The Gotham Theatre, seen here at the far right, was originally the William Bennett's Casino, an entertainment hall at the corner now referred to as Broadway Junction. After a construction collapse during the initial building phase, the Casino opened in June 1890, only to be destroyed by fire in 1893. Rebuilt and opened in 1896 as the Brooklyn Music Hall, a vaudeville house, the business struggled and closed a few years later.

By 1901, the building was the Gotham Theatre and unlike many of the other theatres, it banned smoking in the lobby and the auditorium. It was billed as a family venue with the advertising slogan "Clean Shows in Clean Houses." In the 1920s the venue switched from live shows to silent movies. The silent movie house lasted less than a decade. It attempted to open again with sound films in 1932 but closed in 1934 and was demolished before 1940.