Opened in 1899, the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom has brought entertainers of all stripes to the New Hampshire shoreline for more than 100 years. The facility was opened on July 15, 1899 by Wallace D. Lovell, who owned the Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Street Railway Company, with the hope of bringing more business and tourism into the Hampton Beach area. Today the facility is a landmark of Hampton Beach and is synonymous with the summer report.
The rise of rock and roll brought many more changes to the Casino Ballroom. Following an unruly incident at a Jethro Tull concert, where fans without tickets attempted to enter the Ballroom by any means possible, the town of Hampton banned further rock and roll concerts. Looking like the end was near for the Ballroom, the owners at the time sold the facility to a consortium of local businessmen interested in restoring it to its former glory. (Wikipedia)