Anco Cinema

The story

A theatre that staged The Wizard of Oz became a pornography venue. Opened in 1904 at 254 West 42nd Street as the Lew Fields Theatre, it was built on land purchased by Oscar Hammerstein I, who had already put up seven Manhattan theatres before this one. It ran as a playhouse under various names until 1930, when it converted to cinema — part of a block famous for its concentration of Broadway houses gone to film. After World War II the street declined. The Anco closed in 1988, was gutted for retail, and demolished in 1997.