History

Built in 1908 by opera impresario, Oscar Hammerstein, the once– lavish Metropolitan Opera House is recognized internationally for its superb acoustics and once served as a recording hall for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Known for decades as “The Met”, its life as a Grand Old Opera House was followed by years of changing fortunes as a movie theater, a venue for basketball and boxing, a vocational school, a gospel concert hall and finally as home to the Church of the Holy Ghost. In its glory days, “The Met” presented theater and vaudeville as well as the likes of James Cleveland, Mahalia Jackson, The Dixie Hummingbirds and The Caravans. In all of its roles, the Met earned a level of popular affection that remains strong among residents of North Philadelphia and the city as a whole.

The Met’s historic value is certified by the Philadelphia Historic Commission and by its listing on both the Pennsylvania State and National Registers of Historic Places. Despite its birth in another cultural era, The Met possesses both the city’s largest performance stage as well as its largest theatrical auditorium.