Taylor Opera House was an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 house in Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

. It was the city's first theater, and was founded by John Taylor

John Taylor (Taylor Ham)

John Taylor was an American businessman and politician who served in the New Jersey Senate. He formed Taylor Provisions Company and created Pork Roll. He also founded the Taylor Opera House in Trenton, New Jersey. Taylor Street in Trenton is also named for him.Taylor was born in Hamilton Square,...

, creator of Taylor Ham and one of Trenton's leading citizens. The building first opened March 18, 1867 at 18 S. Broad Street. A historical marker was placed on the site after its demolition.

The theater presented the major speakers and performers of the day, including Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

, Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

, Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...

, and George M. Cohan

George M. Cohan

George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....

, and played host to political conventions, Bible conferences, musical revues and local meetings and events. It hosted the inaugurations of Governor George B. McClellan

George B. McClellan

George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

 in 1877, and Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 in 1910, James F. Fielder

James Fairman Fielder

James Fairman Fielder was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as the 35th Governor of New Jersey, from 1913 to 1917, with a break of several months when he stepped down from office to avoid constitutional limits on serving successive terms.-Biography:He was born in Jersey...

 in 1914 and Walter Evans Edge

Walter Evans Edge

Walter Evans Edge was an American politician. A Republican, he was twice the Governor of New Jersey, from 1917 to 1919 and again from 1944 to 1947, serving as governor during both World War I and World War II...

 in 1917.

In 1921, it was converted into a movie and vaudeville palace known as Keith's Capitol Theatre; after later sales it was renamed the RKO International.

The theater was razed by its next door neighbor (the Trenton Saving Fund Society) to create a parking lot in 1969.