Who the Heck is Ingomar?

            If there is one image of Eureka, California that is known world-wide, it is the Carson Mansion. Built in 1884 by timber baron William Carson as a way to keep his workers employed during an economic downturn and show off their great wood-working skills, it has become the most photographed house in the country.

            The Carson family lived there until 1950 when William’s granddaughter sold it to a group of local business and professional men calling themselves the Carson Club. Their stated purpose was to restore and maintain this architectural masterpiece. Very soon they adopted a new name – the Ingomar Club.

            Why?

            Carson had been drawn to California by the Gold Rush, but soon shifted his sights to making wealth from timber. A prominent man in the community, in 1885, he was captivated by a local theater production of Ingomar, the Barbarian. Written by a German baron, the English version had played with great success in Boston, New York and San Francisco.

            This costume melodrama tells of a barbarian chieftain won to civilized ways by the love of a Roman girl. Carson adored the play and saw this as an analogy of how barbaric frontier communities like Humboldt could be won to cultured civilized ways. He vowed to build an elegant theater here to do just that.

            His vision was realized in 1886 with the completion of a grand building at Eureka’s 4th and F streets. It housed ground floor retail space, his own spacious offices and a magnificent theater he called “The Ingomar.”

            California’s most spectacular theater north of San Francisco, it boasted gilded Victorian décor, and a mezzanine, a sweeping balcony and ten exclusive boxes accounting for some 1,000 brocaded seats. For several decades, its stage hosted operas, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, variety shows, concerts, dramas and even high school graduations. Local theater groups trod those boards as did many acclaimed troops from San Francisco and beyond – though many out-of-town performers complained their possibly sub-par performances were due to sea sickness on the steamers bringing them here.

            In 1923, William’s son Milton closed the theater due to fire safety concerns and the advent of cinema reducing the interest and profitability of live theater. In the 1950s the theater portion of the building was largely gutted and used for commercial storage, though over the years proposals have cropped up for returning the theater to its former glory.

            Meanwhile across town, the name Ingomar remains in popular awareness. In 1996, after years of controversy, the private all-male club finally allowed women to join, though many locals and tourists still long for the day when this magnificent landmark will be open to the public.

            Even so, the name of that melodramatic barbarian who was won over by the beauties of civilization lives on.