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Volume 068-1 - January 2014 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
Young New Englanders Shape and
Build a California Town (Part 2)
Maria E. Brower
Brown the Entrepreneur:
Theatre, Newspapers and Mining
ROWN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES LIVED IN
Nevada City during the most colorful and historic
years the town would ever know. They shaped the community, and occupied important positions for decades.
Most of Nevada City’s businesses and houses in the
commercial district (downtown Broad, Commercial,
Main, Coyote and Pine streets) were destroyed in the
fire of May 23, 1858. All the wooden structures in that
area—with the exception of one—were burned, but the
brick buildings suffered very little or no damage. One
big loss for the community was the large Frisbie Theatre
The Frisbies had now been burned out six times and this
theatre had been built after their severe losses in the
1856 fire, when Mrs. Frisbie barely escaped with her life
climbing down a ladder from a second-story window after she found herself alone in their burning hotel.
Although the 1858 fire is not as well-known as those of
1856 and 1863, the total loss from this lesser fire was still
an enormous $200,000. Three months later an announcement was made by George S. Pierce & Co. that a new
theatre was being built on Main Street and that it could
be rented by the day, week or month for performances
when complete.!
Nevada County Historical socity .
Bulletin
ee 68 NUMBER 1 JANUARY ue)
The principal proprietor (and property man) of the
new theatre was Nat Brown. The theatre had bookings
before it was completed. The grand opening was held
on September 17 for a two-night run of the California
Minstrels and Burlesque Troupe. The theatre was booked
with talent weekly as the most popular entertainers of
the day came to perform in northern California, making
the circuit and performing in all the prosperous mining
towns.
The theatre building also contained two stores that
were rented or leased. The additional income helped offset the costs of elaborate sets needed for performances
that were typical of that era. Many community events
and meetings were held in the theatre. In October there
was a benefit for the Nevada Rifle Company. “Faint Heart
Never Won a Fair Lady” and “Irish Lion” were performed
for a full house. This benefit was to assist the Rifles to
pay for rifles, ammunition and military uniforms ordered
from New York, and members attended the performance
in full regalia.
i, SBF HY
7
a
EUK“MNBAD fView from the Plaza in Nevada City. Broad Street bridge on left, Main Street bridge on right, with Union Hotel on far right.
(Searls Historical Library.)