Yuba Theatre
212 Main Street,
Downieville,
CA
95936
212 Main Street,
Downieville,
CA
95936
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I was projectionist at the Brockway theatre in Kings Beach in the early 1970s. William Tamblyn and Vern Shattuck owned it and the Tahoe theatre. They also had the Donner theatre in Truckee that was destroyed by fire a few years earlier. in 1970 the Wenzel projectors were replaced at the Brockway and were taken to the Yuba and installed as replacements for the semi-portable projectors in use there. I was the sound engineer for the Yuba until the late 1980s, it was fun to still take care of the first machines I trained on as a teen! I have the original portables in my museum of projection.
It looks like the Yuba Theatre was operating before 1940, either in the current building or at another location. The October 19, 1946 issue of Boxoffice reported on the sale of the Yuba Theatre by Mr. and Mrs. V.C. Shattuck “…after fifteen years under their management.” The Shattucks, located in Truckee, operated a number of small town theaters in the region.
Unfortunately I’ve found no earlier references to the Yuba Theatre in Boxoffice, and only two later references, from 1957 and 1976. A couple of other web sites give 1940 as the construction date of the current Yuba Theatre, but it’s impossible to tell the actual age of the building from the photo on the theater’s Facebook page. The exterior is rustic and looks like it could date from the 19th century, but the region is full of faux-rustic buildings. Also, in a photo of the theater’s interior at Facebook the auditorium has wall sconces that look art moderne and could well date from 1940.
Yuba Theatre Facebook page.
Here is a photo. I think the website is now www.yubatheatre.org, although that takes you back to the Arts Council page.
http://tinyurl.com/yd3sl6a