The Colton Theater Building - Yreka, CA
N 41° 43.912 W 122° 38.200
10T E 530216 N 4620070
This historical marker is located in front of the Colton Theater Building on the corner of W. Miner St. in historic downtown Yreka, CA and mentions Yreka's great fire of 1871 which destroyed most of this structure and was rebuilt.
Waymark Code: WMH54V
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2013
Views: 4
This historical marker hangs in front of the Guilbert Building on the corner of 3rd and W Miner Streets. There are numerous older buildings along Miner Street that contain historical markers that relate the history of each building, including a few mentioning Yreka's great fire of 1871 like this marker. This historic building's marker reads:
The Colton Theater Building
210, 214 W. Miner St. David D. Colton built a handsome brick building on this site in 1856, and outfitted the upper floor as a theater which operated until 1858. At various times the building housed several businesses including a skating rink, saloon, hotel, restaurant and soda factory. After the Great Conflagration burned the structure on July 4, 1871, the west half was rebuilt in 1882 and the eastern portion several years later. The fronts have been altered and modernized, but the interior spaces accommodated successful business ventures for over a century. Colton left Yreka in 1859, studied law and became associated with the "Big Four" of railroad fame. His presence and enterprising spirit played a substantial role in Yreka's history.
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I located a great article from Ancestry.com that relates the history of David Douty Colton here. He was a prominent businessman and former Brigadier General of the California State Militia prior to the Civil War. Colton, California is named after him.
Yreka has a few websites devoted to preserving its rich history. Siskiyouhistory.org is a good place to start and breaks up the town's history into groups of years. Yrekapreservation.org contains some nice pictures of original homes and commercial buildings from yesteryear. Finally, Yrekahistory.blogspot.com is a good blog website which contains great stories and events of Yreka's past and all their articles have been archived.