Beginning in 1913, the Opera House went by the name of the Guthrie Theatre. Ned Pedigo may have been the theater’s final operator wiring it for sound in the early 1930s. Regular screenings ended in 1934 with sporadic offerings in 1935. It does not appear to have been used for further cinematic offerings.
The Highland Electric Theatre launched April 1, 1908 in the existing, 1891-constucted Tontz-Hirschl Building. In 1928, Griffith Amusements took on the Highland downgrading it to weekend operation only. The theatre received sound in the summer of 1929 but only operated into early 1930s with the building being condemned in 1931. However, the building was repaired and used for retail purposes beginning in 1936.
According to the trade press, Ned Pedigo operated the Highland and the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie and his entry into the theatre business pre-dated silent films. But he decided in 1926 to create an improved theatre to properly display feature films including Simplex projectors and Da-Lite screens. The Pedigo launched July 22, 1926 with “The Bat” starring George Beranger. The building had previously been home to a mortician.
In October of 1927, Pedigo sold the theatre becoming the State Theatre. On April 12, 1928, Griffith Amusement took on the venue as its fourth operator and wired it for sound. Pedigo would re-emerge taking on the Guthrie Theatre – his first sound theatre – in 1932.
After holding one final live event in January of 1958 long after movies had stopped there, City Drug took over the State converting it to retail.
The formal dedication of the Post Theatre took place on August 11, 1942 when Nashville radio station WSM brought its orchestra led by Beasley Smith to live simulcast music with an auditorium full of soldiers.
The project began as the proposed United Artists Theatre. But upon its launch, it opened as Bushnell’s Wardman Theatre on March 15, 1932 with “All Quiet on the Western Front” supported by a newsreel, a travelogue called “Cross Road” and five acts of vaudeville. Stars at the opening included “Western Front’s” Edmund Breese, Yola D'Avril and Rita Cavalier.
The theatre was tri-plexed becoming an adult theatre. It closed after the Whittier Narrows earthquake of October 1, 1987. However, the theatre was refurbished and relaunched in 1990.
The former Gale Theatre turned Strand Theatre was reacquired in 1923 by its original owner Henry J. Siler. Siler had created the Scenic and closed the Gale shortly thereafter in 1921. New operators had reopened the Gale as the Strand. Two new operators failed to get much business to the Strand. But in 1923, Gale and partner Henry Gwin decided to purchase the Strand and move it to this location as the New Strand. It opened on January 21, 1924 with “Alias the Night Wind.”
Margaret Raysor played the pipe organ there. In 1925, the Strand was closed in the summer and open just on weekends beginning that Fall. The Strand appears to have closed after shows on May 21, 1929 not converting to sound. Robbins Pharmacy took on the venue changing the front and leveling the floor for its opening there in May of 1936.
Henry J. Siler’s Gale Theatrical Co. opened the Gale Theatre in 1916 in Whittier. He opened the larger Scenic Theatre in 1920 and closed the Gale in 1921. Months later, R.G. Hunt took on the theatre running it into early 1922 selling it to M.M. Hanam who changed the name of the venue to the Strand Theatre on February 21, 1922. Hanam installed a new Robert Morton pipe organ. Hanam closed the theatre with C.W. Pixley taken over the operation that August until closing.
In 1923, Siler acquired the former Gale turned Strand and moved to the New Strand with Henry Gwin opening on January 21, 1924. It has its own Cinema Treasure page.
The Pageant Theatre launched as a 150-seat repertory subscription cinema on March 28, 1974. It transitioned to an art cinema playing contemporary art fare with film classics. Over its years of service, sporadic live plays and music were also part of the mix.
Based on very little, this was likely known as the Vivian Theatre bought by C.M. Solley in the Fall of 1925 who renamed it the Solley Theatre, He branded it as the “Home of Good, Clean Pictures.” Not long after being sued for a copyright violation, he sold it in 1927 and it was wired for sound as the Movie Theatre. It was refurbished twice becoming the Ritz Theatre. Its final refresh was by operator O.L. Kirkland in March of 1939 who gave it a modern front, new cooling system and new sound system.
T he theater became the Regal Fossil Creek Stadium Cinemas 11 which went on hiatus on October 8, 2020 along with all other Regal / UA / Cineworld theatres which had reopened following the March 16, 2020 shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic promising to return in 2021. Woodbine Development Corp. began Fossil Creek development talks in 1978 and announced the project with United Artists on board in 1996 with a groundbreaking February 28th.
The $10-million theater’s concept was similar to the UA Galaxy in Dallas which had opened in May of 1996 going for technology including VR gaming and THX-certified auditoriums. The theater featured stadium seating and two levels to conveniently get to the the top of the largest auditoriums. The facade of the theatre was different from other UAs. Dan Ogden of UA explained that the limestone front was designed to resemble the Hill Country of North Texas. The UA Fossil Creek opened with 2,800 seats exactly one year after the groundbreaking. It launched on February 28, 1997.
While much of the attention was going to 24- and 30-screen megaplexes of the era, UA was more conservative building 9-11 screen complexes including its Lakepointe 10 theater in Lewisville opening in December 1994 followed by a similar facility in Grand Prarie opening August 1995, its Eastchase debuting in 1997 and its Macarthur Marketplace in 1999.
Philip Anschutz took over controlling interest in United Artists and Regal, as well as Edwards Theaters in October of 2001 and the economy went south in an era when too many theaters were in the Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace. Regal began a retreat in the DFW marketplace that was losing to Cinemark and AMC and had claimed General Cinema, once a dominant factor in the market. Regal/UA would shed older, non-descript 6- and 8-plexes along with the McArthur Marketplace.
In January of 2007, the theater had a soft name change to the Regal Fossil Creek 11. When the theatre property was sold by Kimco to United Property of Southlake along with 10 other theaters including the UA Grand Prairie in June of 2015, the real estate company announced that seven of the theaters including the UA GP would shutter. In fact, over a relatively short period of time, Regal would shed its entire 1990s DFW-area portfolio with the exception of just the two destination theaters it had considered to be the most technologically advanced in the Galaxy and the Fossil Creek.
Both theaters were converted to luxury recliner seating in 2015 to try and stay relevant in a marketplace being dominated by cinemas offering in seat dining and/or entertainment options such as bowling centers or advanced arcades. For the Fossil Creek, it also had to compete with the nearby Cinemark Alliance Town Center about four miles away. Meanwhile, the Fort Worth property would get recliner seating in its auditorium and officially become the Regal Fossil Creek Stadium Cinemas 11.
The Regal Fossil Creek closed on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened in September of 2020 along with the Galaxy In Dallas now with ScreenX. But as noted above, it closed October 8, 2020 – three days after the Galaxy – with a hopeful message of a potential reopening of 2021.
The Lyric Theatre opened across the street from the Mystic Theatre in 1908 less than a year after the Mystic had launched. It debuted as a motion picture theater, the town’s first theatre on a ground floor. The Lyric closed in 1911. The Grand Theatre then was opened in 1911 by J.M Peter, taken on by city merchants who closed it closed in February of 1915 when the city-run Community Theatre opened.
The town would return to a two movie theatre town when the remodeled Mystic Theatre re-opened months later as the World Theatre. Montgomery Terrill took on the 248-250 High Steet venue on July 1, 1916 relaunching it as the Grand Theatre plying Paramount films bringing Mineral Point to a three-theatre town. He closed it on January 13, 1917. The town would return to three theatre operation for a four-plus year period from 1918 to 1923 when the Opie turned Palace Theatre opened.
As for the building at High Street formerly housing a theater, B.H. Williams took over the space converting it to the Amusement Place featuring a shooting gallery and box ball that closed in 1920. O. Vivian took on the building converting it to a Studebaker, Nash, and Overland car dealership in 1921. It later was a hardware store.
This building was built in 1876 to house a hotel. The Mystic Theatre launched upstairs there on October 7, 1907. Richard Seibert took on the operation in 1915 renaming the theatre as the World Theatre and retaining the hotel. The World opened on June 10, 1915, showing four reels of silent movies. The city-run Municipal Theatre had opened earlier in the year with live shows but the city switched to booking many more films beginning in 1916. The town expanded to three theatres when the Opie Theatre opened in 1918 though closing in 1923 as the Palace Theatre.
In early 1929, the Municipal was under private owners who installed Moviephone equipment by A.P. Desormeaux and going full-time motion pictures. He would take on took on the World Theatre from Seibert which he wired for sound as well. Desormeaux would remodel the Municipal in 1932 selling the World Theatre to Waldemar Amusements Co. Waldmear closed the World during the Depression with the Municipal-turned-Point Theatre becoming the town’s cinema destination.
The Italianate architecture of the building was still on display when the building was added to the National Register on July 30, 1971. It was refurbished in 1989 becoming a tavern and restaurant.
In May of 1913, the Mineral Point City Council hired Claude and Stark of Madison to draw plans for a new city building containing a city-run theater. The 725-seat, Municipal Theatre opened February 9, 1915 serving as its opera house with a play called, “The Misleading Lady.” But on June 10, 1915, the new World Theatre seemed to get more town attention showing four reels of silent movies. The city booked a traveling show of “Birth of a Nation” complete with live musicians from February 3-5, 1916 finding a new path towards self-sufficiency through motion pictures.
A.P. Desormeaux and “Rube” Fessenden took over the operation in November of 1928 to convert the silent house to talkies on a 15-year leasing agreement. In early 1929, the installed Moviephone equipment. In 1930, Desormeaux took on the World Theatre which had also wired for sound as well. He would remodel the Municipal in 1932 and sell the World Theatre to Waldemar Amusements Co.
In 1936, the Municipal became the Point Theatre and under new operator H. M. Schumacher received new seating. The World had ended its run making the Point the town’s cinema destination. In 1943, the theatre was modernized under new operators on a 20-year leasing agreement. The theatre went widescreen in the 1950s. In 1963, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lesmeister led a community effort to both modernize and restore the theatre partially to its earlier days. 25 years later, the City took over the restoration of the Point in 1988 as it became the Opera House.
A $2.25 million renovation 20 years later changed the Opera House to a 386-seat venue still in operation in the 2020s.
The August 25, 1950 grand opening of the Paradise Pine Breeze Drive-In with Yvonne DeCarlo in “Buccaneer’s Girl” and Roy Rogers in “Trigger, Jr.” in “beautiful color.”
The Empire closed March 1, 1941 although hosted church and other live events in 1942. The Chico signage, seating and projection were moved to Oroville in 1945 when the T&D Jr. Circuit decided to open a second theatre there.
The Rex Theatre opened with Edison movies on May 11, 1913. It opened in a building constructed in 1906 and housing several businesses including a skating rink. The Rex lost favor to the State Theatre which became the town’s primary movie house. It struggled along as an independent ending its run June 9, 1942 with Olsen & Johnson in “Hellzapoppin'” It was damaged by a minor fire closing it and then all but completely destroyed by arson on July 10, 1943.
When the operator didn’t have enoough insurance money to rebuild, T. & D. Jr. got a War production board permit to construct a new theatre operating two days a week as a sub-run discount venue. The signage, seating and projection were from the Empire Theatre in Chico, also a T&D location that it closed. The new Empire opened on July 21, 1945 with a double feature of “Strange Affair” and “Sing Me a Song of Texas.”
George A. Scott launched the Oro Theatre in the new Montgomery Building on December 21, 1908 with “A Woman’s Way,” “A House of Cards,” “A Wonderful Fertilizer,” “With Care, “ and a live singer, Miss Mae Howell.
This 1926 shot show how the Broadway Theatre once looked like in Newburgh before it was gutted by a January 1943 fire.
1926 letter from the Straham Theatre Circuit operating the Strand Theatre in Yonkers
Opened September 23, 1913 with the play, “The Passing Show of 1912.”
Beginning in 1913, the Opera House went by the name of the Guthrie Theatre. Ned Pedigo may have been the theater’s final operator wiring it for sound in the early 1930s. Regular screenings ended in 1934 with sporadic offerings in 1935. It does not appear to have been used for further cinematic offerings.
The Highland Electric Theatre launched April 1, 1908 in the existing, 1891-constucted Tontz-Hirschl Building. In 1928, Griffith Amusements took on the Highland downgrading it to weekend operation only. The theatre received sound in the summer of 1929 but only operated into early 1930s with the building being condemned in 1931. However, the building was repaired and used for retail purposes beginning in 1936.
According to the trade press, Ned Pedigo operated the Highland and the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie and his entry into the theatre business pre-dated silent films. But he decided in 1926 to create an improved theatre to properly display feature films including Simplex projectors and Da-Lite screens. The Pedigo launched July 22, 1926 with “The Bat” starring George Beranger. The building had previously been home to a mortician.
In October of 1927, Pedigo sold the theatre becoming the State Theatre. On April 12, 1928, Griffith Amusement took on the venue as its fourth operator and wired it for sound. Pedigo would re-emerge taking on the Guthrie Theatre – his first sound theatre – in 1932.
After holding one final live event in January of 1958 long after movies had stopped there, City Drug took over the State converting it to retail.
The formal dedication of the Post Theatre took place on August 11, 1942 when Nashville radio station WSM brought its orchestra led by Beasley Smith to live simulcast music with an auditorium full of soldiers.
The project began as the proposed United Artists Theatre. But upon its launch, it opened as Bushnell’s Wardman Theatre on March 15, 1932 with “All Quiet on the Western Front” supported by a newsreel, a travelogue called “Cross Road” and five acts of vaudeville. Stars at the opening included “Western Front’s” Edmund Breese, Yola D'Avril and Rita Cavalier.
The theatre was tri-plexed becoming an adult theatre. It closed after the Whittier Narrows earthquake of October 1, 1987. However, the theatre was refurbished and relaunched in 1990.
The former Gale Theatre turned Strand Theatre was reacquired in 1923 by its original owner Henry J. Siler. Siler had created the Scenic and closed the Gale shortly thereafter in 1921. New operators had reopened the Gale as the Strand. Two new operators failed to get much business to the Strand. But in 1923, Gale and partner Henry Gwin decided to purchase the Strand and move it to this location as the New Strand. It opened on January 21, 1924 with “Alias the Night Wind.”
Margaret Raysor played the pipe organ there. In 1925, the Strand was closed in the summer and open just on weekends beginning that Fall. The Strand appears to have closed after shows on May 21, 1929 not converting to sound. Robbins Pharmacy took on the venue changing the front and leveling the floor for its opening there in May of 1936.
Henry J. Siler’s Gale Theatrical Co. opened the Gale Theatre in 1916 in Whittier. He opened the larger Scenic Theatre in 1920 and closed the Gale in 1921. Months later, R.G. Hunt took on the theatre running it into early 1922 selling it to M.M. Hanam who changed the name of the venue to the Strand Theatre on February 21, 1922. Hanam installed a new Robert Morton pipe organ. Hanam closed the theatre with C.W. Pixley taken over the operation that August until closing.
In 1923, Siler acquired the former Gale turned Strand and moved to the New Strand with Henry Gwin opening on January 21, 1924. It has its own Cinema Treasure page.
The Pageant Theatre launched as a 150-seat repertory subscription cinema on March 28, 1974. It transitioned to an art cinema playing contemporary art fare with film classics. Over its years of service, sporadic live plays and music were also part of the mix.
From the website “The design of the façade was drawn up by the German architects Roberto Hoeff and Rodolfo Bader.”
Based on very little, this was likely known as the Vivian Theatre bought by C.M. Solley in the Fall of 1925 who renamed it the Solley Theatre, He branded it as the “Home of Good, Clean Pictures.” Not long after being sued for a copyright violation, he sold it in 1927 and it was wired for sound as the Movie Theatre. It was refurbished twice becoming the Ritz Theatre. Its final refresh was by operator O.L. Kirkland in March of 1939 who gave it a modern front, new cooling system and new sound system.
Opened October 9, 1915 with Frances, X. Bushman in “The Silent Voice.l
T he theater became the Regal Fossil Creek Stadium Cinemas 11 which went on hiatus on October 8, 2020 along with all other Regal / UA / Cineworld theatres which had reopened following the March 16, 2020 shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic promising to return in 2021. Woodbine Development Corp. began Fossil Creek development talks in 1978 and announced the project with United Artists on board in 1996 with a groundbreaking February 28th.
The $10-million theater’s concept was similar to the UA Galaxy in Dallas which had opened in May of 1996 going for technology including VR gaming and THX-certified auditoriums. The theater featured stadium seating and two levels to conveniently get to the the top of the largest auditoriums. The facade of the theatre was different from other UAs. Dan Ogden of UA explained that the limestone front was designed to resemble the Hill Country of North Texas. The UA Fossil Creek opened with 2,800 seats exactly one year after the groundbreaking. It launched on February 28, 1997.
While much of the attention was going to 24- and 30-screen megaplexes of the era, UA was more conservative building 9-11 screen complexes including its Lakepointe 10 theater in Lewisville opening in December 1994 followed by a similar facility in Grand Prarie opening August 1995, its Eastchase debuting in 1997 and its Macarthur Marketplace in 1999.
Philip Anschutz took over controlling interest in United Artists and Regal, as well as Edwards Theaters in October of 2001 and the economy went south in an era when too many theaters were in the Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace. Regal began a retreat in the DFW marketplace that was losing to Cinemark and AMC and had claimed General Cinema, once a dominant factor in the market. Regal/UA would shed older, non-descript 6- and 8-plexes along with the McArthur Marketplace.
In January of 2007, the theater had a soft name change to the Regal Fossil Creek 11. When the theatre property was sold by Kimco to United Property of Southlake along with 10 other theaters including the UA Grand Prairie in June of 2015, the real estate company announced that seven of the theaters including the UA GP would shutter. In fact, over a relatively short period of time, Regal would shed its entire 1990s DFW-area portfolio with the exception of just the two destination theaters it had considered to be the most technologically advanced in the Galaxy and the Fossil Creek.
Both theaters were converted to luxury recliner seating in 2015 to try and stay relevant in a marketplace being dominated by cinemas offering in seat dining and/or entertainment options such as bowling centers or advanced arcades. For the Fossil Creek, it also had to compete with the nearby Cinemark Alliance Town Center about four miles away. Meanwhile, the Fort Worth property would get recliner seating in its auditorium and officially become the Regal Fossil Creek Stadium Cinemas 11.
The Regal Fossil Creek closed on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened in September of 2020 along with the Galaxy In Dallas now with ScreenX. But as noted above, it closed October 8, 2020 – three days after the Galaxy – with a hopeful message of a potential reopening of 2021.
The Santikos Crossroads 6 Theatre launched December 18, 1987.
The Lyric Theatre opened across the street from the Mystic Theatre in 1908 less than a year after the Mystic had launched. It debuted as a motion picture theater, the town’s first theatre on a ground floor. The Lyric closed in 1911. The Grand Theatre then was opened in 1911 by J.M Peter, taken on by city merchants who closed it closed in February of 1915 when the city-run Community Theatre opened.
The town would return to a two movie theatre town when the remodeled Mystic Theatre re-opened months later as the World Theatre. Montgomery Terrill took on the 248-250 High Steet venue on July 1, 1916 relaunching it as the Grand Theatre plying Paramount films bringing Mineral Point to a three-theatre town. He closed it on January 13, 1917. The town would return to three theatre operation for a four-plus year period from 1918 to 1923 when the Opie turned Palace Theatre opened.
As for the building at High Street formerly housing a theater, B.H. Williams took over the space converting it to the Amusement Place featuring a shooting gallery and box ball that closed in 1920. O. Vivian took on the building converting it to a Studebaker, Nash, and Overland car dealership in 1921. It later was a hardware store.
This building was built in 1876 to house a hotel. The Mystic Theatre launched upstairs there on October 7, 1907. Richard Seibert took on the operation in 1915 renaming the theatre as the World Theatre and retaining the hotel. The World opened on June 10, 1915, showing four reels of silent movies. The city-run Municipal Theatre had opened earlier in the year with live shows but the city switched to booking many more films beginning in 1916. The town expanded to three theatres when the Opie Theatre opened in 1918 though closing in 1923 as the Palace Theatre.
In early 1929, the Municipal was under private owners who installed Moviephone equipment by A.P. Desormeaux and going full-time motion pictures. He would take on took on the World Theatre from Seibert which he wired for sound as well. Desormeaux would remodel the Municipal in 1932 selling the World Theatre to Waldemar Amusements Co. Waldmear closed the World during the Depression with the Municipal-turned-Point Theatre becoming the town’s cinema destination.
The Italianate architecture of the building was still on display when the building was added to the National Register on July 30, 1971. It was refurbished in 1989 becoming a tavern and restaurant.
In May of 1913, the Mineral Point City Council hired Claude and Stark of Madison to draw plans for a new city building containing a city-run theater. The 725-seat, Municipal Theatre opened February 9, 1915 serving as its opera house with a play called, “The Misleading Lady.” But on June 10, 1915, the new World Theatre seemed to get more town attention showing four reels of silent movies. The city booked a traveling show of “Birth of a Nation” complete with live musicians from February 3-5, 1916 finding a new path towards self-sufficiency through motion pictures.
A.P. Desormeaux and “Rube” Fessenden took over the operation in November of 1928 to convert the silent house to talkies on a 15-year leasing agreement. In early 1929, the installed Moviephone equipment. In 1930, Desormeaux took on the World Theatre which had also wired for sound as well. He would remodel the Municipal in 1932 and sell the World Theatre to Waldemar Amusements Co.
In 1936, the Municipal became the Point Theatre and under new operator H. M. Schumacher received new seating. The World had ended its run making the Point the town’s cinema destination. In 1943, the theatre was modernized under new operators on a 20-year leasing agreement. The theatre went widescreen in the 1950s. In 1963, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lesmeister led a community effort to both modernize and restore the theatre partially to its earlier days. 25 years later, the City took over the restoration of the Point in 1988 as it became the Opera House.
A $2.25 million renovation 20 years later changed the Opera House to a 386-seat venue still in operation in the 2020s.
The August 25, 1950 grand opening of the Paradise Pine Breeze Drive-In with Yvonne DeCarlo in “Buccaneer’s Girl” and Roy Rogers in “Trigger, Jr.” in “beautiful color.”
The Starlite launched July 1, 1949 with Sabu in “Drums” and Ralph Richardson in “The Four Feathers.”
The Empire closed March 1, 1941 although hosted church and other live events in 1942. The Chico signage, seating and projection were moved to Oroville in 1945 when the T&D Jr. Circuit decided to open a second theatre there.
The Rex Theatre opened with Edison movies on May 11, 1913. It opened in a building constructed in 1906 and housing several businesses including a skating rink. The Rex lost favor to the State Theatre which became the town’s primary movie house. It struggled along as an independent ending its run June 9, 1942 with Olsen & Johnson in “Hellzapoppin'” It was damaged by a minor fire closing it and then all but completely destroyed by arson on July 10, 1943.
When the operator didn’t have enoough insurance money to rebuild, T. & D. Jr. got a War production board permit to construct a new theatre operating two days a week as a sub-run discount venue. The signage, seating and projection were from the Empire Theatre in Chico, also a T&D location that it closed. The new Empire opened on July 21, 1945 with a double feature of “Strange Affair” and “Sing Me a Song of Texas.”
George A. Scott launched the Oro Theatre in the new Montgomery Building on December 21, 1908 with “A Woman’s Way,” “A House of Cards,” “A Wonderful Fertilizer,” “With Care, “ and a live singer, Miss Mae Howell.
Astaire and Rogers’ “The Barkley’s of Broadway” launch the Mesa on November 23, 1949