EDITOR’S NOTE: Betty Ann Murray Richardson, born at Willliams Wharf in 1928, sometime during her life wrote of the delight she and everyone experienced when the James Adams Floating Theatre began its summer run.
Founded in 1914, the James Adams Floating Theatre made stops in Gloucester and Mathews each summer from at least 1919 until the late 1930s. Williams Wharf was a perennial stop, and young Betty Ann was there to observe and to wait impatiently for the evening show. Betty Ann died in 2010, age 82, full of memories and stories, some of which she left behind. We thank her son, Sonny Richardson, for making this article available to us.
When someone looked out and yelled, “Oh! The show boat’s a-comin’” it meant more than just a show. It meant seeing people that one had not seen since last year and wondering if all the same troupe would be returning.
Some would, and those who did would bring news of those who had either retired and decided to keep their feet on land, or perhaps were ta...