The Hamilton Theatre opened on January 23, 1913, in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of New York, NY. Famed theater architect Thomas W. Lamb was commissioned to design the interior. It joined the RKO theater circuit in 1928, and that is when the first photograph was taken. If you look closely you can see “RKO” above the box seats to the right of the stage.

The Hamilton was used as a movie theater until 1965, and went through several uses after that. It was a post office, a church, a boxing ring, and a warehouse for an alcohol wholesaler.

The second photograph was taken after the building had been abandoned for a decade. Manhattan Community Board 9 is currently looking into restoring the theater and building an 18-story housing complex above it. They’ve been polling residence of West Harlem and Hamilton Heights as to what should become of the theater.