The Palace Theatre

Established in 1914, the Palace Theatre was constructed by Greek immigrant, Victor Charas, with help from Henry Macropool and Leon Lempert. On April 9, 1915 the Palace Theatre had its opening night and joined other theatres in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire which were known as “The Great White Way.” The Palace Theatre prospered from its opening night and became a movie house from 1930 to the early 1960’s. In the late 1960’s it turned into a New Hampshire College classroom, but once the school moved elsewhere the Palace Theatre was left to deteriorate. In 1974, after John McLane and Mayor Sylvio S. Dupuis were able to get financial assistance from Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation, the Palace Theatre was restored and saw another opening night on November 2, 1974. In 1980 the Palace Theatre experienced a pipe burst which was followed by a fire on Hanover Street two years later. The Palace Theatre actually protected surrounding structures from the fire due to its firewall that was built during its original construction, which made the Palace Theatre the only first-class theatre in New Hampshire that was fireproof. Today, the Palace Theatre is the only survivor of “The Great White Way,” and brings in many visitors with its excellent shows.

Accessed April 28th 2021. https://www.palacetheatre.org/history/.

Accessed April 28th 2021. https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=ff6646933877433080e6850e0eecdc23.