Newtown Theatre dates to 1831 and is the oldest movie theater in the United States, with its first movie shown in 1906. Originally built as a hall for town gatherings and a nonsectarian church for traveling ministers, it soon became a center of entertainment in Newtown. By the early 1850s, when it was called Newtown Hall, it was regularly used for live performances such as social dances, concerts, theatrical productions, and magic lantern shows. During that period, anti-slavery meetings were held there, including sermons by Lucretia Mott and Frederic Douglass, major figures in the reform movements of the 19th century. In 1883, the building was reconstructed on a larger scale and designed with stage performances in mind, and a balcony was added soon afterward. As television and modern movies arrived, its films became outdated, prompting a 1936 interior renovation and the purchase of new equipment to improve the movie-going experience. Ownership passed from the Borough of Newtown to the Trustees of Newtown Hall and later to the Newtown Community Welfare Council. The theater survives with the flavor and posters of a bygone era. Its old two-projector system was rearranged in 1999 to accommodate a newer xenon lamp system, air conditioning was installed in 2002 for showings of Signs, which was filmed in part in Newtown, and in 2006 a long-fixed movie screen was modified so it could be moved, allowing the stage to come alive again with live performances. Today it still shows first-run movies along with classic and art films and also features live jazz, swing, rock, and stage shows.
