Historical Marker · No. 361
Old Lobero Theatre
Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County · California
Erected by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the County of Santa Barbara, the Lobero Theatre Foundation, and Tierra de Oro Parlor No. 304, N.D.G.W., 1974
Lutah Maria Riggs drew the new Lobero as George Washington Smith's apprentice, and it opened on August 4, 1924, alongside the city's first Fiesta. Less than a year later the earthquake took most of downtown and left the theatre untouched. Local banks pitched tents on its lawn that same morning, a Marine guarding the cash, and opened at ten. The 1981 city plaque on the wall names Riggs above Smith. The state's own bronze, set in a boulder on the grass, is no longer there.
What the plaque says
Old Lobero Theatre 1873 José Lobero opened the region's first legitimate theatre on this site February 22, 1873. For many years the old theatre was the center of social life in Santa Barbara. A new Lobero Theatre, opened in 1924 on the same site, continues to serve the cultural interests of the area. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 361 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the County of Santa Barbara, Lobero Theatre Foundation, and Tierra de Oro Parlor No. 304, N.D.G.W., February 22, 1974.
Where it stands
34.42143, -119.69983 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Hill-Carrillo Adobe — steps away
- De La Guerra Plaza — steps away
- Site of Royal Spanish Presidio of Santa Barbara — steps away
- Casa Covarrubias — steps away