Description
The scrapbook which forms the chief element of these papers was created
by W.B. Swain. It contains theater programs, reviews and Swain's notes about
attendance and the performances at Marysville between 1886 and 1908. One of the
Swains also collected a smaller number of San Francisco theatrical programs and
newspapers dating from the same period.
Background
The Swain Family operated a planing mill, a theatre and a bank in
Marysville throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. Their
Marysville Theatre, erected in 1865, was designed by Harry Majors and built by
W.C. Swain for $30,000. The flood of 1875 damaged the building and it was use
for a time as a dance hall. Swain remodelled it in 1886, introducing sloping
floors and other improvements. W.B. Swain, son of the builder, was interested
both in acting and in theatre management. His father began leasing the building
to him in 1889 and the latter operated it until it burnt down, together with
the family mill, in 1904.