{"nrhp_refnum":"89002330","name":"Somerville Theatre","other_names":["Hobbs Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"55 Davis Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.39685797800007,"lon":-71.12305704799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-01-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Entertainment/Recreation","Commerce","Performing Arts","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick and stone commercial building and theatre at 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts, built in 1914 by local businessman Joseph O. Hobbs and designed by Funk and Wilcox. Also known as the Hobbs Building.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the sole surviving vaudeville-era theatre in Somerville and a neighborhood cultural resource in continuous use since 1914. It reflects the suburbanization of Davis Square and the shift from silent movies and vaudeville to stock theatre, then films and concerts. It is also an example of an early 20th century vaudeville theatre with a notable Art Deco and Aztec-inspired interior.","narrative":"Built in 1914 at 55 Davis Square, this three-story brick and stone building housed a theatre along with a bowling alley, cafe, shops, offices and meeting rooms. Joseph O. Hobbs, a local businessman, commissioned it, and the architects Funk and Wilcox later used it as a prototype for Dorchester's Strand Theatre. It is the only surviving vaudeville-era theatre in Somerville and the oldest Boston-area theatre built explicitly as a movie house. Its opening year featured silent films with vaudeville, and in 1915 it became a stock theatre, where Busby Berkeley worked and Tallulah Bankhead and Kate Smith appeared. In 1932 it returned to motion pictures, and it has remained in use since. The interior retains a balcony with original brocade panels, a decorative scheme with Art Deco and Aztec geometric motifs likely added in 1932, and strong acoustics. Its significance is local, tied to Davis Square's growth as a streetcar suburb and to its long cultural role.","period_of_significance":"1914-1939","architect_builder":"Funk and Wilcox","architectural_style":"Neo-classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Continuously in use as a theatre since 1914, with some shops and offices; exterior and interior are altered but described as not irreversibly so, and the interior is called sadly neglected.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:12:59.728643-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/53/7913/63791353/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89002330.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002330/347b24de55-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002330/347b24de55-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Somerville_Theatre_detail.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:Somerville_Theatre_detail.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791353","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7559987"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/somerville-theatre-89002330/"}