Historic Monterey
Waterfront Tour:
The First
Theatre & The
Vizcaino-Serra Landing Site |
The
First Theatre
On the corner of Pacific and Scott St
An English sailor by the name of Jack Swan
built the First
Theatre in 1847. Initially built
as a rooming house with a
small barroom. To get customers to stay at his rooming house,
Mr. Swan would greet arriving sailors from
visiting ships and
would offer to do their laundry
if they would stay at his establish- ment. About
this same time a group of soldiers from
the
New York Volunteers who were assigned to Monterey were
looking for
a venue to put on
some plays, Jack Swan offered
his building
and furnished it with a small stage and benches
for the audience
to sit on. And it was here that Californians
saw it’s first theatrical productions. Jack Swan is also
responsible for introducing the first
pies to California. In
latter years the building was also used by a whaling company
who stored their gear and used the roof as a lookout to spot
whales on the bay. |
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CLICK
PHOTO TO ENLARGE,
AND BACK TO RETURN
The First Theater in California on Pacific
Street, as it appeared in 1889-1890. Former
English seaman John Swan built the wood portion
about 1845, followed
by the adobe portion in 1847. In 1849
the occupying American forces "gave
the people a treat in the shape
of a little Shakespeare,"
wrote Lieutenant Alfred Sully. |
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CLICK
PHOTO TO ENLARGE,
AND BACK TO RETURN The
traditional site of Father Serra's landing
on May 31, 1770, marked by the white cross. The
Spanish erected a cross there, and Fathers Serra
and Crespi celebrated a mass of thanksgiving under
an oak "in a little valley." In this 1880s
photograph the old barracks of Fort Mervine can be
seen on the hill above. |
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The Vizcaino-Serra
Landing Site
The Vizcaino-Serra Landing Site is located below the First
Theatre on Lighthouse Ave just before the gateway to the
Presidio of Monterey. Marked with a Celtic cross, it is here
where Sebastian Vizcanino landed in 1602, claiming this land
for Spain and gracing it with the name, Monterey. But it took
168 years before the Spanish returned. On June 3, 1770, Fray
Junipero Serra landed on this spot and helped establish the
city of Monterey and the province of Alta California.
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Historic photos courtesy of the
Monterey
Public Library, California History Room.
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