California Historical Landmarks in San Francisco
California Historical Landmark 192
Site of the Jenny Lind Theatre and San Francisco City Hall
750 Kearny Street at Merchant
Financial District
1850s
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A Hilton Hotel stands on the site of the Jenny Lind Theatre.
The plaque is mounted on the hotel.
(Click Photo to Zoom)
Site of the Jenny Lind Theatre and San Francisco City Hall
The third Jenny Lind Theatre was opened by Tom Maguire on October 4, 1851, on the same site as the two preceding it, which were destroyed in the fires of 1851. In 1852 the City of San Francisco purchased this theatre for use as the city hall.
State Registered Landmark No. 192
Tablet placed by the California Centennials Commission with the cooperation of the Society of California Pioneers
Dedicated November 15, 1949
Stephen C. Massett, "a red-faced little Englishman," had sailed from England to Buffalo in 1839. Not finding his calling in Buffalo, he traveled to New York City, Boston, Charleston, Malta, Constantinople, and back to New York City, supporting himself as song and dance artist, composer, essayist, lawyer, auctioneer, notary public, clerk, bookkeeper, salesman, and wandering minstrel.
In January, 1849, he set sail for the gold fields of California, by schooner to Panama, then by mule across the isthmus. On the Pacific coast, Massett boarded a second ship which soon was becalmed and took ninety-eight days to reach California.
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Parade in Portsmouth Plaza to celebrate California's admission into Union.
Lithograph by J. Prendergast from Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
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Lithograph by Quirot & Company from the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
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Lithograph by Pollard & Britton from the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
(Click Images to Zoom)
Points of historical interest associated with Portsmouth Plaza and Gold Rush San Francisco:
- California Star Newspaper Site
- Clay Street Hill Railroad Site
- First American Flag Raised in San Francisco
- First Public School in California
- First United States Branch Mint
- Jackson Square Historic District
- Jenny Lind Theatre and San Francisco City Hall Site
- Montgomery Block Site
- Pony Express Site
- Portsmouth Plaza
- Robert Louis Stevenson Remembrance