Columbus\u27 First Theater Marker Columbus, GA

The marker reads: COLUMBUS\u27 FIRST THEATER A pioneer theatrical entrepreneur, Sol Smith, 1801-1869, built many theaters in the Deep South, including New Orleans and Mobile and the first permanent theater west of the Mississippi in St. Louis, a city that he and partner Noah Ludlow dominated. Smith came to Columbus in 1831 to a primitive log structure in the 800 block of Broadway, which builder Asa Bates had completed in one week. “Pizzaro” was his company’s first production there. Later, Smith toured Georgia’s theater circuit accompanied by friend Mirabeau B. Lamar, founding editor of the Columbus Enquirer and later second president of the Republic of Texas. ERECTED BY THE HISTORIC CHATTAHOOCHEE COMMISSION AND HISTORIC COLUMBUS FOUNDATION, INC. 2002 Top of the sign: Historic Chattahoochee Commission Alabama-Georgia emblemhttps://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/8777/thumbnail.jp