Exploring Broadway with a Historian
Five Spots to Find History Around Times Square
New York City tells visitors that around 300,000 people walk through Times Square daily, with as many as 400,000 coming in on peak days. That is more than 110 million annually. Incredible, there are history spots right here that many are walking right past. If you’re a history fan, these are places to seek out and learn a little more about what happened in such an incredibly busy spot. Remember, none these crowds were coming in like this until around 1905, when the theater and show business industry moved in. Let a historian show you a few places to find the next time you’re poking around the Crossroads of the World. All of these are on our walking tours!
1. BIRTHPLACE OF EUGENE O’NEILL
The playwright who earned the Nobel Peace Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and scores more is one of the most beloved names in drama. Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) came from humble roots, and his parents were both actors. When he was born in 1888, his parents were living in a modest hotel room in the Barrett House. O’Neill would go onto great achievements, but he never forgot where he came from. Neither did the Broadway community, which erected a bronze plaque where the hotel once stood at 1500 Broadway. Today it is a Starbucks. Check it out, this where the creator of The Iceman Cometh and A Long Day’s Journey into Night had his own origin story.
2. THE STAGE DOOR CANTEEN
If you ever watched a World War II movie where the soldiers and sailors start dancing with beautiful showgirls, or sip a Coke with the girl-next-door, this is one of those inspirations. The Stage Door Canteen was launched by Broadway insiders the American Theatre Wing (still around) as a way to help the war effort in the 1940s. They built a full stage, bar, and restaurant underneath the Forty-Fourth Street Theatre, just steps from Broadway. The biggest names in movies, radio, and Broadway would come and hang out here, and the average service member could come here and rub shoulders with the stars and get a free meal. It was dry—there was no alcohol—so all could enjoy. Imagine being from a smalltown in the Midwest, on leave, and about to go off to war? And Marlene Dietrich is at your table with a smile? On Valentine’s Day 1944, the canteen welcomed its 2 millionth guest. The spot is long-gone now, and today a similar concept is managed globally by the U.S.O. The theater was demolished inxxx, and today there is a nice bronze plaque on the wall at 216 West 44th Street.
3. THE WARRIOR PRIEST
You can’t miss the imposing larger-than-life statue of the man in the long coat, a helmet by his foot, calmly looking out over Times Square. He’s on a granite pedestal, with a Celtic Cross behind him. This is Father Francis Duffy (1871-1932), the Roman Catholic chaplain of the Fighting 69th Regiment from World War I. Before the war, he was a parish priest in the Bronx, who volunteered to serve with the largely Irish-American regiment. He shipped out with the men, first to Mexico for the border skirmish in 1916, and then off to the battlefields of France in 1917. He was beloved for always putting himself in danger to administer comfort to the Doughboys. When he returned to New York in 1919, he was assigned to a parish in Times Square. His new flock where actors, cops, prostitutes, show business folks, and tourists. After his death in 1932, his old friends and veterans raised the money for this stunning war memorial. Duffy Square is bounded by 45th and 47th Streets, Broadway and Seventh Avenue.
4. The New York Palace Theatre
Walk over to 160 West 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, and look up. This is the Palace Theatre, built in 1913 by Martin Beck, the Orpheum Circuit founder, as a vaudeville house, later a “legitimate” Broadway theater. In its heyday it had 1,743 seats (today 1,648) and was the pinnacle of Vaudeville, the variety arts that no longer exist. “I played the Palace” was the symbol of “making it” on the circuit. From 1930-1965 it was a movie house, then a theater. One of the biggest stars in its glory days was comedian W.C. Fields, who billed himself in Vaudeville as “the silent humorist” and labeled a juggler. In 1913, he stepped into the #3 spot with only 2 hours’ notice and got rave reviews. He was on the same bill as the iconic French actress Sarah Bernhardt (age 68) who had to approve him in the cast; later he played in London for her 69th birthday in front of King George V. But the incredible story of the Palace is not just who played here. In 2024, after a ten-year process, the 7,000-ton building was jacked up two stories and a hotel and restaurant added above it. The 111-year-old landmark interior was preserved and modern features added. Today it is one of busiest theaters in the business.
5. A Real Speakeasy: Flûte
During the Roaring Twenties the Queen of the Nightclubs was Texas Guinan, one of New York’s greatest celebrities. The brassy peroxide-blonde Texas was to speakeasies what Flo Ziegfeld was to The Follies. The thrice-married Texas ran speakeasies and nightclubs, booked entertainers, and danced and sang herself. Her greeting “Hello, suckers!” was the most famous watchword of the era. The city adored her; the authorities raided her. Texas was hauled in so many times, she often wore a necklace made of padlocks. Texas went into business with a notorious Hell’s Kitchen racketeer named Larry Fay, himself arrested 46 times and owner of a bullet-proof car. She put together Fay’s Follies with girls wearing strings of beads—and little else. The beautiful chorines she found were called Guinan Graduates. Texas was an entrepreneur, and went out on her own to open speaks such as Club Intime, at 205 West 54the Street (between Broadway and Seventh Avenue). Today, this is Flûte, a fantastic little lounge, has been in the former speakeasy for more than 25 years. Going down the steps to the French-style Champagne lounge is a step back in time. It feels like it is 1925 here, and the cops are on their way. It always feels like midnight inside Flute, no matter what time it is. There is the best menu for Champagne in New York here, and the cocktail you absolutely must not miss is a French 75: Gin, Champagne, and a taste of simple syrup. Open 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. daily, real speakeasy hours.