Majestic Theatre

The Majestic Theatre opened in 1853 at 45 E Second Street in Chillicothe, Ohio, on a lot that previously held the city's first bank. The venue has operated as a theater continuously since that founding, a claim it maintains makes it the oldest continuously operating theater in the United States, though that designation is contested by other venues with similar histories.

The building's most consequential chapter came during the autumn of 1918. Camp Sherman, a World War I training facility located on the southern edge of Chillicothe, reported its first influenza cases in late September of that year. The epidemic moved through the 40,000-man camp with unusual speed. By the time the worst weeks had passed, more than 1,700 soldiers had died at or near Camp Sherman—a figure documented in the camp's own records and confirmed by the Wikipedia entry on Camp Sherman (Ohio).

The civilian infrastructure of Chillicothe had no capacity to handle that volume of dead. The Majestic was requisitioned as an overflow morgue and autopsy site. According to accounts preserved on the venue's official historic timeline and in local paranormal research, bodies were stacked in the dressing rooms and autopsy work was conducted in the back of the building. The drainage from that work ran into the alley adjoining the theater, which locals have since called 'Bloody Alley.'

After the epidemic, the theater returned to regular operation. It has continued as a performing arts venue for more than a century since, hosting concerts, plays, and community events.