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davis_squareDavid Guss's essay "Lost Theatres of Somerville", published in the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at
http://www.losttheatres.org/Lost_Theatres_Marquee2006.pdf .
This is an extensive history of the many neighborhood movie theatres that used to be scattered all over Somerville, including one in Ball Square, one in Teele Square, and one that used to stand at Day and Herbert Streets, where the metered parking lot is today. The Day Street theatre had to overcome four years of opposition from local residents, and even the president and women's dean of Tufts University, before the city finally granted it a license to open in 1913. It burned down in 1942.
Guss's article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for these theatres.
(The file is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
If this subject interests you, also check out the rest of Professor Guss's LostTheatres.org website, as well as CinemaTreasures.org where each theatre has its own ongoing discussion page.
http://www.losttheatres.org/Lost_Theatres_Marquee2006.pdf .
This is an extensive history of the many neighborhood movie theatres that used to be scattered all over Somerville, including one in Ball Square, one in Teele Square, and one that used to stand at Day and Herbert Streets, where the metered parking lot is today. The Day Street theatre had to overcome four years of opposition from local residents, and even the president and women's dean of Tufts University, before the city finally granted it a license to open in 1913. It burned down in 1942.
Guss's article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for these theatres.
(The file is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
If this subject interests you, also check out the rest of Professor Guss's LostTheatres.org website, as well as CinemaTreasures.org where each theatre has its own ongoing discussion page.