Seattle's New Grand Theater
A massive new theater is coming to Second Street, promising to be the largest entertainment venue in Washington or Oregon.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
H. L. Yesler and others will next week begin the work of construction of a new theater building. It will be located on Second street, alongside the Western Union telegraph office, between James and Cherry streets. The building will have 60 feet front and 130 feet depth, and will be built expressly and exclusively for the purposes of public entertainments. Its stage, scenery, dressing rooms, etc., will be of the most modern and approved kind. There will be four proscenium boxes, the floor will be inclined, the seats folding chairs. The capacity of the house will be equal to the accommodation of 800 or 900 persons, or greater than that of any other like building in Oregon or Washington. It is intended to hurry the construction as rapidly as possible, so that the building may be ready for occupancy on or about the 1st of October.
“The capacity of the house will be equal to the accommodation of 800 or 900 persons, or greater than that of any other like building in Oregon or Washington.”
Henry Yesler's ambition to dominate the regional entertainment market by building the largest theater in the Northwest marked the city's transition from a mill town to a metropolitan center. The block mentioned is still in the heart of downtown Seattle, though theaters of that era have largely vanished or been repurposed.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.