539 Broadway, New York, NY

Originally known as the Chinese Rooms. In 1853, it was leased to Buckley's Serenaders, a famous minstrel troupe, and became known as Buckley's Opera House. In 1862, the Concert Hall Act prohibited the sale of liquor in a theatre and the venue closed. It reopened in 1865, P.T. Barnum took over after his American Museum burned down. But Barnum's New American Museum did not last long; in 1868, it, too, was destroyed by fire, leading to the showman's retirement.

Demolished: 1868   

• Productions