This is a partial list of former theatres in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. 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.

18th century establishments

• Federal Street Theatre
  Federal Street Theatre
  The Federal Street Theatre , also known as the Boston Theatre, was located at the corner of Federal and Franklin streets in Boston, Massachusetts. It was "the first building erected purposely for theatrical entertainments in the town of Boston."-History:The original building was designed by Charles...
  
   (1794-1852)
• Columbian Museum
  Columbian Museum
  The Columbian Museum was a museum and performance space in Boston, Massachusetts, established by Daniel Bowen, and continued by William M. S. Doyle. The museum featured artworks, natural history specimens, wax figures, and other curiosities....
  
   (1795–1825)
• Concert Hall
  Concert Hall (Boston, Massachusetts)
  The Concert Hall was a performance and meeting space in Boston, Massachusetts, located at Hanover Street and Queen Street. Meetings, dinners, concerts, and other cultural events took place in the hall.-Architecture:...
  
   (1752-1869), Hanover Street
• Faneuil Hall
  Faneuil Hall
  Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
  
  
• Haymarket Theatre
  Haymarket Theatre (Boston, Massachusetts)
  The Haymarket Theatre or Hay-Market Theatre was a theatre in late-18th century Boston, Massachusetts. Organized by Charles Stuart Powell, it occupied a large, wooden building "opposite the Mall on Common Street, near Hatch's Tavern." In addition to dramatic plays, the theatre presented some 62...
  
   (1796-1803), Tremont Street
• Board Alley Theatre
  Board Alley Theatre
  Board Alley Theatre was an illegal theatre in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 18th-century. Also called the New Exhibition Room, it was located in Board Alley in the Financial District. Although some in town supported the theatre, others vehemently opposed it...
  
   (1792-1793)

19th century establishments

• Adelphi
• Alhambra (1878)
• Allston Hall, Tremont Street
• The Arena, Chandler Street
• Austin and Stone's Dime Museum
  Austin and Stone's Dime Museum
  Austin and Stone’s Dime Museum was an entertainment emporium located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA's famous Scollay Square . It featured a freak show as well as dancing girls for entertainment...
  
   (est.1883)
• Austin's Nickelodeon (1888-ca.1891), Court Street
• Beach Street Theatre
• Beethoven Hall (1873-1879), Washington Street
• Bijou (est.1882), Washington Street
• Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens (est.1860)
• Boston Museum
  Boston Museum (theatre)
  The Boston Museum , also called the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, was a theatre, wax museum, natural history museum, zoo, and art museum in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts...
  
    (1841-1903), Tremont Street
• Boston Olympic Theatre (est.1845), Court Street
• Boston Theatre
  Boston Theatre
  The Boston Theatre was a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts.-Further reading:* Eugene Tompkins. History of the Boston Theatre 1854-1901. Houghton Mifflin, 1908. -External links:...
  
   (1854-1925), Washington Street
• Bowdoin Square Theatre (ca.1892-1955), Bowdoin Square
  Bowdoin Square (Boston)
  Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts was located in the West End. In the 18th-19th centuries it featured residential houses, leafy trees, a church, hotel, theatre and other buildings. Among the notables who have lived in the square: physician Thomas Bulfinch; merchant Kirk Boott; and mayor...
  
  
• Bowdoin Theatre (ca.1858)
• Boylston Hall
  Boylston Market
  Boylston Market , designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, was located in Boston, Massachusetts, on the corner of Boylston and Washington Streets. Boylston Hall occupied the third floor of the building, and functioned as a performance and meeting space.-History:The Boylston Market Association...
  
   (1810-1887), corner of Boylston and Washington Streets
• Buckley's Minstrel Hall (1863)
• Casino Theatre, Hanover Street
• Castle Square Theatre
  Castle Square Theatre
  The Castle Square Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, was located on Tremont Street in the South End.-Further reading:* : containing portraits and sketches of the principal singers and a record of the casts of characters of the various operas produced together with a short story of each. Boston:...
  
   (est.1894), Tremont Street
• Columbia Theatre (est.1891), Washington Street
• Continental Theatre (est.1866), Washington Street
• Forest Garden (est. ca.1879), Roxbury
• Gaiety Theatre (est.1878)
• Germania Theatre (1876)
• Globe Theatre (est. ca.1870)
• Grand Dime Museum, Dover Street
• Grand Opera House (1888-1930s)
• Grand Theatre (est.1896)
• Gray's Opera House (1878)
• Halleck's Alhambra (1880)
• Harmony Hall
• Harrington
  Jonathan Harrington (ventriloquist)
  Jonathan Harrington was a ventriloquist and illusionist in 19th century United States. He performed in Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.- Biography :...
  
  's Museum (1840-1842), Court Street
• Hollis Street Theatre
  Hollis Street Theatre
  The Hollis Street Theatre was a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts that presented dramatic plays, opera, musical concerts, and other entertainments.-Brief history:John R...
  
    (1885-1935)
• Horticultural Hall (est. ca.1853)
• Howard Athenaeum
  Howard Athenaeum
  The Howard Athenæum in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of the most famous theaters in Boston history. Founded in 1845, it remained an institution of culture and learning for most of its years, finally closing in 1953.- History :...
  
   (1845-1953)
• Jane English's New Tremont Theatre, Tremont Street
• Keith
  Benjamin Franklin Keith
  Benjamin Franklin Keith was an American vaudeville theatre owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.-Early years:...
  
   and Bacheller's New York Dime Museum (est.1883)
• Keith
  Benjamin Franklin Keith
  Benjamin Franklin Keith was an American vaudeville theatre owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.-Early years:...
  
  's Theatre (est.1894), Washington Street
• Lion Theatre (1836-1839), Washington Street
• Lothrop's Grand Museum, Dover Street
• Lyceum Theatre (est.1892), Washington Street
• Melodeon
  Melodeon (Boston, Massachusetts)
  The Melodeon was a concert hall and performance space in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts, located on Washington Street, near West Street...
  
   (1839-ca.1870)
• National Theatre
  National Theatre (Boston, Massachusetts)
  The National Theatre was a theatre in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. William Pelby established the enterprise in 1836, and presented productions of "original pieces, and the efforts of a well selected stock company, which, with few exceptions, have been American....
  
   (est.1836), Portland Street
• New Boylston Museum (1876-ca.1882)
• New Dime Museum (est.1882)
• New England Museum (1818-ca.1840), Court Street
• Nickelodeon Musee and Parlor Theatre (est.1894), Hanover Street
• Novelty Theatre, Dover Street
• Oakland Garden (est. ca.1879), Roxbury
• Ocean Garden (1880)
• Olympic Saloon (1841)
• Ordway Hall (est.1852), Washington Street
• P. T. Barnum
  P. T. Barnum
  Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
  
  's Museum and Aquarial Gardens, Washington Street
• Palace Theatre
• Palais Royal (1878)
• Park Garden (1879)
• Park Theatre (1879-1990), 619-621 Washington Street
• Pompeiian Amphitheater, Huntington Ave.
• School-Street Opera House
• Siege of Paris Opera House (1879)
• Selwyn's Theatre (est.1867), Washington Street
• St. James Theatre, Washington Street
• Theatre Comique, Washington Street
• Tremont Theatre
  Tremont Theatre, Boston
  The Tremont Theatre on 88 Tremont Street was a playhouse in Boston. A group of wealthy Boston residents financed the building's construction. Architect Isaiah Rogers designed the original Theatre structure in 1827 in the Greek Revival style...
  
   (est.1827)
• Union's Opera House (1879)
• Vaudeville Saloon (est.1840)
• Washington Gardens
  Washington Gardens (Boston)
  Washington Gardens was a place of public entertainment and refreshment in early 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. Also known as Vauxhall, it specialized in fireworks, circuses, musical and theatrical performances, pictorial exhibitions, and the occasional balloonist and necromancer. John H...
  
  
• Washington Hall (est.1833), Washington Street
• Washingtonian Hall (est.1842), Court Street
• Williams Hall (est. ca.1855), Washington Street
• Windsor Theatre (est. ca.1881), Dover Street
• World's Museum (est.1884), 661-667 Washington Street
• The Zoo (est.1896), Boylston Street

20th century establishments

• Arlington Theatre, Tremont Street
• Boston Opera House (1909)
  Boston Opera House (1909)
  The Boston Opera House was an opera house located on Huntington Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1909 as the home of the Boston Opera Company and was demolished in 1958 after years of disuse....
  
  (est.1909), Huntington Ave.
• Casino Theatre (est.1909)
• Chickering Hall (est.1901), Huntington Ave.
• Copley Theater, Dartmouth Street
• Cort Theatre (1914-ca.1926), Park Square
• Exeter Street Theatre (1914-1984)
• Globe Theatre (est.1903), 692 Washington Street
• National Theatre (1911-1996), 733 Tremont Street
• Plymouth Theatre (1911-ca.1980), Stuart Street
• Puritan Theatre (ca.1905-1960s), Washington Street
• Scollay Theatre (1913-1962), Tremont Row
• Theatre Comique (est.1906)
• Toy Theatre (est.1914), Dartmouth Street

Further reading

• Boston Athenaeum. Theatre History.
• William Warland Clapp. A record of the Boston stage. Boston: J. Munroe & Co., 1853. Google books
• Donald C. King. The Theatres of Boston: a Stage and Screen History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005.
• Justin Winsor. Memorial History of Boston. 1883.