Sanborn Insurance map showing the location of the Empire Theater.

ID: 951 ~ Source: Courtesy of the North Adams Historical Society.
This file appears in: The Empire Theater
Sanborn Insurance map showing the location of the Empire Theater.
This file appears in: The Empire Theater

By Ann Leonesio
Plans to erect a brand-new theater in downtown North Adams began with the Sullivan brothers in the early part of 1901.  They already owned the Wilson House and Sullivan Block, both on Main Street.  The Wilson House already had its own opera house,…