This photo is on 4th looking N from Broadway in 1906; Pickwick was at 1029 Fourth, on the East side of Fourth Avenue between Broadway and C Street; designed by Hebbard and Gill; 825 seats; demolished in 1926.

Pickwick Theatre

The Pickwick Theatre, under the management of Palmer and Faulkerson, was first and foremost a vaudeville house. From its opening on Monday, February 27, 1905, until its changeover to a motion picture house in 1922, it rarely presented anything but vaudeville. The fact that it did not try to compete directly with the Fisher Opera House in the more sophisticated realms of theatrical production could well be the reason for its rather long theatrical life of seventeen years.

The Pickwick Theater was erected in 1904 by Mr. Louis J. Wilde, who later became Mayor of San Diego. Little is known of the actual construction of the Pickwick. What we do have can be but surmised from the review of its opening night. In it the writer calls it the prettiest house of its size on the coast. He draws special attention to the wondrous sky and cloud effect in the ceiling. This, along with a well painted drop curtain, made quite an impression on the audience.

Though the Pickwick never thrilled with great music, swayed with impassioned oratory, or moved with great drama, it must have fulfilled one hope of the aforementioned reporter:

It (the entertainment offered by the Pickwick) will tend to keep the young men out of the saloons, and the money spent here will yield better returns than if spent in drinking beer, smoking, and chewing.

It is particularly interesting to note that a line of stages which started with two seven-passenger automobiles, and which was owned and operated by Mr. Merchon, had its offices in this building, and adopted the name of Pickwick Stages frorn the theater building. The present nation-wide Greyhound Bus Line is the outgrowth of this small stage line which started in San Diego. The present Pickwick Hotel also takes its name from the old Pickwick Stage Company.

[excerpt from a Thesis Presented to the Faculty of San Diego State College by Morgan Jackson Lane, June 1969, entitled "Commercial Theatre in San Diego with Special Emphasis 1892-1917"]

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