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New York
Academy of Music 14th Street between 3rd Avenue and Irving Place, Built: 1854, Demolished: 1926 http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast.htm#Academy  History and interior http://robertdavisinc.com/academy.htm

Castle Garden, Battery Park, Built: 1808, Demolished: 1940
Originally Fort Clinton, this round brick edifice was built on a small island just off Battery Park. As landfill expanded Manhattan's coastline, the island was subsumed into park. In 1824, the fort was roofed over and converted into an indoor garden. Renovated to serve as a concert venue in 1839, and was used by early minstrel troupes. Castle Garden became an opera house in 1847, and hosted Jenny Lind's New York debut in 1850. Five years later it became New York's immigrant depot, and was turned into an aquarium in 1895. Now owned by the U.S. government, it serves as a reception center for visitors to the Statue of Liberty.  http://www.musicals101.com/bwayformer.htm#Castle 

Chickering Hall interior http://robertdavisinc.com/chicker.htm  437 5th Avenue and 18th Street
New York 1886 "George Riddle sent me tickets for his course of readings, the 1st on Saturday night at Chickering Hall.  Hattie went and took Mrs. Kirby.  A Midsummer Nights Dream was the subject, with [Walter] Damrosch's orchestra playing the music."
History http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/ChickeringHall.html  1874-1893 with lectures by Oscar Wilde, Thomas Huxley [and George Riddle] then became retail space. 1901 sold and razed.

Empire Theatre
Manhattan walking tour map 1430 Broadway, at 40th St,1893, Charles Frohman 
1430 Broadway near 40th Street, Built: 1893, Demolished: 1953, Owned by Al Hayman http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast2.htm#Empire  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Theatre_(New_York_City) 
Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Al and David Hayman as managers of the Empire Theatre.

Fifth Ave. Theatre Daly's  interior    http://robertdavisinc.com/dalys.htm  Fifth Avenue @ 26th http://robertdavisinc.com/fifth.htm
Manhattan walking tour map  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Avenue_Theatre
1221 Broadway at 30th Street, Other names: Banvard's Museum (1867), Wood's Museum (1868), Broadway (1876), Metropolitan
Built: 1867, Demolished: 1920  http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast1b.htm#Daly 

Fifth Avenue Theatre, 27 West 28th Street (NW Corner), Also named: St. James, Madison Square, H.C. Miner's 5th Avenue Theatre, Built: 1873, Demolished: 1939?, Seats: 1,529 Note: This theatre took its name from an opera house that burned down in 1873. An 1877 renovation included a ventilation system that blew air over blocks of ice, making this the world's first air conditioned theatre. Destroyed by fire in 1891, it was rebuilt at the same location and renamed the Madison Square. Musicals: The Pirates of Penzance 1879 - US Premiere  http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast2.htm#Fifth 

There were at least four theatres named the Fifth Avenue Theatre http://robertdavisinc.com/fifth2.htm

Grand Opera House interior http://robertdavisinc.com/grandop.htm
8th Ave & W 23rd St NY NY  Built by Samuel Pike of Cincinnati, who gave EJP a dress worn at a reception for the Prince of Wales in 1861. William Davidge was the Stage Manager in 1869.
1894 Lady Windermere's Fan with Charles Frohman.

Harlem Opera House
207 West 125th St. opened 1889, Oscar Hammerstein  http://www.harlemoperatheater.org/ 

Hammerstein's Harlem Opera House, week of Jan. 24, 1895

Miss Olga Nethersole in Camille

Lyceum Theatre  
Manhattan walking tour map west side of Fourth Avenue between 23rd and 24th Streets. http://www.neiu.edu/~rghiggin/ephem/Lyceum,NYC2.jpg
Lyceum (Old), 312-316 Fourth Avenue (North of 24th Street), Built: 1885, Demolished: 1902
History: The first NY theatre to be lighted entirely by electricity. http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast3b.htm#Lyceum   Managed by Daniel Frohman according to Julius Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide.

Madison Square Theatre  interior http://robertdavisinc.com/madison.htm
Manhattan walking tour map  24th St. (5th and Madison)  http://www.daviscrossfield.com/madison.htm

Madison Square Theatre program 1885
Madison Square Theatre floor plan

Stanford White's Madison Square Garden Theatre 
1890 1892 program, AM Palmer  Manhattan walking tour map NE corner of Madison Square Garden, Madison Avenue at 27th Street, Built: 1890, Demolished: 1925, Seats: 1,200, Architects: McKim, Mead and White, Owners/Managers: Albert M. Palmer (1890-1896), Charles Frohman (1896-1915)
History: Part of the Madison Square Garden complex, this theatre booked plays, operas and musicals, becoming a favorite with fashionable audiences of the 1890s. Architect Stanford White was murdered while attending a 1906 performance in the Madison's Garden Roof summer theatre.  http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast3.htm#Garden 

Niblo's Garden Interior http://robertdavisinc.com/niblos.htm Charlotte Nickinson performed here.

Olympic Theatre   
Manhattan walking tour map   444 Broadway, between Howard and Grande, John Nickinson  at 1841-1850.
Olympic (1st), 422 Broadway (between Howard & Grand Streets), Later Name: Mitchell's Olympic, Built: 1837, Demolished: 1854
History: Modeled after the London Olympic, eventual owner William Mitchell turned this into one of the most popular theatres in Manhattan. It was converted into retail space in 1852, and burned down two years later.  http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast4.htm 

Palmer's Theatre 
Manhattan walking tour map Broadway & 30th, later (1891) Hoyt's Theatre, Union Square Theatre, Wallacks' Theatre (third) Broadway and Thirtieth Street  (just south of Greeley Square)

Hoyt's Theater Sept. 11, 1895 Today it was rumoured, and I heard it was announced in some of yesterday's papers - that we open on the 19th in Buffalo, NY for three nights and Saturday matinee, and return to open on the 23rd at Hoyt's [Madison Square] Theatre for a run.  Mr. Chas Frohman is attending rehearsals, is very pleasant and seems to be well pleased with the work of the company.  

Hoyt's Theatre program week commencing Nov. 4, 1895

Gay Parisians

Standard Theatre interior http://robertdavisinc.com/standard.htm
April 1894 Last night he [Walter Dolman] was called to a rehearsal at Standard Theatre.  6th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets.

Tony Pastors Theatre 
Manhattan walking tour map "A little playhouse in the Tammany Hall Building, on the north side of 14th Street, near Third Avenue.  The attractions are invariably of the variety order." (Kings NYC)   

Tony Pastor, the vaudevillian, was a living summation of nineteenth-century urban entertainment. An Italian born in 1834 (or thereabouts), the son of a grocer, Pastor was an uneducated urchin who sang at temperance meetings, played tambourine in a minstrel company at Barnum's Museum on lower Broadway in 1847, and knocked around through half a dozen circuses in the 1850s, working as a singer, clown, acrobat, tumbler, dancer, and horseback rider, often all in a single show. In the early years of the Civil War, Pastor began a career as a balladeer in "concert saloons," descendants of the English music hall where the acts were often flimsy excuses for the alcohol, and the "waitress girls" considered the serving of drinks the beginning rather than the end of their job. Pastor became a beloved figure, famed for a stock of 1,500 tunes, and for his good-humored ribaldry. He sang about soused Irishmen and farcical Negroes and avenging wives and long-suffering husbands. James Traub, The Devil's Playground : A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square, 2004 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0375507884/103-8920797-5029402?_encoding=UTF8&n=283155 

Tony Pastor Collection, Humanities Research Collection, Univ. of Texas Austin  http://research.hrc.utexas.edu:8080/hrcxtf/view?docId=ead/00106.xml  [1837-1908]

A letter from Albert, aged 14 to his mother mentions going to Tony Pastor's Theater.

Union Square Theatre  interior http://robertdavisinc.com/unionsq.htm   http://www.josephhaworth.com/union_square_theatre.htm
http://www.daviscrossfield.com/unionsq.htm   
Broadway and Fourth Avenue, Built: 1870, Demolished: 1936, Owners: Sheridan Shook, Albert Palmer (1872-1883), Keith and Albee (1873-1914).  History: Built for variety, the Union Square switched to legit bookings in 1872. In 1883, Keith and Albee added it to their growing vaudeville circuit -- the Four Cohans made their Manhattan debut on the opening bill. A movie house from 1914 on.  http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast6.htm#Union 

Washington DC, Jan 6, 1893  [Ramsey Morris] hints of being established permanently in a New York Theatre should Joseph be a hit in New York we shall remain for a longer period than three weeks.  I am afraid though that the Union Square is not the right theatre for us - too far downtown now. 

New York, Mar 24, 1893 In today's Herald you will see an article stating that B.F. Keith of Boston will take charge of the Union Square Theatre on April 8th.  That is the end of our present engagement, but Mr. Keith & Mr. [Ramsey] Morris are in negotiation to continue Joseph for an indefinite run.  Whether their efforts will be successful remains to be seen.  I hope they will be. 

Wallacks  interior  http://robertdavisinc.com/wallacks.htm
Manhattan walking tour map  Third Wallacks later Palmer's Theater
Wallack's (1st), Broadway and Broome Street (SW corner), Built: 1850, Demolished: 1869, History: Built by actor John Brougham, who called it the Lyceum. Actor-manager James W. Wallack took over the house in 1852 and renamed it for himself. After Wallack left to manage his new 13th Street theatre (see below), the theatre underwent several changes of name and ownership. http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast6.htm#Wallack's1 

Wallack's (2nd), Broadway at 13th Street, Later named: Germania, Star, Built: 1861, Demolished: 1901  Note: This was the second theatre to bear the name of actor-manager James W. Wallack. After Wallack's death, his son Lester managed the theatre until 1881. Later known as the Germania and the Star, it housed all sorts of productions until it was demolished to make room for a skyscraper. http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypast6.htm#Wallack's 

LESTER WALLACK'S THEATRE Lester Wallack moved into his up-town theatre at the northeast corner of Thirtieth Street in February, 1881, but the building was not ready for opening until January 4, 1882. The exterior of the building has never been completely finished. Here Wallack had an excellent stock company as before; but the house never became so famous or so popular as the old Thirteenth Street theatre, perhaps, because a new generation of theatre-goers had grown up and the actor-manager was getting old. He retired from active management, and the house opened as Palmer's Theatre on October 8, 1888, to become and remain Wallack's once more on December 7, 1896. Jenkins, Stephen, The Greatest Street in the World: The Story of Broadway, 1911  http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Manhattan/Broadway/Union.html  

Owen Marlowe [Virginia Nickinson's husband] and Mrs. Charles Walcott [Isabella Nickinson] were members of Wallack's Theatre Company

Brooklyn Brooklyn Theatre Oct 1886  The Brooklyn Theatre at Washington and Johnson Streets had burned in  1876 during a performance of The Two Orphans with Kate Claxton and Maude Harrison.  Another theater was built on the site in  1879 and razed 11 years later [c1890) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Theater_Fire  accessed Jan 22 2011.  Was this that theater?

Section IV Entertainment including theaters and the Crystal Palace, http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/print/exhibits/movingup/labeliv.htm
Section VIII Including Broadway and hotels and businesses http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/print/exhibits/movingup/labeviii.htm
New York Public Library, R. Waddell, Moving Uptown: Nineteenth Century Views of Manhattan, 1998

Atlanta Georgia Julius Cahn's 1897 Guide lists the Grand Opera House and Lyceum Theatres. 

Baltimore Cahn's 1897 Guide lists the Academy of Music, Ford's Grand Opera House, Holliday Street Theatre, Kernan's Monumental Theatre and Lyceum Theatre. 

Binghamton
Stone's Opera House built 1891 http://nyslandmarks.com/treasures/09jan.htm Joseph at Stone's Opera House, Binghamton New York, Nov. 21, 1892   
Boston
Boston Museum  On Tremont Street (at 18 and 28), between Court and School Street, the oldest theatre [existing in 1883] in Boston opened in 1841, and its stock company gave their first performance in 1843. "The subterfuge of housing a theatre in a museum was not uncommon, for it allowed many otherwise puritanical people to enjoy play-going".  The theatre closed in 1893.  (But EJ Phillips was playing at a theatre of the same name in 1895.  See letter of March 13th.) [Oxford &  King's Dictionary of Boston (1883).  Edwin Booth had made his first stage appearance there (1849) and in 1878 HMS Pinafore had its first American presentation.  Willie Seymour joined the Museum as stage manager in 1879, remaining for ten years [Hornblow, Theatre in America  By 1897 Charles Frohman was manager of the Boston Museum.
Boston Museum and Boston Theatre histories, Boston Athenaeum http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/node/224

Boston, Sept. 15, 1887 Went to Boston Museum to see Dominie's Daughter yesterday afternoon  Detroit Mar 13, 1895 My address next week is Boston  Museum
 Now an office building, with ground floor Phillip's Market and Papyrus card and stationery store. When was this building built?

These three theaters were all in the same block
Boston Theatre was at 539 Washington Street, between West and Essex Street, Boston.  Built in 1854, seated 3,000. Kings Boston  http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou01949 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Theatre has images
Now the Boston Opera House  http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/node/224


Boston, May 27, 1888 We remain here two weeks longer playing Jim [the Penman]  It was decided last Thursday when A.M.P[almer] came to attend the Actors Fund benefit at the Boston Theatre

Bijou Theatre The Union Square Theatre company seems to have appeared here.  The Boston Athenaeum collection of theatre playbills has been helpful in tracking EJ Phillips in the years before we have letters for. 
545 Washington St.  http://cinematreasures.org/theater/11085/   Now an office building, next door to the Boston Opera House

Bowdoin Square Theatre The company stayed at the Hotel Bowdoin (which was connected with this theatre) in 1895 while playing at the Boston Museum.

Globe Theatre 1893 Joseph  364 Washington St. at State Street

Park Theatre "A small, compact, and elegant playhouse"  (619-621 Washington Street near the corner of Boylston)
"The Union square and the Madison square companies of New York  have played long engagements."  Built in 1879, seated 1184.  Kings Boston  Park Theatre History,  619-621 Washington St. Lotta Crabtree built. 1879- 1990 demolished. Boston Athenaeum  http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/node/224
Boston, May 15, 1890 I have been to witness two performances at Park Theatre.  The first was Fanny Davenport in La Tosca and last Monday night -- Frederick Warde in Belphigor the Mountebank.  You see I am not much given to running around much at nights. 

Now a CVS and the Cathay Bank. The next block of Washington has the China Trade and the 1850 Liberty Tree Buildings [and lead to the last remnants of the Combat Zone.]

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists 12 Boston theaters.

Buffalo
Star Theatre Sept.- Oct. 1890
New York Times Dec 18 1888 Buffalo's New Theatre:  The well equipped house which Mr. Palmer's Company is to open Christmas week http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00C11FF3D5F15738DDDA10994DA415B8884F0D3 The first floor contains nearly 700 luxurious folding seats and the balcony nearly 500 of the Wallack folding drop arm chairs. The opening play was Partners. 

Academy of Music burned 1895 http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10B15FE3A5E10738DDDAB0894D1405B8585F0D3 erected 1852 by Henry T Meech [died 1870]  leased 1875-76 to Abbey & Schoeffel.
Main & Seneca Streets, photos http://buffaloah.com/h/acad/index.html

Julius Cahn's 1897 Guide lists the Star and Lyceum Theatres. 

Charleston South Carolina Julius Cahn's 1897 Guide lists the Academy of Music. 

Charlotte North Carolina  Cahn's 1897 Guide lists the Opera House. 

Chicago
Chicago's first theatre dates from 1847 Cambridge

Hooleys Theater Richard Hooley (1822-1893) Hooley's Theatre first opened in 1872. 149 Randolph St., between Clark and LaSalle after the Chicago Fire  A book published about 1899, "The Story of a Theatre" by Lyman B. Glover, printed by R. R. Donnelley and Sons Company at The Lakeside Press, Chicago, Illinois, that tells about his theater.  NY Times obituary http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30F1FF83D5A1A738DDDA00894D1405B8385F0D3   The first Hooleys Opera House opened on Clark St in 1867.

Richard Hooley photograph http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/photo/366248  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5145883  Richard Martin Hooley

The reconstruction of Chicago's Hooley's Theater in 1882 was the first commission to generate praise for Louis Henry Sullivan independent of Adler. Louis Henry Sullivan was, said one commentator, "the master spirit directing and shaping the creation" (1) of the new interior. By the time McVicker's Theater was remodeled in 1885, Louis Henry Sullivan 's work was "the best" of its kind in Chicago, according to one critic, "superior to anything heretofore seen in any public building in this country", in the eyes of another. Famous Architects  http://architect.architecture.sk/louis-henry-sullivan-architect/louis-henry-sullivan-architect.php 

McVicker's Theatre, Chicago The First McVicker's Theatre was built in 1857 and destroyed in the great fire. Rebuilt in 1872 and remodelled in 1885, it burnt again Aug 26, 1890, during the run of the war play Shenandoah. Rebuilt, it opened again in March 1891 with the  [Joseph] Jefferson -Florence company of The Rivals. The theater closed in 1984 and was torn down in 1985, a sad and inglorious end for a theater which, in an earlier life, hosted Sarah Bernhardt's first Chicago stage appearance a century earlier. http://www.bergsengs.com/McVickers-Theatre.html

James H. McVicker (1822-1896). McVicker was a Scotsman and a comedian. On May 2, 1848, he appeared as the "First Low Comedian" in a theater owned by James B. Rice. Rice would later become Mayor of Chicago. McVicker worked in France and England and owned a stock company of actors in the U.S.  He is best known, however, by the theaters he owned. In 1857, he built a theater on Madison St. west of State. It cost $85,000 and was completely equipped including a drop curtain that depicted the railroad bridge connecting Rock Island with Davenport.  The curtain was considered by many a work of art. From opening night, until its destruction in the Great Fire of 1871, the stage was visited by the finest actors and the best musicians. His second theater was built in 1871 and was destroyed in the Great Fire nine weeks after opening night. After the fire, he spent $200,000 to build the Theater Ludlow. Sarah Bernhardt on her first American tour appeared at McVicker's Theater. In 1862, John Wilkes Booth achieved personal success in Richard III. His [McVickers'] daughter, Mary, was a popular performer starting at the age of ten. When she was 18, she married Edwin Booth the brother of the assassin. She died in 1881, childless, and 33 years of age. At the death of  Lincoln, the City chose a Committee of One Hundred to be at the funeral in Springfield. James McVicker was one of the men chosen to represent the City.   http://chicagoscots.net/Name%20List/Name%20List%20M.htm

McVicker's Theatre, Chicago http://www.cinematreasures.org/theater/1798/  25 W. Madison Street 60602  James H. McVicker (1822-96)
McVicker's Theatre photograph http://www.neiu.edu/~rghiggin/ephem/Ephemera.html

JH Stoddart  writes in his Recollections of a Player that in 1888 the Company "began our usual summer tour, which opened at the Chicago Opera House, the first time the company had ever played in that theater. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Opera_House  Built 1884-1885 West Washington Ave & North Clark St

Denver  Aug. 26, 1890 See by paper this Morning that McVickers Theatre, Chicago, burnt down last night.  We are to play at Hooleys.

New York, May 12, 1892 I shall stop over at the Sherman House in Chicago as we play at Hooley's Theatre House in the same block.  It seems a long journey to take for one week's work but so it is. 

Chicago, Oct. 19, 1893  We have very strong attractions against us but so far we have done very well.  The theatre we play in is called the Schiller.  It is a new theatre and very comfortable in regard to dressing rooms &c.

Schiller Theatre 1892-1960 [demolished] http://www.cinematour.com/theatres_us.php?province=IL&page=4  64 W. Randolph Street Chicago, IL 60601 Demolished  1960 A large portion of the facade featuring portraits of famous Germans was saved and was later incorporated into the entranceway of the Second City Theater on North Wells Street.   http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1016/   Postcard http://patsabin.com/illinois/schiller.htm

New York, Nov. 18, 1895 Well I was not asked to go to London, but to Chicago for a Summer Season, after this Season is over, which will not be for some time yet.  The Summer Season will be for from ten to sixteen weeks at Hooley's Theatre, possibly beginning in June.  So I accepted and think that will be better than going to London and perhaps getting lost in the fog.   

Chicago Theatres  Hooleys, Richard Hooley; McVickers  JH McVicker  
Story of a Theatre, Lyman B. Glover, 1898  http://www.archive.org/details/storyoftheatre00glov   Hooleys and other Chicago Theaters

Cincinnati
 Pike's Opera House opened in Cincinnati in Feb. 1859 http://books.google.com/books?id=eJxABLtxX60C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=snippet&q=samuel%20pike&f=false

John Nickinson was stage manager at Pike's Opera House from the early 1860's until his death in 1864. 

Washington DC Jan 8, 1893 I play in Pike's Opera House, Cin'ti [Cincinnati] and think I shall stop at the Burnett House as it is the nearest to theatre.

Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati, Great Fire of 1866, Harper's Weekly April 14, 1866 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohhamilt/news/1866april14.html  Fourth and Vine Streets  Pike's Opera House also burned in 1903

FRANK LESLIE'S ILLUSTRATED New York and dated: April 14, 1866. This 16 page newspaper contains prints and text concerning the latest news of the day. Some of the prints and news in this issue include: "Burning of Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati" shows the fire company--with fire engines--in action.  http://www.rarenewspapers.com/new.asp

Nov. 15, 1893 Detroit  In Cincinnati next week we play at the "Grand Opera House" so you can send [letters] there. 
 Grand Opera House http://www.cincinnativiews.net/entertainment.htm  The Grand Opera House was first built in 1859 on Vine St. at Opera Place, it burned down in 1901 ... Across the street from the Grand was the Lyric Theater. Located at 508 Vine St. it opened in 1906.  photograph

Pike's Opera House was still listed in the 1897 Cahn's Theatrical Guide, with the Grand Opera House and eight other theaters in Cincinnati. 

Cleveland Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Euclid Avenue Opera House, Cleveland Theatre and Lyceum Theatre.

Denver 
 Los Angeles, Sept. 19, 1888  Direct your letters to Theatre.  A.M. Palmer, Co.  At Denver, "Tabor Opera House". 

Tabor Opera House, Denver, opened 1881 http://www.taboroperahouse.net/   http://www.babydoe.org/houses.htm  16th and Curtis  http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.result.epages.aspx?code=S10019091-D001153

The Westin Hotel is located next to the Tabor Center, a multi-use office, hotel and shopping complex. The Tabor Center is built on the site of the former Tabor Opera House named for Horace Tabor, Colorado's silver mining King. Not only famous for his wealth, Horace Tabor's life became the basis for the opera "The Ballad of Baby Doe," detailing the love triangle of him, his wife August and his true love, Baby Doe. http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/econ/group8/summit97/sites.htm

Baby Doe Tabor http://www.babydoetabor.com/ 

Denver  Aug. 26, 1890  There is a new large theatre here called "The Broadway Theatre". Opera is being played there, this being the second week.  Lohengrin was the Opera last night.
Aug. 29, 1890 Our business is good notwithstanding we have at the new Broadway Theatre and Comic Opera at another house against us. 

1756 Broadway St. http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.theaters.aspx?theatercode=org0009504

Detroit 1892 1893  1895  1896 Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Detroit Opera House, Whitney Grand, Lyceum Theatre, Capital Square and Campbell's Empire Theatre. 

Harrisburg Pennsylvania 1897  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Grand Opera House

Hartford Connecticut 1894 Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Parson Theatre and the Hartford Opera House.

Kansas City
The NEW COATES Coates Opera House on Diagonal Corner 
Best Attractions Only
Kansas City, Mo  Septr 29th 1896 

Coates House and Coates Opera House, Kansas City Public Library http://www.kclibrary.org/?q=blog/week-kansas-city-history/worst-fire-kansas-city-history

Knoxville Tennessee Cahn's 1897 Theatrical guide lists Staub's Opera house, Gay and Cumberland Streets
Peter Staub and theater in Knoxville  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Staub

London Ontario Cahn's 1897 Theatrical guide lists the Grand Opera House.

Los Angeles
 Los Angeles, Sept. 19, 1888  The theatre here is very pretty, as far as the Auditorium goes, but the dressing rooms are very uncomfortable. 

Aug 12, 1890 The dressing rooms at theatre were very hot last night, but that was due to the gas and want of proper ventilation.  Our house was crowded and everything passed off nicely. 

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Los Angeles Theater, Orpheum and the Burbank. 

Louisville Kentucky Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Macauley's Theatre, Amphitheatre Auditorium, Avenue Theatre, Grand Opera House and Temple Theatre.

Madison Wisconsin Fuller Opera House

Middletown New York Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Casino Theatre.  The Argus printed theatre programs.

Milwaukee
1893 "I am comfortably located in the above hotel [Davidson] and it is adjoining the theatre. Everything is new, clean and elegant."
Hotel Davidson photo  Vintage Milwaukee postcards  2006  http://books.google.com/books?id=jRbdFjNfMlAC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=hotel+davidson+milwaukee+postcards&source=bl&ots=h0IUEiSei3&sig=xSFr7sjpX7T9DcvOkK-5Hla0aCI&hl=en&ei=HUZbTZCsGsGAlAej3q3oDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Davidson Theatre and four others -- Academy of Music, Alhambra, Bijou Opera House and Pabst Theatre. 

Montreal
Theatre Royal 1825-1844 John Nickinson Marché Bonsecours.
Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Academy of Music, Queen's Theatre, Theatre Royale and Theatre Francais. 

New Haven: Grand Opera House and Hyperion Theatre listed in Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide.

New London Lyceum Theatre

New Orleans
James H. Caldwell established a first-rate English-speaking theatre in New Orleans by 1819.  Cambridge

Ben DeBar (1812-1877) had been "stage manager for Noah Ludlow and Sol Smith at the St. Charles Theatre in New Orleans, when they retired in 1843 he assumed management of their  New Orleans  and St. Louis  theatres. 
St. Charles Theatre, New Orleans, LA http://www.saengeramusements.com/theatres/nawlins/stcharle/stcharle.htm  100 St. Charles Ave.

EJ Phillips was for some years a member of the famous stock company Ben DeBar [1821-1877 HAS] at St. Louis. She went from St. Louis  to New Orleans to play old lady parts at the Varieties Theatre, the leading stock theatre at New Orleans, under the management of Lawrence Barrett.(1838-1891).  

Varieties Theatre Lawrence Barrett 1870s  Gravier St between Baronne and Carondelet Sts New Orleans opened 1849 burned 1853 rebuilt, managed by Dion Boucicault burned again 1870 rebuilt 1872 on Canal St 1849-1872 Lawrence Barrett 1871-1875
New Varieties Theatre 921 Canal St. 1897 Gay Parisians

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Academy of Music (managed by CB Jefferson and Klaw and Erlanger), St. Charles Theatre (also managed by Jefferson, Klaw and Erlanger),  Grand Opera House and French Opera house 

Newark NJ Cahn's 1897 Theatrical guide lists the Newark and Jacob's Theatres, Waldman's Opera House.

Newport Rhode Island  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical guide lists the Opera house.

Omaha  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical guide lists The Creighton and Boyd's New Theatre

Philadelphia
Arch Street Theatre 
Opened in 1828 as a rival to the Chestnut and Walnut Street Theatres in Philadelphia.  The theatre's heyday began in 1861 when Mrs. John [Louisa Lane] Drew (1820-1897) established it as one of the greatest of American stock companies.  The house was under her control for the next 31 years.  John Drew founded the Arch St. Theatre, married Louisa Lane Drew and they were the parents on Georgia Drew Barrymore, and grandparents of Lionel, Ethel and John.  http://www.theatrealliance.org/barrymores/barryname.html 

Arch Street Theatre, 609-615 Arch Street http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display.cfm/16554 Irwin R. Glazer Theater Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelphia 
   Arch Street Theatre Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Aug. 29, 1887  Jim [the Penman] is to be played here in the "Arch" [Street Theatre] next Monday.  Mr. Holliday will be with the party. Joe Whiting as "Jim" & Ada Dyas as "Mrs. Ralston" and Mr. [H.M.] Pitt for his old part of "Percival"  This will give us rehearsals as the cast must be changed considerably.

Broad Street Theatre 
Philadelphia Wissinoming  Jan 15 1891 I arrived here last Friday night.  Went to Broad St theatre Saturday. Was called to rehearse on Tuesday. Played yesterday matinee in Capt Swift., rehearse Jim the Penman tomorrow and play in it Sat Mat and in Capt Swift Saturday night.

Hotel Davidson, Nov 8, 1893 Milwaukee New Years day open in Philadelphia for two or more weeks at Broad St theatre.

Philadelphia, Mar 15, 1898  I was called very unexpectedly to play a part at the Broad St. Theatre -- and everything had to be given up to that.  A week ago Sunday Mr. and Mrs. [Willie] Seymour called to see me -- he being here with Mr. Sol Smith Russell who was playing a two weeks engagement at the Broad St. Theatre.  We had a pleasant chat -- and he left about 6 PM and I did not suppose I should see him again.  -- but as I was washing the supper dishes on Monday he came in a cab -- to ask me to go with him to the theatre to play "Clementina" in A Bachelor's Romance in place of Mrs. F.A. Pitt whose husband Mr. H.M. Pitt had died at 3 PM that day in New York and she would have to go on to New York to attend the funeral -- so I took a couple of gowns and went. 

Chestnut St. Theatre The [New] Chestnut Street Theatre was built in 1862 on the north side of Chestnut Street between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets, a full seven blocks to the west of the old theatre, and considered by many too far removed from the theatre district to succeed.  But "the rapid westward expansion of center-city Philadelphia  soon made the new Chestnut Street Theatre the city's most fashionably located theatrical facility."  [from?]
 Chestnut Street Theatre

FF Mackay was manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre from 1875-78, along with William Gemmill (c. 1845- 1882 CDP) and J. Frederick Scott.  "However in 1878 severe internal difficulties began and the Company's previously favorable position (as Philadelphia's only first-class resident company) began to erode. Many of the company's best actors resigned. "

Philadelphia, Dec. 20, 1893 On New Years Day we open with a Matinee [Lady Windermere's Fan] at Chestnut Street Theatre [Philadelphia]  for two weeks

Concert Hall and Chestnut Street Theatre, Chestnut Street at Twelfth (north side), 1211-27 Chestnut Street, Watercolor by Benjamin R. Evans, 1879, Library Company of Philadelphia. http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/washw/images/C/C11.jpg

Chestnut Street Opera House, 1021-1029 Chestnut St. http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display.cfm/14712 http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/ajnls/tsq/images/i/tsq030.jpg 

Grand Theater Was there a Grand Theater in Philadelphia?  Joseph seemed to have been produced there by Ramsey Morris in 1892.

National Theatre
 New York, Mar 5, 1894 So I expect my season will close on the 1st of May.  Where I do not yet know, as we have not yet heard our route: only that we close Holy Week and begin our new season at the National Theatre, Phila on Easter Monday. 

Park Theatre, Broad and Fairmont Ave, Broken Seal Mar 28, 1892 for one week

Walnut Street Theatre Isabella Nickinson Walcott and her husband Charles Walcott were in this theatre company before joining Daniel Frohman's New York company in 1887.
Julius Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Klaw and Erlanger, along with Al Hayman as directors at the Walnut St. Theatre

Walnut Theatre History (1809-present) http://www.walnutstreettheatre.org/theatre/
Walnut Street Theatre

Philadelphia, May 5, 1895 John [Dolman] is now the Phila correspondent of the New York "Clipper" and has to go in search of news.  He visits the various theatres in town nearly every night now, and I tell him he is getting very giddy.  He was rather bashful at first, but is beginning to like it.  

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists 14 theaters in Philadelphia -- and 23 newspapers.

Philadelphia Theatrical Papers 1877- 1943, Univ. of Delaware Library http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/phila.htm

Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pa  Novr 27th 1894 We are playing at the "Alvin" Theatre, almost adjoining this hotel [Hotel Schlosser]. 

Pittsburgh, Nov. 28, 1894 Here I am living next door to theatre, which is also a great rest to me, and I am beginning to feel quite like myself.

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide notes that the Alvin seated 2,000 people. Other Pittsburgh theaters were the Bijou, Grand Opera House and the Hopkins.

Portland, Oregon
1890 Marquam Grand Opera House (later the Orpheum, torn down 1970s.)  drawing http://boundless.uoregon.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/archpnw&CISOPTR=19216&CISOBOX=1&REC=9
The Marquam Grand Opera House, which specialized in concert music for the elite, opened in 1890 on the north side of Morrison between Sixth and Seventh. Its general manager, Samuel Friedlander, even brought operatic arias and piano recitals to entertain his B’nai B’rith lodge, whose members patronized the opera house. http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=193   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Augustus_Marquam

Portland, Sept. 15, 1896  We had a splendid house last night.  First night in ten weeks that the theatre has been open.  The Public was hungry for a show I guess.  I hope this and tomorrow night's will be as well attended.   Wish we were booked here for a week, Hotel and Theatre both comfortable, and only across the street from each other.

Richmond Virginia Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Academy of Music and Richmond Theatre.

Rochester New York  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Lyceum Theatre.

Saint Joseph Missouri  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Tootle Theatre and New Crawford Theatre.

Saint Louis
Noah Ludlow and Sol Smith established the first real theatre in St. Louis in 1835. Cambridge 
EJ Phillips was for some years a member of the famous stock company Ben DeBar [1821-1877 HAS

Theater in Kansas 1858-1868, James C. Malin, Kansas Historical Quarterly, Summer 1957  http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1957/57_2_malin.htm 

Nov. 17, 1893 Cleveland Then go to St Louis.  Play in the old Olympic where I used to belong to the Stock Co [with Benedict DeBar].  

Nov 23, 1893 Cincinnati On the 4th St Louis.  We play at the Olympic Theatre there and I shall stop at Southern hotel which is just opposite theatre. 

The Olympic Theatre closed in 1916 http://stlouis.missouri.org/neighborhoods/history/cbd/architecture7.htm 

 Oct. 1, 1896  Kansas City  We play at a new theatre [in St. Louis] named "The Century".

Lindell Hotel, St. Louis, Oct. 4, 1896   Four blocks from theatre, which is a new one next door to Pope's old theatre which has been taken down, and a new block of buildings is being erected on the site, for stores, I guess. 

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists 9 theaters, including the Century (managed by Al Hayman), and Olympic. 

Salt Lake City
Shortly after the Mormon's arrival in Salt Lake they built a small playhouse and Brigham Young was determined to construct a first class theatre.  Construction began in July 1861 and the formal opening was in March 1862.  In 1870 the railroad connected Salt Lake City to both coasts and "during the next fifth years practically every notable actor of the American stage" appeared there and was the favorite of many "not only because of the enthusiasm of its audiences, but also because of the atmosphere and character of the house".  [History Am Theatre]

Salt Lake City, Sept. 14, 1886 Last night we opened to a crowded house and that means something here, for the auditorium of the Mormon Theatre is pretty well as large as the Grand Opera House, NY. 

HARPERS WEEKLY, July 11, 1857 Nice article: "Salt Lake & Its Rulers" includes prints of "Gov. Brigham Young, of Utah Territory" and "Elder Heber Kimball" and a one-third pg: "View of Salt Lake" and another one-third pg. view of "Salt Lake City, Utah Territory" and an illus. of the "New Temple to be Built at Salt Lake City" plus smaller prints of Council House, and "The Tabernacle" and a "Mormon Theatre". Nice two-thirds pg. print: Salt Lake City Theater, Ronald G. Walker, Utah History Encyclopedia http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/utah_today/saltlaketheatre.html

The Salt Lake Theatre, finished in March 1862, was the largest structure yet built by the Saints and cost $100,000. William H. Folsom was the architect of the exterior, which was Doric in style. E.L.T. Harrison, an architect from London and recent convert, modeled much of the interior after the London Drury Lane Theatre. Building supplies came from the now-disbanding Camp Floyd and the wreckage of government wagons on the trail.  The theater was dedicated with a prayer by Daniel H. Wells, and an address by Brigham Young. Over 1,500 people crowded the theater for the opening, and many continued to come for later performances. Dubbed the "Cathedral in the Desert," the theater became a neutral ground for Mormons and non-Mormons, although it was controlled by the Mormons.

With the coming of the railroad, Utah was placed on the national theatrical circuit, and the Salt Lake Theatre became increasingly secularized as New York booking agencies virtually controlled its attractions. Church leaders became uneasy with the loss of local standards and control. The theatre kept up with the latest technological advancements, though they were costly. Some 385 oil lamps lit the theater until 1872 when they were replaced by gas. Then, with the coming of electricity, the Railway Company furnished the theater with six lamps on each side of the building. For a time, the Salt Lake Theatre's prominence was challenged by the Walker Opera House. Built in 1882, it was located on the south side of 200 South Street between Main and West Temple streets. To settle the dispute between the two theaters, the New York booking agencies agreed to divide bookings evenly. In 1891 the Walker Opera House burned down.  Theater in Utah, Utah History Encyclopedia   http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/t/THEATERS.html

Salt Lake Theatre http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Salt_Lake_Theatre Built  1861-62. Razed 1928, Replica built on the University of Utah campus 1962
State St and First South St http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/utah_today/saltlaketheatre.html    
http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.theaters.aspx?theatercode=org0010059

The Salt Lake Theatre is the only one listed for Salt Lake City in Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide. 

San Diego mentioned only in passing.  Fisher Opera House

San Francisco 
Thanks to the Gold Rush, theatre came to California. The first theatrical performance by professional actors was given in San Francisco in 1850." Cambridge

Baldwin Hotel and Theatre  At the corner of Market and Powell Streets according to hotel stationery.  Built by gambler/ entrepreneur Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin in 1875 (Sumner Bugbee, architect)  Originally called Baldwin's Academy of Music, the theatre emphasized touring stars and attractions.  "In 1878 Baldwin built a magnificent hotel which encompassed the playhouse and occupied the rest of the block.  Virtually all the great touring performers of the day appeared in their best-known vehicles at the house ... Both hotel and theatre were destroyed by fire in 1898." [Oxford]

In the evening, by way of severe contrast [to the Mission Dolores they visited earlier that day], we went to Baldwin's Theatre, attached to the hotel of the same name and just finished. It is really the prettiest to be seen in any part of the world -- a perfect little gem, fitted up like a bonbonniere in crimson satin and gold. The six proscenium boxes on either side, and the row of French boxes at the back are marvelously pretty. Nothing could be more rich and exquisite in refinement of taste. The symmetry of the house is unmarred by rows of pillars, the galleries being suspended from the roof.  California: a pleasure trip from Gotham to the Golden Gate, Chapter 20, April, May, June, 1877. Mrs. Frank Leslie  http://nbc-lumber.com/Leslie/Ch20.htm

EJ “Lucky” Baldwin (1828-1909) Jon Wilkman, 1999  http://socalhistory.org/biographies/e-j-lucky-baldwin.html  

The Baldwin Hotel and Theatre burned in 1898.  Albert Nickinson, in San Francisco for the Spanish American War took photographs of the ruins.
Baldwin Hotel fire 1898 Nov 24 NY Times http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10D13F8345911738DDDAD0A94D9415B8885F0D3

California Theatre  For many years the leading theatre in San Francisco, it opened in 1869 on Bush Street, designed by SC Bugbee and Son, costing $150,000, and built for Lawrence Barrett and another actor by the head of San Francisco's Bank of California.  Emphasized a resident ensemble, while its principal rival the Baldwin Theatre specialized in touring stars.  The theatre burned in 1888.  A replacement was built on the same site and destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.

NO. 86 CALIFORNIA THEATRE
Location: 430 Bush St between Kearny and Grant, San Francisco  California State Historical Landmarks San Francisco County    On this site on January 18, 1869, the California Theatre, built by William C. Ralston, opened with the following stock company: John McCullough, Lawrence Barrett, Harry Edwards, Willie Edouin, E. B. Holmes, William Mastayer, John T. Raymond, W. F. Burroughs, W. H. Sadley Smith, John Wilson, Edward J. Buckley, Mrs. Judah Emelie Melville, Elizabeth Saunders, Annette Ince, Marie E. Gordon, Sophie Edwin, Minnie Walton, and Julia Buckley. Among artists who played here were Charles W. Couldock, Edwin Adams, John Broughan, Edwin Booth, Barton Hill, Walter Montgomery, Mrs. D. P. Bowers, Adelaide Neilson, and Lotta Crabtree. This theater remained a brilliant center of drama until August 11, 1888.   
http://ceres.ca.gov/geo_area/counties/San_Francisco/landmarks.html

Located at what is now 440 Bush Street http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist3/playbill.html
444 Bush Street http://www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/cal0086.asp 

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Al Hayman as the manager of both Baldwin's and the California Theatre.  Other theaters listed include the Columbia, Morosco's and Tivioli Grand Opera Houses.  Peter Robertson is listed as the theater critic at the Chronicle, one of six daily papers, and five weeklies.

Seattle  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Seattle Theatre.

Stockton California  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the theater in Stockton as Yo Semite Theatre.

Syracuse New Wieting Opera House, Bastable Theatre, Grand Opera House

 Tacoma Washington  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the theater as the Tacoma Theater.

Toronto
The first purpose built theatre in Toronto opened in December 1848.  The brick building seated 750 and was lighted by gas, but awkwardly designed, eventually stopping first rate actors from coming to Toronto.  The theatre burned down in January 1874.  Jan. 1855 Royal Lyceum playbill 

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Toronto history, Bruce Bell http://www.brucebelltours.com/html/the_great_hall_-2.html  more 
Royal Lyceum Theatre 1848-1874, burned  http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.theaters.aspx?theatercode=org0011392 King Street (between Bay and York Streets)

Royal Lyceum Theatre   John Nickinson and EJ Phillips at the Royal Lyceum Theatre 1850's
Theatre historian Mary Shortt wrote "In later years, [John] Nickinson's period of management at the Royal Lyceum came to seem like a golden age... but in fact ... under Nickinson [it] was never more than a third-rate provincial theatre.  His importance lay in the fact that for the first time he put Toronto's theatre on a genuinely professional basis, demonstrated that it could support a permanent stock company, and established the city as the leading theatrical centre in Canada West. [Shortt]

Nickinson's Royal Lyceum "offered a repertoire ranging from Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer to popular melodramas such as Uncle Tom's Cabin" Nickinson was known for his gala Christmas productions of Cinderella and Aladdin.  [Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatres]

Nickinson also managed Hamilton's Metropolitan Theatre, going there with the Toronto company each year.  (This must have been how he met EJ Phillips).  Hard economic times, starting in 1858, led to his giving up the Royal Lyceum in 1859. He ended up as stage manager at Pike's Opera house in Cincinnati and died there in 1864. [what is this from?]

Charlotte Nickinson Morrison at the Royal Lyceum Theatre 1871-1878

Bibliography Shortt, Mary "The Royal Lyceum: part I 1848-1859", John Nickinson chapter, Master's Thesis on Toronto theatre 1809-1874 c. 1979.

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Princess Theatre, Grand Opera House, Toronto Opera House and Massey Music Hall.

Troy New York  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists Rand's Opera House

Vancouver
1896 Possibly Vancouver Opera House  1891 -1969 761 Granville Street   This is the only theater listed in Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide. 

Washington DC 
National Theatre  Narrative history 1835-present http://www.nationaltheatre.org/location/narrative.htm
Still an active theater, and only a block from the Willard Hotel, both theater and hotel are on Pennsylvania Ave., a short walk from the White House.

 Academy of Music  9th & D Sts NW, Joseph 1892

Albaugh's Grand Opera House, 15th & E Sts. NW,  Camille 1894
Opened Nov 1884 according tot he NY Times  "Albaugh's Grand Opera House, which has just been erected by the Washington Light Infantry Corp in connection with a new armory on Fifteenth Street near Pennsylvania Avenue, was thrown open to-night for a private view to a number of prominent citizens, though workmen are still with finishing touches for its formal opening."  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30813FB3F5B10738DDDA00894D9415B8484F0D3
 
John W. Albaugh  "His last appearance on the stage, was as Macbeth with Modjeska, at Grand Opera House, Washington City, D.C., about 1894. He played in the following cities, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Washington City, Troy, N.Y., Albany, Richmond, Virg., Pittsburg, Montgomery, Ala., Columbus, Ga., Detroit, Indianapolis, Boston, Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Nashville, New Orleans, Montreal and many others. He managed Holliday Street Theatre, and built and owns the Lyceum Theatre in Baltimore, and was Lessee and Manager at Washington City of the National Theatre for five years, of Albaugh's Grand Opera House for ten years, and in conjunction with a Washington gentleman, built, owned and managed the LaFayette Square Theatre for three years." Genealogy of the Albaugh Families", by Noah H. Albaugh, 1899 http://www.albaugh.info/johnw.htm

Ford's Theater may be better known (as the site of Lincoln's Assassination) but does not show up in these letters. AR Cazauran (1820-1889) AM Palmer's play reader and a celebrated play doctor wrote a once famous eyewitness account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  Colleague William Jason Ferguson (1841-1930) was famous as the actor who saw Lincoln  shot, his stage career began at Ford's Theatre as a call boy.  The construction of the Theatre supports the claim that Ferguson  was the sole witness.  His description has been accepted as the most reliable account of the shooting (Sat Evening Post and NY Times (Apr 18, 1915) and his book I Saw Booth Shoot Lincoln (1930) 

Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the New National Theatre, Academy of Music and John Albaugh's Lafayette Square Opera House, as well as the Bijou Family Theatre, Grand Opera House and Columbia theatre.

Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania  Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide lists the Grand Opera House

EJ Phillips' letters and other sources mention at least 110 cities -- Cahn's 1897 Theatrical Guide was very helpful in identifying theatres for these.

city state 1897 first year more years   theaters      
Albany NY 100,000 1891 1894     Haumann's Bleecker Hall  
Alliance OH 10,000 1893       Opera House    
Asheville NC 15,000 1897       Grand opera House    
Atlanta GA 100,000 1897       Grand Opera House, Lyceum Theatre
Auburn NY 30,000 1892       Burtis Opera House        
Augusta GA 45,000 1897       Grand Opera House    
Baltimore MD 500,000 1891 1892  1893 1894   Academy of Music, Fords Grand Opera House, Holliday St, Kernans Monumental, Lyceum
Binghamton NY 45,000 1892       Stones opera house    
Birmingham AL 68,000 1897       O'Brien's Opera House    
Bloomington IL 28,000 1893       Grand opera house    
Boston MA 494,500 1886 1887 88 89 90 91 93 95   Boston Museum, Boston Theatre, Bijou, Globe, Park
Boulder CO 6,500 1890       Temple Hall     
Brooklyn NY 1,200,000 1886 1889 1893 1894   Park Theatre Brooklyn Theatre,?  
Buffalo NY 375,000 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 Academy of Music, Star, Lyceum  
Burlington IA 30,000 1896       Grand Opera House    
Canton OH 35,000 1893       Grand Opera House    
Cedar Rapids IA 25,000 1896       Green's Opera House    
Charleston SC 70,000 1897       Academy of Music    
Charleston WV 15,000 1893       Burlew Opera house    
Charlotte NC 20,000 1897       Opera House    
Chattanooga TN 50,000 1897       New Opera House    
Chicago IL 1,700,000 1875 1878 86 87 88 89 90 92 93 94 95  96 Hooleys, McVickers    
Cincinnati OH 300,000 1862 1893 1897 1862-1865 w/JN Pikes Opera House,     
Cleveland OH 366,000 1889 1893 1895     Cleveland Theatre, Euclid Ave Opera House, Lyceum Theatre 
Colorado Springs CO 15,000 1886       Opera House    
Columbus OH 130,000 1892 1895 1896     Grand Opera House, Great Southern, High St Theatre 
Davenport IA 40,000 1896 1896     Burtis Opera House, New Grand Opea House
Decatur IL 27,000 1893 1896     Germania Opea House  
Denver CO 150,000 1883 1886 1888 1890   Taber's Opera house, Broadway Theatre
Des Moines IA 75,000 1896       Foster's Opea House    
Detroit MI 305,000 1892 1893 1895 1896   Detroit Opera House, Whitney Grandd Lyceum Theatre, Capital Sq, Campbell's Empire theatre
Dubuque IA 40,000 1896       Grand Opera House    
Easton PA 40,000 1897       Able Opera House    
Evansville IN 65,000 1893       The Grand, People's theatre  
Freeport IL 17,000 1896       Tower's Opera House    
Grand Rapids MI 85,000 1893       Powers Opera House    
Hamilton Ontario 50,000 1848 1861 90 92  1830s--1852 Metropolitan Theatre    
Harrisburg PA 50,000 1897       Grand Opera House    
Hartford CT 75,000 1892 1894     Hartford Opera House, Parsons  
Herkimer NY 5,000 1892       Grand Opera House    
Indianapolis IN 125,000 1867 1895     Empire Theatre, English Opera House, Grand Opera House, Park Theatre  
Ithaca NY 15,000 1892       The Lyceum     
Janesville WI 16,000 1893       Myers' Grand    
Johnstown PA 37,000 1892       Cambria Theatre, Johnstown Opera House
Kansas City MO 200,000 1886 1888 1890 1896   Coates Opera house, New Coates Opera House
Knoxville TN 45,000 1897       Staub's Opera House    
Lafayette IN 30,000 1893       Grand opera House    
Lancaster PA 40,000 1892 1897     Fulton Opera House    
Lawrence MA 53,000 1895       Opera House    
Lockport NY 20,000 1861       Arcade Hall    
London Ontario 35,000 1892       Grand Opera Hous    
Los Angeles CA 97,000 1888 1890 1896     Los Angeles Theatre, Orpheum, Burbank
Louisville KY 210,000 1893 1898     Macauleys Theatre, Amphitreatre uditorium, Avenue Theatre, Grand Opera House, Temple Theatre
Macon GA 35,000 1897       Academy of Music     
Madison WI 20,000 1896       Fuller Opera House    
Middletown NY 15,000 1886       Casino Theatre    
Milwaukee WI 275,000 1893 1895 1896     Davidson Theatre, 4 others listed  
Mobile AL 40,000 1875       Grand Opera House    
Montreal Quebec 300,000 1894 1895     Theatre Royal [JN] Academy of Music, Queen's Theatre, Theatre Francais
New Haven CT 100,000 1894       Grand Opera House, Hyperion Threatre
New London CT 16,000 1894       Lyceum Theatre    
New Orleans LA 275,000 1871 1897 L Barrett 1871-1873 St Charles Theatre, Varieties Theatre
New York NY 1,900,000 1877 1886-1897 Sturtevant 37 theaters Academy of Music, Castle garden, Chickering Hall Empire Theatre, Fifth Ave/Daly's Grand Opera House, Harlem Opera Hse/Hammersteins, Lyceum, Madison Sq, Madison Sq Garden, Niblos' Olympic, Palmers, , Standard, Tony Pastors, Union Sq, Wallacks
Newark NJ 350,000 1894 1896 1897     Newark Theatre, Jacob's Theatre, Waldman's Opera House
Newport RI 22,000 1894       Opera house    
Niagara Falls NY 30,000 1892 1894 Niagara Falls Ont4,5K Park Theatre    
Norfolk VA 75,000 1893       Van Wyck's Academy of Music  
Ogden UT 18,000 1886       no performances    
Omaha NE 150,000 1886 1888 1890 1896   Creighton, Boyd's New Theatre  
Oswego NY 22,000 1892       Richardson Theatre    
Ottawa Ontario 53,000 1861       Her Majesty's Theatre    
Peekskill NY 12,000 1892       DePew Opera House    
Pensacola FL 15,000 1897       Opera House    
Peoria IL 68,000 1893       Grand opera House    
Philadelphia PA 1,500,000 1875 1887-1898   1875-1877  Arch St, Broad St. Chestnut St, Grand Theater, National Theatre, Park Theatre, Walcotts Walnut St  Canhn's lists 14 theaters in Philadelphia
Pittsburgh PA 350,000 1891 1893 1894 1896   Alvin Theater, 3 others in Cahns  
Pittsfield MA 28,000 1891       Academy of Music    
Portland OR 100,000 1890 1896     Marquam Grand Opera House  
Portland  ME 45,000 1895       Portland Theatre, City Hall   
Providence RI 155,000 1893 1894 1895 1897    Keith's Opera House, Providence Opera House
Pueblo CO 36,000 1886       Grand Opera House     
Richmond VA 100,000 1893       Academy of Music, Richmond Theatre
Rochester NY 160,000 1893 1894     Lyceum Theatre    
Rockford IL 35,000 1893 1896     Opera House    
Sacramento CA 35,000 1886 1890 1896     Clunie Opera House     
Saint Joseph MO 60,000 1886 1888 1890     Crawford Theatre, Tootle Theatre  
Saint Louis MO 700,000 1865 1893 1894 1895 1896  1865-1870 NO Olympic, Century & 10    
Salt Lake City UT 65,000 1886 1890 1896     Salt Lake Theatre    
San Diego CA 20,000 1896       Fisher Opera House    
San Francisco CA 300,000 1883 1886-1888 1890 1896   Baldwin Theatre, California Theatre
Savannah GA 65,000 1873 1897     Savannah Theatre    
Scranton PA 90,000 1892 1897     Academy of Music    
Seattle WA 65,000 1890 1896     Seattle Theatre    
South Bend IN 28,000 1893       Oliver Opera House    
Springfield IL 35,000 1893       Chatterton Opera House  
St Thomas Ontario 15,000 1892       Duncombe's New Opera House  
Stockton CA 30,000 1890       Yo Semite Theatre    
Syracuse NY 125,000 1892       Bastable Theatre, Grand Opera House
Tacoma WA 60,000 1890       Tacoma Theatre    
Terre Haute IN 45,000 1893       Opera House burned since last issue 
Toronto Ontario 200,000 1852 1892 1894  Toronto 1852-1862 w/JN Royal Lyceum, Grand Opera House, Princess Theatre, Toronto Opera House, Toronto Theatre
Trenton NJ 90,000 1897       Trenton's Opera House  
Troy NY 62,000 1892 1893     Rand's Opera House    
Utica NY 50,000 1886 1892     Utica Opera House    
Vancouver BC 20,000 1896       Vancouver Opera House  
Washington DC 300,000 1885 1887 1891 1893 1894   National Theatre, Academy of Music, Albaugh's Grand Opera House
Wheeling WV 40,000 1892 1893     Opera House    
Wilkes Barre PA 100,000 1892       Grand Opera House    
Wilmington DE 70,000 1892 1897     Grand Opera House    
Zanesville OH 30,000 1893       Schultz Opera House    

Bibliography
Birkmire William H, The planning and Construction of American Theatre John Wiley & Sons 1896 http://books.google.com/books?id=-RItAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Boston Athenaeum, Theater Database http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/node/224 Programs and playbills, circa 1860-1900 
Broadway Theater Museum, New York http://www.directfrombway.org/ 
Cahn, Julius, Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide, Volume 2 1897 http://books.google.com/books?id=JiUtAAAAYAAJ&dq=editions:LCCNsn92017447  Theatres, hotels, railroads and newspapers for theatrical cities
Cinema Treasures http://www.cinematreasures.org/  Mainly movie theaters, includes some theaters which began as stage theaters. Searchable
Gagey, Edmond M., The San Francisco Stage: A History, New York : Columbia University Press, 1950.
Henderson, Mary C., The City and the Theatre: New York Playhouses from Bowling Green to Times Square,  Clifton NJ: James T. White & Co, 1973.
IDDB Internet Broadway DataBase, advanced search http://www.ibdb.com/advancedsearch.asp  Searchable by play, person or New York theater. 
Jenkins, Stephen, The Greatest Street in the World: The Story of Broadway, Old and New, From the Bowling Green to Albany, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1911
Kendrick, John, Musicals 101 Theatre in New York 1865-1900 http://www.musicals101.com/bwaythhist3.htm 
Kendrick, John, New York Theatres: Past and Present http://www.musicals101.com/bwayhouses.htm  
Morrison, William, Broadway Theatres: History & Architecture, Dover Publications, Inc. 1999.
Museum of the City of New York, Theater Collection http://www.mcny.org/museum-collections/new-york-theater.html
North American Theaters Online: Theaters http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.toc.theaters.aspx
Shortt, Mary "The Royal Lyceum: part I 1848-1859", John Nickinson chapter, Master's Thesis on Toronto theatre 1809-1874 c. 1979.
van Hoogstraten, Nicholas, Lost Broadway Theaters, Princeton Architectural Press, revised edition, 1997.
Young, William C, Documents of American Theater History Volume 1 Famous American Playhouses  1716-1899, American Library Association, 1973

Critic Alexander Woollcott on Sarah Bernhardt, Katharine Cornell and historic theaters, Miss Kitty Takes to the Road 1934 http://www.thescreamonline.com/essays/essays2-3/woollcott.html 

League of Historic American Theaters http://www.lhat.org/index.aspx
Pictorial diagrams of New York Theatres 1883 http://robertdavisinc.com/cover.htm
Theatre Historical Society of America http://www.historictheatres.org/

Last updated Dec 10  2011

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