For nearly 60 years Somerville was home to 14 movie theatres. David Guss has gathered what is perhaps the largest collection of the neighborhood movie-going experience in the United States. Included in the collection are archival photographs from theatres and surrounding businesses, posters, ads, dish sets and other give-aways, seats, original stained glass and fixtures, and even a ten foot neon marquee from the Paramount.

This exhibition explores the rich cultural and architectural past of these theatres and in so doing, demonstrates the essential role of cultural institutions in the creation of neighborhoods and communities. Dotted throughout the city these movie theatres formed a reference point for each of the neighborhoods they were located in. These included the...
Ball Square,
Broadway,
Capitol,
Central,
Day Street Olympia (E.M. Loews Davis Square),
Highland,
Orpheum,
Pearson's Perfect Pictures,
Somerville [1914-1925 | 1926-Present],
Star,
Strand,
Teele Square,
Union Square,
and Winter Hill.
Map of all Somerville theaters.
In addition to the entertainment provided on the screens was the important social role that these early movie palaces played. They were memory banks where personal and cinematic memories joined people together, experiential as well as architectural landmarks. Not only did they define neighbors but they also structured emotional experiences marking life's most important social transitions as well as its simple, daily rhythms. They also served as important economic anchors around which a multitude of small, family-run businesses flourished.

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