The Lincoln Theatre, a first-run movie and vaudeville house catering to black patrons, opened in 1922. The Lincoln Colonnade dance hall behind the theatre, since demolished, was a popular setting for balls, parties and performances. The Theatre and Colonnade were at their zenith during the 1930s and 1940s. They were the anchor of Washington's historic Black Broadway which also included the Howard, Dunbar, Booker T, and Republic Theatres. DC's black middle-class danced and were entertained by legendary greats Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine and Billie Holiday, to name just a few.

Elegantly restored to its 1920s grandeur, today the historic landmark echoes the spirit and life that pervaded the U Street Corridor during the first half of the twentieth century.