Chickering Hall, Boston (1883)

Chickering Hall (est.1883) was a concert auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th century. It occupied the second floor of Chickering and Sons showrooms on Tremont Street, near the corner of West Street.^[1][2] "Bradlee, Winslow and Wetherell were the architects, and Mr. E.P. Treadwell, the decorator. The hall [was] lighted by the Edison electric light."^[3][4] By 1895: "Tremont St., towards Boylston, for some years has been called Piano Row, for a long row of piano agencies occupied a good portion of the block; but of late most of these have migrated to Boylston St. Chickering Hall, at 152 Tremont St., was for many years a favorite place for fashionable musicales, and the headquarters of the musical profession."^[5]

Performances/Events

1880s Matthew Arnold[6] George Washington Cable[7] Hubert von Herkomer[8] Kneisel Quartet[9]

1890s Prof. Carpenter, hypnotist[10] Vladimir de Pachmann[11] James A. Herne's "Margaret Fleming"[12] Thomas Nelson Page[13] F. Hopkinson Smith[14] Edward Alexander MacDowell[15] George Grossmith, comedian[16]

Images

• 

  Advertisement, 1889

• 

  Seating chart, 1880s

• 

  Advertisement, 1890

• 

  "Mrs. Herne as Margaret Fleming," 1891; depicts actress Katherine Corcoran

• 

  Detail of map of Boston in 1896, showing Chickering Hall opposite Boston Common

See also

• Chickering and Sons
• Chickering Hall, Boston (1901), Huntington Avenue

References

1. Illustrated Boston, the metropolis of New England. NY: American publishing and engraving co., 1889
2. Bacon's Dictionary of Boston. 1886
3. "The new Chickering: a pretty hall in which exercises were rendered yesterday. Boston Daily Globe, Nov. 8, 1883
4. Ezra Prentice Treadwell (1848–1903), designer in Boston and NY. Obituary in: Building Trades Association Bulletin, v.4, no.5, May 1903
5. King's how to see Boston: a trustworthy guide book; Macullar, Parker & Co. souvenir edition. USA: Moses King, 1895
6. James Dow McCallum. "The Apostle of Culture Meets America." New England Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Jul., 1929), pp. 357-381
7. Boston Globe, Nov. 23, 1883
8. Lee M. Edwards. "Hubert Herkomer in America." American Art Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3 (1989), pp. 48-73
9. Boston Globe, Dec. 1, 1889
10. Boston Globe, Oct. 19, 1890
11. Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 1891
12. Barnard Hewitt. "'Margaret Fleming' in Chickering Hall: The First Little Theatre in America?." Theatre Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2, Insurgency in American Theatre (May, 1982), pp. 165- 171
13. Boston Globe, Jan. 7, 1892
14. Boston Globe, Jan. 7, 1892
15. Columbia University Library treasures: Sonata Tragica, G minor (Opus 45)
16. Boston Globe, Feb. 3, 1893; Feb. 2, 1894

Coordinates: 42°21′16.26″N 71°3′49.28″W / 42.3545167°N 71.0636889°W