The South San Francisco Opera House was built by Masonic Lodge No. 212 in tandem with their adjacent Masonic Temple. It was the first cultural building in the neighborhood and served for decades as the chief social center of the Bayview Hunters Point district, regularly hosting dances, fairs, political rallies and charity benefits.

As one of the few entertainment venues located outside the downtown area, the Opera House also offered a wide variety of theatrical performances - including dramas, comedies, minstrelsy and vaudeville - in its first two decades of existence. It retains its original use as a community center and performance venue, and appears to be the oldest surviving entertainment venue in San Francisco.

The building was designed by architect Henry Geilfuss, one of San Francisco's most prolific architects during the 1880s and 1890s. Geilfuss blended Italianate, Gothic, Eastlake and Stick elements into a style that came to define Victorian architecture in San Francisco.

Source: Extracted from the NRHP nomination form.

The South San Francisco Opera House is also San Francisco Landmark 8.