Very Historic Victoria Theater Mission District San Francisco 5 Editorial Image

The Victoria Theater in the Mission District of San Francisco first opened as Brown's Opera House in 1908 by Edmund Brown, father of future California Governor Pat Brown as well as his son, Jerry, both two term governors. Initially showing vaudeville, by the 1930's with film becoming more and more popular, they switched over. As the Mission District was becoming the home of more and more native Spanish speakers in the 1940's, they started adding Spanish language shows. Along the way, there were several changes of the name also. When they closed in 1976, fearing it would be just turned into another parking lot, as has happened to other neighborhood theaters, one local couple quietly bought the theater, refurbished it and brought it back to life, with the ghost sign left fully intact. As seen 20 September 2023.