Theatre on Nassau Street, Colonial theatre building in Lower Manhattan, United States
The Theatre on Nassau Street was a two-story wooden building in Lower Manhattan, situated between John Street and Maiden Lane. It held around 280 seats on the main floor and included side boxes for audience members who wanted a more separated viewing spot.
The building opened in 1732 as the first space in Manhattan built specifically for theater. It was later converted into a German Calvinist church and then torn down in 1765.
The Theatre on Nassau Street is considered the first building in New York built specifically for stage performances. The street names around it, John Street and Maiden Lane, have not changed, so visitors can still stand roughly where early New York audiences once gathered.
The building no longer exists, but the area between John Street and Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan is easy to reach on foot and sits close to many other historic spots. Checking a historical map of the neighborhood beforehand can help you picture where the original structure once stood.
When the theater was converted into a German Calvinist church in 1758, it became one of the few buildings in early New York to serve two entirely different communities in its lifetime. The congregation used it for only a few years before the whole structure was pulled down.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
