The third theater seen here in the group was the Guild Theater at 1071 Market Street. Like the Centre Theater, it closed in 1987 and is currently vacant. The small building the Guild was in is to the right of the streetcar in my photo. The Centre was in the building with the fire escape next to it. (Reddit)

  

Another masterpiece, the Paramount Theater at 1066 Market Street, closed in 1965 and was demolished that year. (opensfhistory.org, outsidelands.org)

  

Once owned by Howard Hughes and with live appearances from notable stars like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland, the Golden Gate Theater at 1 Taylor Street is stage only venue now too. (blogspot.com)

  

The building that the Warfield Theater was in at 982 Market Street has survived and the Warfield now has a music only venue. (blogspot.com)

   

Both the Esquire Theater at 936 Market Street and the Telenews Theater at 930 Market Street closed in the late 1960s and were demolished in 1972 to create Hallidie Plaza. You can see the #1 Powell Street Building in the background of both pictures. (sanfranciscostory.com)

   

The little State Theater at 787 Market Street, at 4^th and Market Streets, was as far east along Market Street that the theaters got, I think. It closed in 1954, and was demolished in 1961. (SF Chronicle)