The "Lancaster's Historic Fulton Theatre To Grow!" Story

The Fulton Theatre is the white colored building on the right.
Prince Street is to the right and King Street is to the left.  Construction
has begun already on King. St.  Click on photographs to enlarge.

It was an ordinary day.  Early Thanks- 
giving morning and I'm walking the streets in the city of Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania looking for a few good photo- graphs of the Fulton Theatre.  The streets are void of most traffic due to it being a holiday, so I have very little trouble walking into the streets to take photos.

The Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster.

 The Fulton Theatre faces the first block of North Prince Street and extends west to the first bock of North Water Street.  To both the right and left of the theatre are buildings that extend to West King Street on one side and West Grant Street on the other.  The Fulton has been acquiring properties for the past 17 years and now owns all of the property in that square area and has spent a few years raising $21 million of the projected $29 million it needs to make that corner in the city a first class theatre district.  

This is the jail that stood at one time on the site of the Fulton.

I must admit I am excited to see what will appear on that plot of  ground by the projected finish date of fall of 2020.  I have been a very small part of the Fulton family since I have been making my Polaroid prints for the retiring board members for the past half-dozen years.  

On Water Street appears this sign telling of the Indian Massacre.

The Fulton Theatre was built in 1852 on the site of what had been the city jail where the last of the Conestoga Indians were massacred in 1763.  Today it is listed as a National Historic Landmark and has seen quite a few performers such as Ole Bull, a famous Norwegian violinist, Adelina Patti, a nine-year old who became a world class opera singer, Horace Greeley, Mark Twain and Edwin Durang who was Lancaster born and America's first native born thespian.  

The sign above can be seen on the rear of the Fulton.
The stone wall is on the bottom left of this photo.

It served as a military hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg and was the location where Lancaster's "Great Commoner" Thaddeus Stevens help start the Republican Party.  The Fulton Theatre is also the oldest working theatre in the United States.  And now, it is going to become an historic performing center that will rival any performing arts center in the country.  

This is an artist's rendering of the new Fulton Theatre
and all of the other new buildings on the quarter block
between Prince, King, Water and Grant.

Some of the changes to be made are: A lobby with a skylight bridge between the current lobby and the education building on Grant Street and a performance studio that will be built on Grant Street that will have room for 1,400 patrons with new bathrooms and a bar.  Buildings that are now retail businesses and restaurants will be turned into four stories with apartments on the top floors for visiting artists and performers and retail space on the lower level.  

This photo shows what the corner of North Water
and East Grant will look like.

Various other changes will be made that can be used for private gatherings and parties.  Local construction companies will do all the work while the theatre will continue to operate on its normal schedule.  The Lancaster Community is excited and will be rewarded in the near future with some of the best entertainment in the country.  Just wait and see!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This plaque tell the story of John Edwin Durang, America's first native born thespian. 

An early photograph of what at one time was Fulton Hall, later renamed Fulton Theatre.