February 2, 2022
What is it about being number two? Those who finish second are sometimes referred to as losers, even though they may have finished better than everyone else in the contest, except for the winner. Number One, that’s the person most people remember. If you don’t know Larry Doby’s name, you’re like most people. He was […]
January 31, 2022
The 1,100 seat Somerville Theatre originally opened on May 11, 1914 in Somerville, Massachusetts. The architecture firm of Funk and Wilcox, who also designed the Strand and Franklin Park Theatres, designed it. It was part of the Hobbs Building, which also had a bowling alley, a billiards hall, a basement cafe, and a 700-person dance […]
January 31, 2022
The Loew’s Canal Theatre opened on September 8, 1927 in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City. The Loew’s Corporation contracted Thomas W. Lamb, one of the foremost theater architects of the 20th century, to design the 2,314 seat theater. Lamb designed the interior of the theater in the Spanish Baroque style […]
January 31, 2022
The Northern Central Elevator, completed in 1922 but with parts that dated back to 1905, was lauded for both its scope and its modernization of the process of importing, storing, and exporting grains. The Northern Central Elevator had a staggering capacity for five million bushels and was built almost entirely of concrete, so as to […]
January 28, 2022
Originally billed as the “Pride of the East Side,” the Hollywood Theatre, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, opened on March 11, 1926. It was operated by the Mayer and Schneider (M&S) Circuit, and designed by architect Harrison G. Wissman, who is also known for the nearby East Village Cinemas. According to an account […]
January 28, 2022
The Bijou Theatre (later the Charles Theatre) opened in the fall of 1926. The Delancy-Clinton Realty Company commissioned architect Eugene DeRosa to build the Bijou at 12th Street and Avenue B in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It had 600 seats, 502 on the main floor, and 98 on the balcony. By 1937, they had […]
January 28, 2022
Proctor’s Palace Theatre opened on January 31, 1916 in Yonkers, New York. The 2,300 seat theater was designed by William E. Lehman who is also known for the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. It was built for theater magnate F.F. Proctor. Lehman designed the auditorium with a mix of French, Flemish and Italian style architecture. He is quoted as saying, “I wanted […]
January 27, 2022
It’s easy to take great things for granted – especially if they’ve been the way they are for your whole life. Having said that, the idea that you can visit one of the world’s leading collections of art and not even have to pay an entry fee is pretty incredible. The National Gallery of Art […]
January 24, 2022
Named after Admiral Daniel Ammen, a Union Civil War hero and author, the Ammendale Normal Institute was built on property purchased by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools from Ammen in 1880. They were looking for a more rural area to relocate their religious order that had rail access to both Baltimore […]
January 23, 2022
The United Palace originally opened on February 22, 1930, as the Loew’s 175th Street Theatre. Located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the building takes up an entire city block and was designed by famed theater architect Thomas W. Lamb. (Lamb’s work can also be seen in my posts on the RKO Hamilton Theatre also in Washington Heights, […]