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 on March 6, 1935.

Architecture

The Merced Theater is built in a brick Victorian Italianate style. It was designed by Ezra F. Kysor 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."
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.

Founder

William Abbot and his parents came from Switzerland. William Abbot married Maria Merced Garcia 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., Selina F., Francisca, William II, Aaron, Maria Merced I, Amos, Maria Merced II, George, Katherine Carmelita, and Frank Abbott.

Marker

Marker on the site reads: