Exterior view of Italianate front facade of the Arch Street Opera House at 1003 Arch Street, constructed in 1870 after designs by Edwin Forrest Durang. A distinctive large wreathed lyre is visible above the heavy cornice. Large awnings provide shade to the two shops flanking the main entrance on the ground level. Includes partial views of adjacent commercial properties and a horse-drawn cart parked in the street in front of decorative light standards., Title from inscription on mount., Inscribed on mount: No. 167., Reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 18., Arcadia caption text: The Trocadero’s origins date back to 1870, when the Arch Street Opera House opened its doors as a minstrel theater. Designed by Edwin Forrest Durang at 1003 Arch Street, the theater burned down and was rebuilt or altered several times within the first two decades, at some point losing the free-standing wreathed lyre above the cornice shown here c. 1870. It operated under a succession of at least nine different names until settling on the Trocadero in 1896, at which time the stage mainly showcased burlesque and vaudeville groups. The Italianate style building, which originally housed retail stores in the two flanks, is the nation’s only 19th century Victorian theater left intact, thereby earning its place on the National Register of Historic Places., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date
ca. 1870
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - Theaters [P.9085.4]
