Holliday Street Theater

The Holliday Street Theater was founded in 1794 and opened to the public on September 25, 1795. It showcased a variety of acts, including comedy, dance, music ensembles and opera. As the theater popularity grew, management decided to demolish the existing wooden building and replaced it with a new brick one.

The new venue opened on May 1813. The theater was shuttered in the late-1840’s, and in 1854 was purchased by John T. Ford and reopened. It was damaged by fire in 1873, but was rebuilt to the plans of architect James J. Gifford. The building eventually fell into disrepair but was screening movies in June 1898. It was converted into a motion picture theater in April 1906. It continued as a movie theater until it was closed in 1917 and was demolished in 1917-1918 to make room for the War Memorial Plaza. NOTE: This theater is better known for the first public performance of Francis Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner”, our National Anthem.

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