McLean's Theatre

McLean’s Theatre was a tiny silent movie house operated by a Mr McLean. It was housed in an already existing building and opened in 1905.

Obviously it was successful, as in 1908, Mr McLean hired the then ‘up and coming’ theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb to build a new movie theatre close by at 768 Westchester Avenue. This opened as the Nicoland Theatre and is considered to be the first purpose built movie theatre in the city of New York.

I am presuming that McLean’s Theatre was closed soon after the Nicoland Theatre opened. It has certainly gone from listings by the time the American Motion Picture Directory 1914-1915 edition was published. The Nicoland Theatre is listed in that edition and it continued to operate as a movie theatre until 1917.

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