Ingomar Theatre
227 F Street,
Eureka,
CA
95501
227 F Street,
Eureka,
CA
95501
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Additional Info
Architects: Joseph Newsom, Samuel Newsom
Previous Names: Grand Theater
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The Humboldt Times reported the opening of the Ingomar Theatre on December 21, 1892, by owner William Carson with a play called “The Golden Giant”. Included in the news were two drawings of the auditorium and exterior. Later Times articles report the Ingomar Theatre was designed by brothers Joseph and Samuel Newsom and seated 885.
Although the Eureka Theatre website reports the first moving pictures were shown at the Ingomar Theatre in 1899, the Humboldt Times advertisements showed it never competed with the local theaters. The Ingomar Theatre presented documentaries such in “From Tree to Tire” in 1911, a promotional film from the B.F. Goodrich Tire Company which, packed the audience with automobile enthusiasts. As an added attraction, “the famous Atlanta auto races at the Atlanta speedway".
In 1923, William Carson’s son, Milton, padlocked the doors because of fire safety concerns. On November 24, 1923, the Blue Lake Advocate reported: “The fixtures of the Ingomar Theatre in the Carson building of Eureka have been purchased by Frank Bertsch, Loleta businessman, who is going to build and equip a modern theatre in Loleta".
On July 20, 1958, the Humboldt County Historical Society offered a public tour of the theatre before its modernization into a furniture Mart.
Today the immaculately restored building, designed by JSFA Architects (John Sergio Fisher & Associates, Inc), is known as the Carson Block.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
In 1884, eight years before designing the Carson Block with its upper floor Ingomar Theatre, architects Samuel and Joseph Cather Newsom designed Eureka’s most iconic building, the ornate and towering Carson mansion, for the same client. Since 1950, the mansion has been the home of the Ingomar Club, a private men’s club named for the theater which, in turn, was named for William Carson’s favorite play, “Ingomar, the Barbarian.”