{"nrhp_refnum":"89001315","name":"Wollaston Theatre","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"14 Beale St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Quincy","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.25659135400008,"lon":-71.01614634099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Classical Revival theatre at 14 Beale Street in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, built in 1926 and designed by local architect E. H. McEwan.","why_significant":"It is the only survivor of thirteen theatres built in Quincy in the 1910s and 1920s, and a fine example of suburban theatre architecture. It was the focal point of the commercial and civic neighborhood node that grew up at Hancock and Beale Streets in the 1920s, and it retains its integrity.","narrative":"Wollaston Theatre, at 14 Beale Street in Quincy, Massachusetts, is a brick Classical Revival building completed in 1926. Local architect E. H. McEwan designed it, and Edward H. Sears, a Quincy contractor, built it and first owned it. It opened as both a legitimate theatre and a movie house, and it has been run as a movie house since 1930. The facade combines simple storefronts separated by stylized Corinthian pilasters, a parapet with a central cartouche and cast stone swags, and a triangular marquee topped by electrified letters spelling Wollaston. Stained glass transoms, a mosaic entrance floor marked W.T., crystal chandeliers, an original freestanding ticket booth and marble detailing survive in the lobbies. Of thirteen theatres built in Quincy in the 1910s and 1920s, this is the only one still standing. It anchored the neighborhood commercial and civic center that developed in Wollaston during the 1920s, and it keeps its original design, materials and setting.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect E. H. McEwan; built and originally owned by Edward H. Sears, a Quincy contractor","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair; operated as a movie house since 1930, with the interior converted to a movie theatre in 1932.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.007218-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/7925/63792530/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001315.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001315/ba66278390-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001315/ba66278390-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ratdeschamps","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wollaston_theater.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ratdeschamps</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wollaston_theater.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792530","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wollaston_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8030324"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/wollaston-theatre-89001315/"}