Here is an article about the Cabridge Circus Cinema from the March, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette. There are photos of the vestibule and auditorium sporting their original Jacobean decor.
Here is an article about the Scala Theatre from the April, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette, published during the period when the theater was presenting Charles Urban’s Kinemacolor films.
Given its late 1936 reopening, the State might have been the theater that was mentioned in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily that year. The item said that Pioneer Theatres was remodeling the Royal Theatre at Carroll. There would be a new front, boxoffice and marquee, and the interior would be redecorated. The item said that the house would be renamed, but did not say what the new name would be.
In 1936, original architects Shampan & Shampan returned to the Williamsburg Playhouse to design and oversee a $15,000 renovation, reported in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily. The building was extended to increase seating capacity, the auditorium was reseated, new carpets and drapes were installed, the toilets and lounge were updated, as were lighting and mechanical equipment, and the interior was given modern decorative finishes.
A comment on the Lakeview Theatre page at Water Winter Wonderland says that this theater was on Jefferson Avenue at Francis Street. That’s only a few blocks south of 13 Mile Road, so Google Maps has its pin icon almost two miles too far south. That’s probably because the theater needs a five-digit address and we only give it four digits. The right address is most likely 30620 Jefferson, which would put it in the block just north of Francis Street.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lakeview Theatre in St.Clair Shores was underway. Plans were by the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lafayette Theatre in Bay City was one of the projects being carried out by Dearborn architects Bennett & Straight.
In 2009, the Record & Clarion republished this 1935 article about the opening of the rebuilt Star Theatre. A postscript notes that the building is now occupied by the Gladwin County Historical Society.
A recent comment on the Water Winter Wonderland page that lostmemory linked to says that the building now houses the County Historical Museum, and that part of it has been fitted out with some of the Star’s original theater seats and is used for viewing historical videos.
Here is an entry about the Hills Theatre at Remembering Rochester. The house opened in January, 1942, and was designed by Lavern R. Bennett and Eugene D. Straight of the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
A list of houses operated by AIA Theatres in the 1950 Theatre Catalog includes this: “VALLEY, Taylorsville, Ky. (1946).” A 1948 mention in Motion Picture Herald refers to it as the “…new Valley Theatre at Taylorsville….” The rather plain facade definitely looks like a 1940s design.
I’ve found two mentions of theaters at Taylorsville in The Moving Picture World from 1916: The January 15th issue notes that J. H. Johnson had purchased equipment for a 300-seat house to be opened at Taylorsville, and the September 30 issue says that J. H. Johnson was moving his theater in Taylorsville to the ground floor of the Cox Building and would rename it the Music Hall.
My eagle eyes say that the movie on the poster is Three Girls About Town, with Joan Blondell, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair, Robert Benchley, and John Howard. It was released in 1941.
Historical Souvenir of El Dorado County California, published in 1883, (Google Books scan) says that Placerville’s first Empire Theatre was opened after the Placer Theatre, which opened in 1852, and both houses were destroyed by the Placerville fire of 1856. After the fire The Empire Theatre was replaced by the Placerville Theatre. I’ve been unable to trace the later history of the Placerville Theatre, though it was apparently still around in 1883 when the book was published.
The Empire building in the 1849 photo might have been the building that became the Empire Theatre. It was most likely a saloon or dance hall, and saloons and dance halls were sometimes converted into theaters during the gold rush period, as towns grew and became more prosperous and the miners and merchants began seeking more elaborate entertainment.
The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina, published in 1985, says that the Carolina Theatre building was built in the 1920s as a post office. In 1935, the post office moved and the building was remodeled into a theater.
The interior featured some Art Deco detailing which (as of 1985) could still be seen in an area used for storage. The Carolina Theatre closed in 1962, and the building sat vacant until 1981 when it was again remodeled for commercial use.
There’s a small photo of the theater at the bottom of this page of the book.
The Capitol Theatre closed in 1958 and has since been demolished, according to a 1985 book called The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina.
The Film Daily of January 4, 1923, said that J. F. White had opened a theater at Asheboro. No name was given, but it must have been the Capitol. A history of the Sunset Theatre published by Randolph County (PDF here) says that the Capitol opened on December 19, 1922.
A few photos of the restored Missouri Theatre are displayed in the portfolio of Henderson Engineers, one of the companies that has worked on the theater. Click on the Missouri Theatre thumbnail (#3, top row of featured projects) on this page.
According to Movie Theatres in Twentieth-Century Jackson, Mississippi, by Jerry Dallas, (Google Documents link) the Century Theatre opened in 1901 as a playhouse. In 1913, it began showing movies intermittently, when no live performances were scheduled, and thereafter movies gradually displaced most of the live events.
The Century Theatre closed in mid-1950, but was extensively renovated and reopened by the end of that year as the Royal Music Hall which, despite its name, was a movie house. Its early success was not long sustained, however, and the Royal closed its doors on June 4, 1959, finally ending the building’s history as a theater.
According to Movie Theatres in Twentieth-Century Jackson, Mississippi, by Jerry Dallas, (Google Documents link) the Pix Theatre closed in 1957 and reopened as the Capri in 1962. Except for a brief closure from August to November, 1980, the Capri then operated continuously into the mid-1980s.
The official web site gives the address of the Fairmont Opera House as 45 Downtown Plaza. Here is the home page of the web site. It has the telephone number at the bottom.
I’m not sure what is at 201 Downtown Plaza. Neither Google Maps nor Bing Maps has views of that location, though both have good views of the actual location of the Opera House. The Opera House is at the southeast corner of Downtown Plaza and Blue Earth Avenue (County Highway 26 at Google Maps.)
According to its official website, this theater is open again under its original name, the Fairmont Opera House. It was originally opened in 1902, and a few years later was renamed the Haynic Theatre when it was leased by partners William Hay and Willie Lincoln Nicolas, who operated it primarily as a movie house.
Hay withdrew from the partnership in the late 1920s, and the house was renamed the Nicolas Theatre. In 1929 it was extensively remodeled. The facade retained its original Renaissance-inspired style, though somewhat simplified, while the interior was given a more modern look in keeping with the popular Art Deco style.
The Nicolas Theatre closed as a cinema in 1980. It was purchased by a community-based organization which reopened the theater in 1981 with live performances. The theater was gradually restored, with much of the labor provided by volunteers. The restoration is now complete. The Fairmont Opera House presents live events, including plays and music, and is also used for community events and is available for private gatherings.
The Vernon Theatre was in operation by 1914, at which time 50th Avenue was still called Fourth Street. The following advertisement appeared in the classified section of The Moving Picture World, July 4, 1914:
“THE VERNON THEATER.— Comer 4th St. and Vernon Ave., Long Island City is for sale. New
Steinway tunnel next door opens soon, factory and
apartment houses erected daily. Big boom expected. Property fireproof brick 55 x 100. Fully equipped, 2 machines, Gold Fibre Curtain, Wurlltzer Orchestra, will seat 600. Everything the latest. License new, business good all year. One hundred per cent investment. Ten cents. Stage attached fully equipped. $10,000 cash required. Call If you mean business.”
In the January 23, 1925, issue of the Queens Borough Daily Star, the Vernon and New Idle Hour Theatres shared an ad, and were running the same program. The locations given were Court House Square (the Idle Hour) and a partly unreadable number in the 100 block of Fourth Street.
Here is an article about the Cabridge Circus Cinema from the March, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette. There are photos of the vestibule and auditorium sporting their original Jacobean decor.
Here is an article about the Scala Theatre from the April, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette, published during the period when the theater was presenting Charles Urban’s Kinemacolor films.
Given its late 1936 reopening, the State might have been the theater that was mentioned in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily that year. The item said that Pioneer Theatres was remodeling the Royal Theatre at Carroll. There would be a new front, boxoffice and marquee, and the interior would be redecorated. The item said that the house would be renamed, but did not say what the new name would be.
In 1936, original architects Shampan & Shampan returned to the Williamsburg Playhouse to design and oversee a $15,000 renovation, reported in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily. The building was extended to increase seating capacity, the auditorium was reseated, new carpets and drapes were installed, the toilets and lounge were updated, as were lighting and mechanical equipment, and the interior was given modern decorative finishes.
A comment on the Lakeview Theatre page at Water Winter Wonderland says that this theater was on Jefferson Avenue at Francis Street. That’s only a few blocks south of 13 Mile Road, so Google Maps has its pin icon almost two miles too far south. That’s probably because the theater needs a five-digit address and we only give it four digits. The right address is most likely 30620 Jefferson, which would put it in the block just north of Francis Street.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lakeview Theatre in St.Clair Shores was underway. Plans were by the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lafayette Theatre in Bay City was one of the projects being carried out by Dearborn architects Bennett & Straight.
In 2009, the Record & Clarion republished this 1935 article about the opening of the rebuilt Star Theatre. A postscript notes that the building is now occupied by the Gladwin County Historical Society.
A recent comment on the Water Winter Wonderland page that lostmemory linked to says that the building now houses the County Historical Museum, and that part of it has been fitted out with some of the Star’s original theater seats and is used for viewing historical videos.
Click on the “Slideshow” link on this web page to see one modern and one vintage photo of the Avon Theatre building.
Here is an entry about the Hills Theatre at Remembering Rochester. The house opened in January, 1942, and was designed by Lavern R. Bennett and Eugene D. Straight of the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
A list of houses operated by AIA Theatres in the 1950 Theatre Catalog includes this: “VALLEY, Taylorsville, Ky. (1946).” A 1948 mention in Motion Picture Herald refers to it as the “…new Valley Theatre at Taylorsville….” The rather plain facade definitely looks like a 1940s design.
I’ve found two mentions of theaters at Taylorsville in The Moving Picture World from 1916: The January 15th issue notes that J. H. Johnson had purchased equipment for a 300-seat house to be opened at Taylorsville, and the September 30 issue says that J. H. Johnson was moving his theater in Taylorsville to the ground floor of the Cox Building and would rename it the Music Hall.
The Strand Theatre was listed in the 1922-1923 edition of the Monroe City Directory.
My eagle eyes say that the movie on the poster is Three Girls About Town, with Joan Blondell, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair, Robert Benchley, and John Howard. It was released in 1941.
Historical Souvenir of El Dorado County California, published in 1883, (Google Books scan) says that Placerville’s first Empire Theatre was opened after the Placer Theatre, which opened in 1852, and both houses were destroyed by the Placerville fire of 1856. After the fire The Empire Theatre was replaced by the Placerville Theatre. I’ve been unable to trace the later history of the Placerville Theatre, though it was apparently still around in 1883 when the book was published.
The Empire building in the 1849 photo might have been the building that became the Empire Theatre. It was most likely a saloon or dance hall, and saloons and dance halls were sometimes converted into theaters during the gold rush period, as towns grew and became more prosperous and the miners and merchants began seeking more elaborate entertainment.
The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina, published in 1985, says that the Carolina Theatre building was built in the 1920s as a post office. In 1935, the post office moved and the building was remodeled into a theater.
The interior featured some Art Deco detailing which (as of 1985) could still be seen in an area used for storage. The Carolina Theatre closed in 1962, and the building sat vacant until 1981 when it was again remodeled for commercial use.
There’s a small photo of the theater at the bottom of this page of the book.
The Capitol Theatre closed in 1958 and has since been demolished, according to a 1985 book called The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina.
The Film Daily of January 4, 1923, said that J. F. White had opened a theater at Asheboro. No name was given, but it must have been the Capitol. A history of the Sunset Theatre published by Randolph County (PDF here) says that the Capitol opened on December 19, 1922.
The DeMarce Theater has a web site.
A few photos of the restored Missouri Theatre are displayed in the portfolio of Henderson Engineers, one of the companies that has worked on the theater. Click on the Missouri Theatre thumbnail (#3, top row of featured projects) on this page.
According to Movie Theatres in Twentieth-Century Jackson, Mississippi, by Jerry Dallas, (Google Documents link) the Century Theatre opened in 1901 as a playhouse. In 1913, it began showing movies intermittently, when no live performances were scheduled, and thereafter movies gradually displaced most of the live events.
The Century Theatre closed in mid-1950, but was extensively renovated and reopened by the end of that year as the Royal Music Hall which, despite its name, was a movie house. Its early success was not long sustained, however, and the Royal closed its doors on June 4, 1959, finally ending the building’s history as a theater.
According to Movie Theatres in Twentieth-Century Jackson, Mississippi, by Jerry Dallas, (Google Documents link) the Pix Theatre closed in 1957 and reopened as the Capri in 1962. Except for a brief closure from August to November, 1980, the Capri then operated continuously into the mid-1980s.
Here is a PDF file with a brief biography of W. L. Nicholas.
The official web site gives the address of the Fairmont Opera House as 45 Downtown Plaza. Here is the home page of the web site. It has the telephone number at the bottom.
I’m not sure what is at 201 Downtown Plaza. Neither Google Maps nor Bing Maps has views of that location, though both have good views of the actual location of the Opera House. The Opera House is at the southeast corner of Downtown Plaza and Blue Earth Avenue (County Highway 26 at Google Maps.)
According to its official website, this theater is open again under its original name, the Fairmont Opera House. It was originally opened in 1902, and a few years later was renamed the Haynic Theatre when it was leased by partners William Hay and Willie Lincoln Nicolas, who operated it primarily as a movie house.
Hay withdrew from the partnership in the late 1920s, and the house was renamed the Nicolas Theatre. In 1929 it was extensively remodeled. The facade retained its original Renaissance-inspired style, though somewhat simplified, while the interior was given a more modern look in keeping with the popular Art Deco style.
The Nicolas Theatre closed as a cinema in 1980. It was purchased by a community-based organization which reopened the theater in 1981 with live performances. The theater was gradually restored, with much of the labor provided by volunteers. The restoration is now complete. The Fairmont Opera House presents live events, including plays and music, and is also used for community events and is available for private gatherings.
The Vernon Theatre was in operation by 1914, at which time 50th Avenue was still called Fourth Street. The following advertisement appeared in the classified section of The Moving Picture World, July 4, 1914:
In the January 23, 1925, issue of the Queens Borough Daily Star, the Vernon and New Idle Hour Theatres shared an ad, and were running the same program. The locations given were Court House Square (the Idle Hour) and a partly unreadable number in the 100 block of Fourth Street.