The Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record, issue of April 23, 1907, had this item: “Cumberland, Md â€"Theater. â€"Maryland Theater Co. has awarded contract to the Brady Construction & Engineering Co., Parkersburg, W. Va., for erection of theater costing alout $70,000 after plans by John D. Allen, Philadelphia, Pa.; seating capacity 1800. (Referred to April 18.)”
This is most likely the theater mentioned in the April 23, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record: “Danville, Va. â€"Theater. â€"Contract for theater to be erected for S. A. Schloss, recently reported, has been awarded to D. Hanna; work to begin at once. Plans were prepared by Hook & Rogers, Charlotte, N. C.” Charles C. Hook was one of the leading architects in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the first third of the 20th century, and was one of the architects of the Carolina Theatre in Charlotte. His partnership with Willard G. Rogers lasted from 1905 to 1916.
As noted at the theater’s official web site (to which Mark_L linked above,) this house opened in 1911 as the Athens Theatre, and was designed by architect Herbert W. Simpson. In addition to The Show Shop and the Kehoe Theatre, Tryon Theatre should be listed as an aka, as the house has gone back to its original name.
The Athens Theatre was restored in 1980, and has since served as a performing arts venue operated by the New Bern Civic Theatre.
The name of the architectural firm was Milburn, Heister & Company. According to the firm’s page at North Carolina State University’s Architects and Builders web site, it was founded in 1909 by Frank Pierce Milburn and Michael Heister, and Milburn’s son, Thomas Yancey Milburn, later joined the firm. The elder Milburn retired in 1925 and died in 1926, so the Durham Auditorium was probably one of the last projects he worked on.
The Jefferson Theatre was under construction by April, 1908, when the Trade Journal Brick and Clay Record reported that the contract to supply 1,000,000 white sand lime bricks had been awarded to the Florida White Pressed Brick Co., of Jacksonville.
The May 27, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record had carried this item about the project: “St. Augustine. Fla. â€"Theater and Business Building. â€"Realty & Theater Co-, has had plans prepared by Fred A. Hendrick for four-story office building, with store and arcade entrance on ground floor, theater in the rear; 90x155 feet; ordinary fireproof construction; steam or hot-water heating; gas and electric lighting: automatic electric elevators; cost $55,000; bids to be opened June 1 to 10.”
There is an item mentioning the Regency in Boxoffice of September 22, 1975. “Jaws” had just entered its fourth month at the Regency I, and “Rollerball” had completed its second month at the Regency II.
Wikipedia’s article on Regency Square Mall has this line: “The mall also underwent a $30 million renovation in 1998, which comprised the addition of a new, 24-screen movie complex to replace the existing six-screen theater inside the mall.” I don’t know of the six-screener was the Regency Twin expanded or not, but it seems likely. I’ve been unable to find anything about it in Boxoffice, though.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, said that Waldron’s Broadway Theatre in Haverstraw was celebrating its 50th anniversary. It had been operated by the same family during that entire time.
George M. Cohan made his stage debut at this theater in the late 1880s. The theater was listed in various editions of Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide as Waldron’s Opera House.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, mentioned this house in its “Theatre Notes” column: “The University, formerly the Band Box, West Fordham Road, Bronx, is now operated by Devoe Theatres, Inc., Alfred Goldreyer in charge.”
Trade magazine Billboard reported in its issue of November 29, 1952, that an attempt to reopen the Rouge Theatre had been thwarted by the city’s new parking law. Existing theaters had been grandfathered in under the new requirements, but the Rouge had been closed for about three and a half months. The city contended that the closing meant the Rouge was no longer an “established” business, and would have to conform to the requirement of one parking space for every four seats before it would be allowed to operate. I’ve been unable to discover if the house ever reopened after this.
The name Grants Pass should not have an apostrophe in it. According to the town’s web site, there was originally an apostrophe, but it was dropped from the town’s official name early in the 20th century.
Town Hall was showing movies by 1908. It was listed in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide, with 600 seats. Because of its limited stage facilities, the house could present only vaudeville, concerts, and movies. The town’s main theater, the Putnam Opera House, had burned down in 1905.
The July, 1915, issue of a religious publication called The Expositor had an item about a deacon of Clarendon Street Baptist Church who, when the church had been holding its meetings at the Scenic Temple, had distributed an advertising circular about the church’s Sunday evening events. The circular said that the evening services included a half hour of movies. It doesn’t give the time period during which this was happening, but it’s clear that the Scenic Temple was used for church services for at least part of the time after it had already been converted into a movie house.
In addition to the Scenic Temples mentioned in earlier comments, there was one in Chelsea, listed as a 1,200-seat, ten-cent vaudeville and picture house in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide. I’ve also found an item in the April 23, 1921, issue of an insurance industry publication called The Standard, saying that the Scenic Temple on Temple Street off Central Square in Cambridge had burned on April 17th, with the loss estimated at $45,000. The house had already been closed for some time.
The article I quoted in my previous comment was accompanied by a photo of the entrance to Quimby’s theater (in the left column— click on the + sign in the toolbar at lower right to enlarge.) The entrance was later altered, as depicted in the photo linked by Chuck on April 27, 2009, but some of the original detail can still be seen above the marquee in the modern photo.
From The Reel Journal, March 22, 1924: “W. A. Halley, architect of Warren, Ark., is preparing plans for the Pastime Theatre, Warren. It will cost approximately $20,000. ”
The March, 1917, issue of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s house organ, Pacific Service Magazine, featured an article about the Kinema Theatre, with one photo. The house had reopened as the Kinema on January 27, 1917, under the management of Emil Kehrlein.
Here’s the opening of an article from The New York Times of August 25, 1883: “The city of Yonkers is to have a new opera house, and men are now at work on the foundation walls. It is to face on Woodworth Avenue, but will have an entrance on Warburton Avenue.” My guess would be that this was the same theater. The entrance was through an existing building, to the back of which the theater was to be connected.
Although the Times article doesn’t mention it, there are multiple sources on the Internet saying that the Yonkers Opera House (possibly its opening name) was designed by Francis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell. Best known for the long-vanished Casino Theatre, Broadway and 39th Street (1882-1930,) Kimball & Wisedell also designed the Garrick Theatre on 35th Street (1890-1932) and the Fifth Avenue Theatre, apparently the only one of the three that ever became a movie house.
The 2008 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report for Kimball & Wisedell’s F.W. Devoe & Co. factory building has a long section about the firm (fully quoted on this Flickr page) which includes the following information: “The firm’s theatrical commissions also included Haverley’s Theatre in Chicago, the remodeling of a former church into a new home for Harrigan and Hart’s Theatre Comique, interior renovations to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as opera houses in Yonkers, New York and Springfield, Massachusetts.” The firm’s first project had been the remodeling of the Madison Square Theatre in 1879.
This web page has considerable information about the Warburton Theatre, and two photos, dated 1890s and 1904, showing the Warburton Building and the theater’s blank-walled auditorium behind it.
The title of this photo of the Aladdin Theatre from the Denver Public Library attributes the design of the theater to the architectural firm Ireland & Parr. The records of the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, suppliers of polychrome terra cotta for the project, also list Ireland & Parr as the architects.
Click on the name Aladdin in the title line on the photo page to see three additional photos of the theater from the Denver Library collection (for some reason, if you click on the name Aladdin Theatre in the subject line, it fetches only two of the photos.) I think these are probably the same photos Philbert Gray linked to earlier, but his links are dead.
The Columbus Journal periodically runs a feature with news bits from 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years ago. Of the four instances of the feature online, all mention the Rudalt Theatre in 1960 or 1961, but not for any of the later decades. As whoever writes the feature apparently considers the theater’s program worthy of inclusion, it seems likely they’d include it for later decades if it had still been in operation. The most recent column says that on March 30, 1961, the Rudalt was showing Disney’s “Swiss Family Robinson,” and that “Butterfield 8” was scheduled for the following week. The Rudalt was open at least into April, 1961, but was probably closed by 1970.
The use of the phrase “store-front theatre” in the first paragraph of the description makes no sense. This building was built as a vaudeville theater in 1905, and has always been a theater, both before and after it was rebuilt following the 1946 fire.
Bill Coady is correct. The El Rey is showing old movies on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with very low admission prices. Furthermore, they take requests on the theater’s Facebook page. There are also many live events upcoming. Apparently the theater is doing well.
The “Save the El Rey” web site that Lost Memory linked to on January 22, 2008, no longer has anything to do with the theater, and now exists only to host advertising links. There’s no point in clicking on it.
The only Columbus establishment called the Crystal Slipper that I can find references to on the Internet is this ballroom opened in 1926 and converted into Columbus’s first supermarket (and perhaps the first grocery store anywhere to call itself a supermarket) in 1934. This building, at 386 Lane Avenue W., was demolished in 1985.
Crystal Slipper certainly sounds more like a name for a ballroom than for a movie theater. Perhaps the building at 2573 High was also opened as a dance hall, but was unsuccessful and was converted into a movie house.
The Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record, issue of April 23, 1907, had this item: “Cumberland, Md â€"Theater. â€"Maryland Theater Co. has awarded contract to the Brady Construction & Engineering Co., Parkersburg, W. Va., for erection of theater costing alout $70,000 after plans by John D. Allen, Philadelphia, Pa.; seating capacity 1800. (Referred to April 18.)”
Robert K. Headley’s book Maryland’s Motion Picture Theatres gives the opening date of the house as November 21, 1907.
This web page has several ads for the Maryland Theatre, including one for the 1927 release “7th Heaven.”
This is most likely the theater mentioned in the April 23, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record: “Danville, Va. â€"Theater. â€"Contract for theater to be erected for S. A. Schloss, recently reported, has been awarded to D. Hanna; work to begin at once. Plans were prepared by Hook & Rogers, Charlotte, N. C.” Charles C. Hook was one of the leading architects in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the first third of the 20th century, and was one of the architects of the Carolina Theatre in Charlotte. His partnership with Willard G. Rogers lasted from 1905 to 1916.
As noted at the theater’s official web site (to which Mark_L linked above,) this house opened in 1911 as the Athens Theatre, and was designed by architect Herbert W. Simpson. In addition to The Show Shop and the Kehoe Theatre, Tryon Theatre should be listed as an aka, as the house has gone back to its original name.
The Athens Theatre was restored in 1980, and has since served as a performing arts venue operated by the New Bern Civic Theatre.
The name of the architectural firm was Milburn, Heister & Company. According to the firm’s page at North Carolina State University’s Architects and Builders web site, it was founded in 1909 by Frank Pierce Milburn and Michael Heister, and Milburn’s son, Thomas Yancey Milburn, later joined the firm. The elder Milburn retired in 1925 and died in 1926, so the Durham Auditorium was probably one of the last projects he worked on.
The Jefferson Theatre was under construction by April, 1908, when the Trade Journal Brick and Clay Record reported that the contract to supply 1,000,000 white sand lime bricks had been awarded to the Florida White Pressed Brick Co., of Jacksonville.
The May 27, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record had carried this item about the project: “St. Augustine. Fla. â€"Theater and Business Building. â€"Realty & Theater Co-, has had plans prepared by Fred A. Hendrick for four-story office building, with store and arcade entrance on ground floor, theater in the rear; 90x155 feet; ordinary fireproof construction; steam or hot-water heating; gas and electric lighting: automatic electric elevators; cost $55,000; bids to be opened June 1 to 10.”
Restoration of the Strand Theatre is continuing. Here is the theater’s new official web site.
There is an item mentioning the Regency in Boxoffice of September 22, 1975. “Jaws” had just entered its fourth month at the Regency I, and “Rollerball” had completed its second month at the Regency II.
Wikipedia’s article on Regency Square Mall has this line: “The mall also underwent a $30 million renovation in 1998, which comprised the addition of a new, 24-screen movie complex to replace the existing six-screen theater inside the mall.” I don’t know of the six-screener was the Regency Twin expanded or not, but it seems likely. I’ve been unable to find anything about it in Boxoffice, though.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, said that Waldron’s Broadway Theatre in Haverstraw was celebrating its 50th anniversary. It had been operated by the same family during that entire time.
George M. Cohan made his stage debut at this theater in the late 1880s. The theater was listed in various editions of Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide as Waldron’s Opera House.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, mentioned this house in its “Theatre Notes” column: “The University, formerly the Band Box, West Fordham Road, Bronx, is now operated by Devoe Theatres, Inc., Alfred Goldreyer in charge.”
Trade magazine Billboard reported in its issue of November 29, 1952, that an attempt to reopen the Rouge Theatre had been thwarted by the city’s new parking law. Existing theaters had been grandfathered in under the new requirements, but the Rouge had been closed for about three and a half months. The city contended that the closing meant the Rouge was no longer an “established” business, and would have to conform to the requirement of one parking space for every four seats before it would be allowed to operate. I’ve been unable to discover if the house ever reopened after this.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935 carried this in its “Theatre Notes” column: “The Rexy, Houston Street, is dark.”
The name Grants Pass should not have an apostrophe in it. According to the town’s web site, there was originally an apostrophe, but it was dropped from the town’s official name early in the 20th century.
The Tower Theatre is mentioned in Boxoffice of January 26, 1935.
The State Theatre was mentioned in Boxoffice of January 12, 1935.
Town Hall was showing movies by 1908. It was listed in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide, with 600 seats. Because of its limited stage facilities, the house could present only vaudeville, concerts, and movies. The town’s main theater, the Putnam Opera House, had burned down in 1905.
The July, 1915, issue of a religious publication called The Expositor had an item about a deacon of Clarendon Street Baptist Church who, when the church had been holding its meetings at the Scenic Temple, had distributed an advertising circular about the church’s Sunday evening events. The circular said that the evening services included a half hour of movies. It doesn’t give the time period during which this was happening, but it’s clear that the Scenic Temple was used for church services for at least part of the time after it had already been converted into a movie house.
In addition to the Scenic Temples mentioned in earlier comments, there was one in Chelsea, listed as a 1,200-seat, ten-cent vaudeville and picture house in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide. I’ve also found an item in the April 23, 1921, issue of an insurance industry publication called The Standard, saying that the Scenic Temple on Temple Street off Central Square in Cambridge had burned on April 17th, with the loss estimated at $45,000. The house had already been closed for some time.
The article I quoted in my previous comment was accompanied by a photo of the entrance to Quimby’s theater (in the left column— click on the + sign in the toolbar at lower right to enlarge.) The entrance was later altered, as depicted in the photo linked by Chuck on April 27, 2009, but some of the original detail can still be seen above the marquee in the modern photo.
There is a photo of the Orpheum in The Reel Journal, August 9, 1924.
From The Reel Journal, March 22, 1924: “W. A. Halley, architect of Warren, Ark., is preparing plans for the Pastime Theatre, Warren. It will cost approximately $20,000. ”
The March, 1917, issue of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s house organ, Pacific Service Magazine, featured an article about the Kinema Theatre, with one photo. The house had reopened as the Kinema on January 27, 1917, under the management of Emil Kehrlein.
Here’s the opening of an article from The New York Times of August 25, 1883: “The city of Yonkers is to have a new opera house, and men are now at work on the foundation walls. It is to face on Woodworth Avenue, but will have an entrance on Warburton Avenue.” My guess would be that this was the same theater. The entrance was through an existing building, to the back of which the theater was to be connected.
Although the Times article doesn’t mention it, there are multiple sources on the Internet saying that the Yonkers Opera House (possibly its opening name) was designed by Francis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell. Best known for the long-vanished Casino Theatre, Broadway and 39th Street (1882-1930,) Kimball & Wisedell also designed the Garrick Theatre on 35th Street (1890-1932) and the Fifth Avenue Theatre, apparently the only one of the three that ever became a movie house.
The 2008 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report for Kimball & Wisedell’s F.W. Devoe & Co. factory building has a long section about the firm (fully quoted on this Flickr page) which includes the following information: “The firm’s theatrical commissions also included Haverley’s Theatre in Chicago, the remodeling of a former church into a new home for Harrigan and Hart’s Theatre Comique, interior renovations to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as opera houses in Yonkers, New York and Springfield, Massachusetts.” The firm’s first project had been the remodeling of the Madison Square Theatre in 1879.
This web page has considerable information about the Warburton Theatre, and two photos, dated 1890s and 1904, showing the Warburton Building and the theater’s blank-walled auditorium behind it.
The title of this photo of the Aladdin Theatre from the Denver Public Library attributes the design of the theater to the architectural firm Ireland & Parr. The records of the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, suppliers of polychrome terra cotta for the project, also list Ireland & Parr as the architects.
Click on the name Aladdin in the title line on the photo page to see three additional photos of the theater from the Denver Library collection (for some reason, if you click on the name Aladdin Theatre in the subject line, it fetches only two of the photos.) I think these are probably the same photos Philbert Gray linked to earlier, but his links are dead.
The Columbus Journal periodically runs a feature with news bits from 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years ago. Of the four instances of the feature online, all mention the Rudalt Theatre in 1960 or 1961, but not for any of the later decades. As whoever writes the feature apparently considers the theater’s program worthy of inclusion, it seems likely they’d include it for later decades if it had still been in operation. The most recent column says that on March 30, 1961, the Rudalt was showing Disney’s “Swiss Family Robinson,” and that “Butterfield 8” was scheduled for the following week. The Rudalt was open at least into April, 1961, but was probably closed by 1970.
The use of the phrase “store-front theatre” in the first paragraph of the description makes no sense. This building was built as a vaudeville theater in 1905, and has always been a theater, both before and after it was rebuilt following the 1946 fire.
Bill Coady is correct. The El Rey is showing old movies on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with very low admission prices. Furthermore, they take requests on the theater’s Facebook page. There are also many live events upcoming. Apparently the theater is doing well.
The “Save the El Rey” web site that Lost Memory linked to on January 22, 2008, no longer has anything to do with the theater, and now exists only to host advertising links. There’s no point in clicking on it.
The only Columbus establishment called the Crystal Slipper that I can find references to on the Internet is this ballroom opened in 1926 and converted into Columbus’s first supermarket (and perhaps the first grocery store anywhere to call itself a supermarket) in 1934. This building, at 386 Lane Avenue W., was demolished in 1985.
Crystal Slipper certainly sounds more like a name for a ballroom than for a movie theater. Perhaps the building at 2573 High was also opened as a dance hall, but was unsuccessful and was converted into a movie house.