The Fulton Opera House, also known as the Fulton Theatre or simply The Fulton, is a League of Regional Theatres class B regional theater located in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is reportedly the oldest working theatre in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
History
The current structure was built in 1852 on the foundation of Lancaster's former jail, which dated to 1739. In 1763, the twenty surviving members of the Conestoga were placed in protective custody at the jail after fourteen Conestoga were murdered by a settler mob known as the Paxton Boys. On December 27, 1763, thirteen days after the first massacre, the Paxton Boys broke past the sheriff and others defending the jail and murdered all of the remaining Conestoga. None of the attackers were arrested. This became the subject matter for the first plays ever written on American soil: A Dialogue Between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot About the Killing the Indians at Cannestogoe and Lancaster and The Paxton Boys, a Farce.
The building was designated as a site of significance to the Underground Railroad by the National Park Service in 2008. This connection stemmed from an event in 1835 where two fugitive slave women were clandestinely freed from the jail by the sheriff in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing them to escape to Philadelphia where they were later captured.
The building was originally called Fulton Hall, named after Lancaster native Robert Fulton. Fulton Hall operated as a town hall and stage for traveling theatrical groups, hosting noted orators including William Jennings Bryan and Lancaster abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens along with famed actors including Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth. During the American Civil War, Fulton Hall served as an armory and hospital.
In 1856, Fulton Hall was sold to hotelkeeper Hilaire Zaepfel and showman Blasius Yecker. Facing demolition, a campaign was launched in the 1950s to restore the theatre. A grand reopening ceremony occurred in 1952, on the 100th anniversary of the theatre's creation, but business remained weak. In 1962, the Fulton Opera House Foundation was formed, and funds were raised to purchase the building as a nonprofit in the hopes of raising money so that it could be restored. On the front façade stands a statue of the Theatre's namesake, Robert Fulton. This statue is a replica of the original wooden statue, which is displayed inside the interior lobby.
The Fulton Theatre was renovated in the early 1870s by noted theatrical architect Edwin Forrest Durang. By 1996, the theatre had been renovated again, with a new 560-seat main stage, practice rooms, and recital stage.