Photograph used for articles dated: July 10, 1931 and August 23, 1939. The amphitheater was built in 1920, but the brush fire in October 1929 destroyed the wooden structure. A second amphitheater with thick new concrete walls, built to resemble the ancient architecture of the Holy Land, opened in the early 1930s. The religious-themed Pilgrimage Play, written by Christine Whetherill Stevenson, was performed every summer between 1920 to 1941. During WWII the theater was deeded to Los Angeles County and converted into dormitories for servicemen. After the war, the play resumed until 1964, at which time it was legally ordered to close due to its religious content. In the early 1970s, the amphitheater was renamed after John Anson Ford, in honor of his dedicated and successful campaign to revive the facility. View of the debris of the first Pilgrimage Theatre, located at 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East in the Cahuenga Pass.
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