Los Angeles Theatres: Two Chinese Theatres on Marchessault St.

The two theatres on Marchessault were perhaps running simultaneously for a short period. The 216 Marchessault location was in the block between Alameda and Los Angeles St. The other theatre was on the east side of Alameda, near the southeast corner of Alameda and Marchessault. Scroll down the page for data about the latter one.

On Marchessault West of Alameda:

216 Marchessault St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 | map |

Opened: This theatre was running prior to 1887. While it's listed as Chinese Theatre on maps and in city directories, it's unknown what the theatre was called by the Chinese population. It was on the south side of the street between Alameda and Los Angeles St. In this c.1900 view we're looking west on Marchessault toward Alameda with the theatre seen centered across the street. It's a photo from the El Pueblo Monument collection appearing on the Los Angeles Public Library website.

Seating: unknown

In Maxwell's 1887-88 L.A. city directory it's listed under "Amusement - Places of" as "Chinese Theatre, N Alameda, nr Old Plaza." In the 1888 L.A. city directory published by W.H.L Corran it's listed as "Chinese Theater, S s Marchessault nr South Alameda." The 1890 city directory listing under "Amusements" just says "Chinese Theater, Chinatown." The 1891 city directory again has a listing as "Chinese Theater, S s Marchessault nr South Alameda." In the 1892, 1893 and 1894 directories it gets similar listings.

It's on the 1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. "Stage 1st - No Scenery." See a wider view of the page in an image from the Los Angeles Public Library. In this detail it's Los Angeles St. on the left, Alameda on the right.

A July 1889 listing of recent fires included one at the Chinese, with "nominal" damage. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

The theatre appears on the Dakin Atlas of 1891. This detail from page 4 of the map is from an image included in "Chinatown on the Map," Glen Creason's 2019 article for the Los Angeles Public Library's blog. That's Alameda up the right side. See the full image. Glen notes:

"... Chinatown here was a hot-spot of illegal activity, and the lawless streets drew a certain crowd from the area to drink, gamble and find company in the arms of fallen angels. The strange cartographical phenomena of Chinatown is that it was often ignored since the streets may have seemed unsavory and out-of-towners were not encouraged to visit, that is until a suggestion might be made by locals who liked the high-life.

"However, we do have several intimate looks in the Dakin Atlas or our Sanborn Fire Insurance atlases that name the dens of sin and label Opium joints, saloons, tenements, gambling establishments, and buildings labeled I.F. for houses of ill fame. While the common street guides or fold-out maps show a dot on the map old Chinatown was a place of many stories where families lived good lives alongside shady operations where rubes were fleeced and Angelenos wiped their brows with the devil’s kerchief."

Thanks to Elizabeth Uyeda for including a link to Glen's article in "524 August Alley," her 2026 Los Angeles Revisited blog post about her search for the street where Margaret Quon Lew was born. With her husband Tony she later owned the Sing Lee Theatre on N. Spring St. as well as a nearby market and restaurant.

The building is identified as "Chinese Theatre" on this detail from page 12 of Volume One of the 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. On their site the portion of page 12 with the Chinese is image 27 of 85.

An undated map showing Marchessault St. along the north edge of the Plaza. Chinatown was spread across both sides of Alameda. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Sopas EJ for finding the map for his Noirish post #53. It's now required to open an account (free) to view any of the Noirish posts.

An 1893 story discussing the new props and costumes imported for the theatre by Au Mou, the proprietor at the time. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the article.

A November 1898 article from the L.A. Times about the 1890 killing of Fung Ah Lung, an actor who had been employed at the theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the story.

The property appears on Marchessault to the right of the Plaza with an address of 216 but isn't identified as a theatre in this detail from plate 003 from the 1910 Baist Real estate Survey Map from Historic Map Works. It's Main St. running to the left of the Plaza. That "Nat'l Hotel" just south of the Plaza is the Pico House.

A closer look from the 1910 Baist map with the theatre building indicated in blue. That unnamed alley to the west of the theatre is the one that Elizabeth Uyeda was looking for in her Los Angeles Revisited article "524 August Alley."

Closing date: Unknown. At least part of the building was converted into housing.

The theatre building became housing sometime before 1915. This illustration from the annual report of the Commission on Housing and Immigration that year was uncovered by Elizabeth Uyeda. She notes that "Government authorities surveyed living conditions in 1915 and homed in on 'August Alley' and vicinity." The caption notes: "Sanitary, healthful housing is impossible where the buildings thus cover practically the entire land area of the block."

A "pre-1930s" map on display at the Chinese American Museum. We've added the location in blue of the Chinese Theatre building on Marchessault. In red the museum has shown the 101 freeway as well as the re-routing of Los Angeles St. to serve as an approach to Union Station. The station itself is indicated on the right in pink.

The section of Marchessault St. and other Chinatown blocks east of Alameda got leveled for construction of Union Station, which opened in 1939. The theatre building and others west of Alameda survived at least into the early 1950s. Elizabeth Uyeda came up with a demolition date of 1951 for the theatre building.

A detail from a page 301 of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map with updates made as late as 1950. Los Angeles St. is on the left, Alameda up the right side. The theatre building is just to the right of August alley. See the full image of the page from the Los Angeles Public Library that Glen Creason shared in his "Chinatown on the Map" article. It shows the "proposed" 101 freeway cutting through the area south of the theatre block as white pasted-on emendations.

Thanks to Elizabeth Uyeda for this detail. She notes that some of the numbers shown on August Alley for various residential spaces were in the former theatre building: 518, 520, 524, 526. In "524 August Alley" Elizabeth notes that 524 was the address where Margaret Quon Lew was born in 1917 and comments about the future co-owner of the Sing Lee Theatre: "how ironic that theatre was in her blood."

Status: The former theatre location on Marchessault was redeveloped, presumably in the 1960s. Los Angeles St. got rerouted somewhat and split in two where it joins Alameda and heads across into Union Station.

Photos of Marchessault St. West of Alameda:

An undated photo of the former theatre building with August Alley along the side nearest us. We're east with Alameda just out of the frame to the left. Thanks to Elizabeth Uyeda for locating the image in the collection of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.

A c.1934 view with the former theatre building in the foreground on the right. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Snix for sharing this as well as five other photos that were offered as a batch on Ebay as Noirish post #61790.

A detail from a c.1938 view west across Alameda to the 200 block with the former theatre building the second in from the corner. By this time it had lost the second floor balcony and the canopy above that. It's from a Dick Whittington photo in the USC Digital Library collection. | the full image |

Marchessault St. and the former theatre building are in the lower left of this c.1939 view from the USC Digital Library collection. The white structure in the center is the Biscailuz Building. The photo appears on a Water & Power Associates Museum "Early L.A. Buildings" page where Jack Feldman noted: "The old Water Department Building, now occupied by the F. See On Company, stands on the northwest corner of Marchessault and Alameda." Thanks to James van Scoyoc for sharing the shot in a post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

A detail taken from the previous photo with the facade of the theatre building indicated.

A c.1940 view southeast across the 200 block of Marchessault St. with Alameda on the left. The Chinese Theatre had been in the center building on the block. On the right is the Fook Wo Curio Company Building. The Dragon's Den restaurant opened in 1935. Los Angeles St. is on the right. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Also see a partial view of the west end of the theatre building facade.

The former theatre building is on the far left in this 1943 photo. The Dragon's Den building is at the corner of Marchessault and Los Angeles. This view to the southwest is from the Blackstock Negatives Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. They note:

"Looking southwest towards La Plaza and the Civic Center from N. Alameda, north of where it crosses Marchessault Street (left) and before it meets Los Angeles Street (right, out of view). Seen are Tyrus Wong's Dragon's Den Chinese Foods Restaurant (part of Old Chinatown), a glimpse of the Baker Block on Main Street, City Hall, the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, the headquarters of the Southern California-Arizona Conference of the Methodist Church (in what later became the Biscailuz Building), and a White Log Coffee Shop."

A c.1949 view across Alameda from Union Station. Beyond the back of that flatbed truck we're looking up Marchessault St. toward the former theatre, with the lower part of its facade painted white. It's a frame from eight minutes of footage taken for film or TV process shot backgrounds. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Riichkay for featuring it on Noirish post #61904. The colorized footage, on YouTube from NASS, is mostly various views from the front of Union Station but we also get Courthouse shots, the Beverly Hills City Hall, and a bit of Wilshire near Robertson.

The area where Marchessault St. was on the west side of Alameda. It's now an extension of Los Angeles St. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

On Marchessault St. East of Alameda:

SW corner of Marchessault and Alameda Los Angeles, CA 90012 | map |

Opening: October 22, 1884

Seating: 800

This item about the opening appeared in the October 23, 1884 issue of the L.A. Times.

The theatre location was spotted by Elizabeth Uyeda on this 1890 map she found in the Huntington Library collection that was drawn to show the 1890 partition of the Matthew Keller estate. The map appears as part of "524 August Alley," her Los Angeles Revisited article. She also has a post about Keller.

"Chinese Theatre." It's a detail from the map showing the southeast corner of Alameda and Marchessault.

Elizabeth notes that both of the early theatres in Chinatown were mentioned on page 139 of Roberta S. Greenwood's 1996 book "Down by the Station: Los Angeles Chinatown 1880-1933" from UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archeology Press. Roberta's comments:

"Even farther south [than Apablasa St.] was one of two Chinese theaters, set slightly back from the southeast corner of Alameda and Marchessault, as indicated on the 1883 Sanborn Map. By the time the 1889 Dakin Map was drawn, this structure had been replaced by a commercial block. The other theater was west of Alameda Street and east of the Pueblo Plaza."

Closing: The date is unknown. It may have already been closed by the time the 1890 map was drawn. This location for a theatre on the east side of Alameda doesn't seem to get any city directory listings.

By the time of the 1894 Los Angeles Sanborn Fire Insurance Map the former theatre building near the southwast corner of Alameda and Marchessault had been replaced with a newer two-story commercial building. It's shown only as "Chinese Quarters" plus a Chinese restaurant in this detail from Volume 1 of the map from the Library of Congress collection. On their site the page is image 39 out of 85. It's been reoriented here so north is at the top, Alameda on the left.

An early 1900s view looking west toward Alameda. There may heve been a theatre in the building at the end of the block on the left, at the southeast corner of Marchessault and Alameda. The Chinese Theatre that was at 216 Marchessault is seen across Alameda. It's a photo in the El Pueblo Monument collection appearing on the Los Angeles Public Library website. A similar view from the collection is at the top of the page.

A 1920s view west toward Alameda. It's a California Historical Society photo on the USC Digital Library website.

Looking east across Alameda into Marchessault c.1935. It's a C.C. Pierce photo from the California Historical Society collection appearing on the USC Digital Library website.

The tracks on the street are the main line of the Southern Pacific leading to their station, then on Central between 4th and 6th. Also see a c.1920 photo looking east that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Looking east on Marchessault from Alameda St. in 1933. It's a photo from the L.A. City Archives. Thanks to James J. Chun for finding the photo for a post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

A c.1932 photo of the 300 block taken by Anton Wagner. Thanks to James J. Chun for locating this one for a post for the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group.

Wagner took hundreds of photos of the L.A. area in 1932 and 1933 for a thesis topic having to do with the way the area's topology influenced the character of its inhabitants. The California Historical Society has collected over 400 of them for their album "Anton Wagner: Los Angeles 1932-33."

A 1937 photo showing construction of the Union Station clock tower. Thanks to James J. Chun for finding it for a post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. That building on the right was on the site of the Chinese Theatre.

Union Station opened in 1939 on the east side of Alameda. The area where Marchessault St. had been is now the entrance drive for Union Station. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

More information: Thanks to Elizabeth Uyeda for all her investigations. See her Los Angeles Revisited article "524 August Alley" for a nicely researched history of the theatres as well as other businesses in the area.

Thanks to UCLA researchers Ashley Huendo and Sagarika Roychoudhury for sharing their 2020 project documenting early foreign language theatres in L.A. See the listings they've assembled on Map Hub. A companion timeline is on Time Mapper. Also see the related UCLA site Architectural Reconstructions on Broadway.

Other Chinatown theatres: Pagoda/Cinemaland | Kim Sing Theatre | Sing Lee/King Hing Theatre | Mandarin Theatre |