The Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company flourished in Manchester in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Nineteenth century mill village complexs, which included housing for workers, also featured entertainment venues for the community. Built in 1866, as a theater and cultural center, Cheney Hall was designed by the Boston artist and architect C. H. Hammatt Billings, who had also created the original illustrations for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Over the years , audiences at Cheney Hall would see theatrical performances, boxing matches, high school graduations, and many famous speakers, including Horace Greeley (who had dedicated the building in 1867), Mark Twain, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher, Grover Cleveland and William H. Taft. The building was used as a hospital during the 1918 flu pandemic. Used as a fabric salesroom from 1925 to 1976, the building was then in bad condition, but was saved from demolition when the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District was created in 1978. Restored in 1991, Cheney Hall today hosts performances of the Little Theatre of Manchester and is available for rentals.