Haunted Theaters

22 haunted theaters mapped across 19 cities, each with its ghost story, address, and sources.

• Academy of MusicTheater · Philadelphia, PAOpened in 1857, the Academy of Music is the oldest opera house in the United States still used for its original purpose and a National Historic Landmark on the Avenue of the Arts.
• Bird Cage TheatreTheater · Tombstone, AZOpened December 26, 1881, the Bird Cage was a combined theatre, saloon, gambling hall, and brothel that ran nearly nonstop for roughly eight years, earning a reputation as one of the wickedest spots between New Orleans and San Francisco.
• Dock Street TheatreTheater · Charleston, SCOpened in 1736 as the first building in America constructed expressly for theatrical performances, the original Dock Street Theatre burned in the Great Fire of 1740; the Planter's Hotel rose on the site in 1809 and became a celebrated stop for Lowcountry planters during racing season before the WPA rebuilt a working theatre inside its shell in the 1930s.
• Douglass TheatreTheater · Macon, GAIn 1911, Charles Henry Douglass opened the Douglass Theatre on Macon's Broadway, building it into one of the South's premier stages for Black performers, where Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Cab Calloway, and a young Otis Redding and James Brown all took the spotlight.
• Earl and Rachel Smith Strand TheatreTheater · Marietta, GAOn Halloween in 1930, fire swept the buildings on the northeast corner of Marietta Square, clearing the ground where a grander house would rise.
• Fox TheatreTheater · Atlanta, GAOpened on Christmas Day 1929 — two months after the stock market crash — the Fox began as a Shriners' temple before movie magnate William Fox leased it as a lavish movie palace, its Moorish minarets and Egyptian motifs making it a National Historic Landmark and the last surviving movie palace in Atlanta.
• Grand Opera HouseTheater · Macon, GAOpened in 1905 with the largest stage in the Southeast, the Grand Opera House on Mulberry Street still anchors downtown Macon as a 1,030-seat performing arts hall.
• Hawkinsville Opera HouseTheater · Hawkinsville, GADesigned by Macon theater architect W.R.
• Historic Park TheatreTheater · Estes Park, COOpened in 1913, the Park Theatre is the oldest original single-screen movie house in continuous operation in the United States and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
• Historic Savannah TheatreTheater · Savannah, GAOpen since 1818, the Historic Savannah Theatre is one of the oldest continually operating theaters in America, rebuilt again and again after fires and storms.
• Holly TheaterTheater · Dahlonega, GABuilt as a movie house and opened in July 1948 with a Georgia marble facade and seating for 500, the Holly Theater anchored downtown Dahlonega until television thinned its crowds in the 1960s; it was restored in the 1990s and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, today operating as a nonprofit live-theater venue.
• Lucas TheatreTheater · Savannah, GAOpened on December 26, 1921 by Atlanta theater magnate Arthur Lucas, the Lucas Theatre was a 1,200-seat Spanish Baroque movie palace and the first air-conditioned building in Savannah, drawing crowds for more than four decades before it went dark after a final screening in 1976.
• Majestic TheatreTheater · San Antonio, TXOpened in 1929 and designed by atmospheric-theater architect John Eberson with a ceiling that mimics a Mediterranean night sky, the Majestic was once among the largest theaters in the country, seating over 2,200.
• Morton TheatreTheater · Athens, GABuilt in 1909-1910 by Monroe Bowers "Pink" Morton, the Morton Theatre is one of the oldest surviving vaudeville houses in the nation built, owned, and operated by an African American, hosting acts like Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Bessie Smith.
• Rylander TheatreTheater · Americus, GABilled as "the finest playhouse south of Atlanta" when it opened in 1921, the Rylander Theatre filled downtown Americus with vaudeville, films, and graduations until it went dark in 1951, sitting silent for nearly half a century before a loving restoration brought it back to life in 1999.
• Springer Opera HouseTheater · Columbus, GAOpened in 1871 and now a National Historic Landmark, the Springer Opera House drew the great tragedian Edwin Booth to its stage in the 1870s, where his celebrated turn as Hamlet helped rebuild a career shadowed by his brother John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin.
• The Byrd TheatreTheater · Richmond, VAThis ornate 1928 movie palace in Carytown, named for Richmond founder William Byrd II, is famous for its gilded interior, Wurlitzer organ, and a long-running resident ghost: Robert Coulter, who managed the Byrd for 43 years from its 1928 opening until 1971 and died in 1978.
• The Grand 1894 Opera HouseTheater · Galveston, TXBuilt in 1894 by theatrical manager Henry Greenwall with $100,000 raised from local backers, the Grand survived the 1900 Storm and reopened, going on to host Harry Houdini, Sarah Bernhardt, and other touring stars.
• The Plaza Arts CenterTheater · Eatonton, GABuilt around 1916 as the Eatonton School, the building at 305 North Madison Avenue once housed every grade in Putnam County before its 2008 rebirth as a 500-seat theater and cultural center, complete with a lovingly restored early-20th-century classroom.
• The Stanley Hotel Concert HallTheater · Estes Park, COBuilt in 1909 as a gift from F.O.
• The Strand TheaterTheater · Georgetown, SCThe Strand opened on Front Street in 1941 as a movie house, sat vacant through the 1970s, and was bought in 1982 by the Swamp Fox Players, the community troupe that still stages live theater there.
• Tift TheatreTheater · Tifton, GAThe Tift Theatre has anchored downtown Tifton's Main Street for generations, a single-screen movie house turned community stage where the lights still come up on local productions.