First Theater in California

Monterey County · Monterey State Historic Park · location approximate

This building was built about 1844 for a sailor's lodging house by Jack Swan. While serving its original purpose, it was commandeered in 1848 by a group of mustered-out soldiers of Colonel Stevenson's regiment of New Yorkers for a place to put on plays and comedies. The theater afterward served as a whaling station, a lookout station having been inserted in the roof.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

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