Boston Theatre (third) opens.

Architect: Edward Cabot. It is located at 537 – 539 Washington Street. The largest and most luxurious theater of its day, it features three balconies, seats 3,140 [2,848-CD], and opens with a production of Sheridan’s The Rivals. The theater also features the first theater refreshment counter in the U.S., which serves non-alcoholic “temperance drinks.” Performers include Sarah Bernhardt, Caruso, Mahler, and Paderewski. Helen Keller speaks here at her graduation from the Perkins School for the Blind. It becomes the Boston Academy of Music in 1860, reassumes its original name in 1863, and is purchased by B.F. Keith for vaudeville in 1908, then becomes the Keith Boston in 1914 and then shows continuous movies. It closes with a gala farewell performance on October 4, 1925. When the building is demolished in March 1926, a crowd gathers to find out if the rumored “mystery house” said to be contained within the foundation exists – but is disappointed to find that it does not. A new theater opens on the same site in 1928.*