Dock Street Theatre
Opened 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. From those hotel years comes the theatre's most enduring spirit: the Lady in Red, said to be a young woman named Nettie Dickerson who turned to the world's oldest profession and was struck dead by lightning on the second-floor balcony during a storm. Visitors and actors still report her gliding through the halls in a vibrant crimson dress, sometimes visible only from the knees up because the floor was raised when the building was converted. The ghost of 19th-century tragedian Junius Brutus Booth, father of John Wilkes Booth, is also said to walk the stage in frock coat and top hat, though his link to the building is faint enough that the spirit may belong to some other devoted player unwilling to leave the spotlight.
📍 135 Church Street, Charleston, SC 29401, Charleston, SC · Get directions