List of former theatres in Boston

The following is a partial list of former theatres in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It includes multi-purpose public spaces that functioned at least in part as venues for theatrical performances, including vaudeville. Most venues also served at one time or another as concert halls, lecture halls, meeting spaces, etc. Some operated as dime museums, and some as motion picture houses. Some of the buildings that formerly housed theatres have survived to the present day. However, most of the buildings no longer exist.

Former theatres in Boston

Name	Year established	Year closed	Location	Notes	Image
Adelphi Theatre	19th century		Washington Street
Alhambra	1878[1]			[2]
Allston Hall	19th century		Tremont Street
Allston Theatre	20th century		Brighton Avenue[3]
Apollo Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
The Arena	19th century		Chandler Street
Arlington Theatre	20th century		Tremont Street
Austin and Stone's Dime Museum	1883		Tremont Row[4]
Austin's Nickelodeon	1888	1891 circa	Court Street[4]
Barnum's Aquarial Gardens	1862	1863	Washington Street
Beach Street Theatre	19th century
Beacon Theatre	20th century		Tremont Street[3]
Beethoven Hall	1874	1878	Washington Street
Bijou	1882	1943	Washington Street
Board Alley Theatre	1792	1793	Hawley Street
Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens	1860	1862	Central Court
Boston Arena	20th century		Street Botolph Street[3]
Boston Hippodrome	20th century		Tremont Street[3]
Boston Museum	1841	1903	Tremont Street
Boston Olympic Theatre	1845		Court Street
Boston Opera House	1909		Huntington Avenue
Boston Theatre	1854	1925	Washington Street
Bowdoin Square Theatre	19th century		Bowdoin Square
Bowdoin Theatre	1858 circa[1]
Boylston Hall	1810	1887	Boylston and Washington Streets
Buckley's Minstrel Hall	1863[1]		Corner of Summer and Chauncey Streets	AKA Buckley's New Minstrel Hall and Aquarial Gardens. AKA Buckley's Serenaders[5]
Casino Theatre	19th century		Hanover Street[6]
Casino Theatre	1909[6]
Castle Square Theatre	1894	1932	Tremont Street
Chickering Hall	1883	1890s	Tremont Street
Chickering Hall	1901	1912	Huntington Avenue
Cobb Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Columbia Theatre	1891	1957 circa	Washington Street
Columbian Museum	1795	1825	Tremont Street
Concert Hall	1752	1869	Hanover Street 42.360414°N 71.060342°W
Continental Theatre	1860s		Washington Street[7]
Copley Theater[6]	20th century		Dartmouth Street[3]
Cort Theatre	1914	1915	Park Square
Donnelly Theatre	March 12, 1922	1968	205 Mass. Ave.	formerly Back Bay Theatre, Jimi Hendrix may have played here with Little Richard's band
Dudley Street Opera House	19th century		Dudley Street[4]
Dudley Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Eagle Theatre	1840s		Haverhill and Traverse Streets[7]
Eagle Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Egleston Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Everett Square Theatre	20th century		Fairmount Avenue[3]
Exeter Street Theatre	1914	1984	Exeter Street
Faneuil Hall	18th century
Federal Street Theatre	1794	1852	Federal Street 42.355547°N 71.056522°W
Fenway Theatre	20th century		Massachusetts Avenue[3]
Forest Garden	1879 circa		Roxbury
Franklin Park Theatre	20th century		Blue Hill Avenue[3]
Gaiety Theatre	1878	1882	Washington Street	Became the Bijou Theatre
Gaiety Theatre	1908	1949	Washington Street
Gem Theatre	20th century		Meridian Street[3]
Germania Theatre	1876[1]
Globe Theatre	1871	1894	Washington Street
Globe Theatre	1903		Washington Street
Gordon's Old South	20th century		Washington Street, near Milk Street
Gordon's Olympia Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Grand Dime Museum	19th century		Dover Street
Grand Museum	19th century		Dover Street and Washington Street[8]
Grand Opera House	1888	1930s	Washington Street
Grand Theatre	1896
Gray's Opera House	1878[1]
Halleck's Alhambra	1880[1]		City Point[9]
Harmony Hall	19th century		724 Washington Street[10]
Harrington's Museum	1840	1842	Court Street
Haymarket Theatre	1796	1803	Tremont Street
Hollis Street Theatre	1885	1935	Hollis Street
Horticultural Hall	1845	1860	School Street
Howard Athenaeum	1845	1953	Howard Street 42.359167°N 71.060278°W
Huntington Avenue Theatre[3]	20th century		Huntington Avenue
Ideal Theatre	20th century		Dudley Street[3]
Jane English's New Tremont Theatre	19th century		Tremont Street
Keith and Bacheller's New York Dime Museum	1883
Keith's Theatre	1894		Washington Street
Keith-Albee Boston Theatre	1920s		Washington Street
Lancaster Theatre	20th century		Lancaster Street[3]
Lion Theatre	1836	1839	Washington Street[7]	Became the Melodeon
Lothrop's Grand Museum	19th century		Dover Street
Lyceum Theatre	1892		Washington Street[8]
Magnet Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Melodeon	1839	1878	Washington Street	Became the Gaiety Theatre
Metropolitan Theatre	1925		Tremont Street	See Wang Theatre[11]
National Theatre	1836	1863	Portland Street, West End
National Theatre	1911	1978	Tremont Street, South End
New Boylston Museum	1876	1882 circa
New Dime Museum	1882
New England Museum	1818	1840 circa	Court Street
Nickelodeon	20th century		Hanover Street[3]
Nickelodeon Musee and Parlor Theatre	1894		Hanover Street
Novelty Theatre	19th century		Dover Street
Oakland Garden	1879 circa		Roxbury[12]
Ocean Garden	1880[1]
Olympic Saloon	1841[1]
Ordway Hall	1852		Washington Street
P. T. Barnum's Museum and Aquarial Gardens	19th century		Washington Street
Palace Theatre	19th century		Court Street
Palais Royal	1878[1]
Park Garden	1879[1]
Park Square Theatre	1915	1921	Park Square
Park Theatre	1879		Washington Street
Plymouth Theatre	1911	1957	Stuart Street
Pompeiian Amphitheater	19th century		Huntington Avenue
Puritan Theatre	1905 circa	1960s	Washington Street[3]
RKO-Boston	1930s	1950s	Washington Street, corner Essex Street
Scenic Temple	20th century		Berkeley Street and Warren Avenue[3]
School-Street Opera House[1]	19th century		School Street
Scollay Square Olympia Theatre	20th century
Scollay Theatre	1913	1962	Tremont Row
Seville Theatre	1930 circa	1970 circa	East Boston
Siege of Paris Opera House	1879[1]
Selwyn's Theatre	1867	1870	Washington Street
Selwyn Theatre	1921		Park Square
Shawmut Theatre	20th century		Blue Hill Avenue[3]
St. James	20th century		Huntington Avenue[3]
Star Theatre	20th century		Tremont Row[3]
St. James Theatre	19th century		Washington Street
Suffolk Drive-In	1955 circa	1970 circa	East Boston
Superb Theatre	20th century		Columbus Avenue[3]
Theatre Comique	1860s		Washington Street
Theatre Comique	1906		Tremont Row
Toy Theatre	1914		Dartmouth Street
Tremont Theatre	1827		Tremont Street
Tremont Theatre, Studio Building	1860s[7]		Tremont Street
Tremont Theatre	1889		Tremont Street
Union's Opera House	1879[1]
Unique Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Vaudeville Saloon	1840[1]
Waldron's Casino	20th century		Hanover Street[3]
Washington Gardens	19th century		Common Street
Washington Hall	1833		Washington Street
Washington Theatre	20th century		Washington Street[3]
Washingtonian Hall	1842		Court Street
Williams Hall	1855 circa		Washington Street
Windsor Theatre	1881 circa		Dover Street[12]
World's Museum	1884		Washington Street[12]
The Zoo	1896		Boylston Street

References

1. Richard Herndon; Edwin M. Bacon, eds. (1892), Boston of To-day, Boston: Post Publishing Company, OCLC 4430662, OL 6905766M
2. Sketches of living celebrities. Griffith and Farran. 1882-01-01.
3. Boston Register and Business Directory. Boston: Sampson & Murdock. 1918.
4. "Theatres and Places of Amusement". Boston Almanac and Business Directory. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1889.
5. "Playbills and programs from Boston theaters, 1775-1988: Guide". oasis.lib.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
6. "Theater History". Boston Athenaeum. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
7. William W. Clapp (1881), "The Drama in Boston", in Justin Winsor (ed.), The Memorial History of Boston, 4, Boston: Ticknor and Company, OCLC 1838124
8. Boston Almanac and Business Directory. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1894.
9. Musical Courier. Blumenberg & Floersheim. 1881-01-01.
10. The Lyceum Banner. 1867-01-01.
11. "Met Center gets a $4m Gift from the Wang Family", Boston Globe, June 3, 1983
12. "Theatres and Places of Amusement". Boston Almanac and Business Directory. Boston, Mass.: Sampson, Murdock & Co. 1888.

Further reading

• William Warland Clapp (1853), A Record of the Boston Stage, Boston: J. Munroe and Company, OL 7109528M
• Donald C. King (2005), The Theatres of Boston, Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co., ISBN 0786419105

External links

• "Movie Theaters in Boston, MA". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC.