Uptown Theater
18 E. McMicken Avenue,
Cincinnati,
OH
45202
18 E. McMicken Avenue,
Cincinnati,
OH
45202
2 people
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This was a second-run movie house in the Over-the-Rhine section of Cincinnati. If anyone remembers it, please post something.
Contributed by
Joe Allen
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
of course, i recall the Uptown… saw a few films there, but when young , my theatre (and neighborhood) was the Empire… I guess there was no “marquee” overhanging sidewalk, but there were theatre posters, and ads in the paper (in the long gone ‘Neighborhood Theatres" section to let you know what was playing and when. In 1995, I met a woman whose father managed the Uptown theatre in the sixties… she herself sold tickets and worked the concession stand as a teen. Wish I had asked her more questions about place. Met another woman at time, who remembered area when it was a “good” neighborhood… she always attended the Uptown, rather than the Empire – said the Uptown was “cleaner!” Rather prim and proper, but very nice lady.
I remember the Uptown in the ‘60s. I remember the vertical “Uptown” sign over the marquee. That’s about all I remember about it until it closed and it became a church of sorts. This is another one in which I can not find a photo of any kind. Anyone have one???
In 1955 the Uptown Theater had 498 seats.
Here is a 1981 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d3xvxm
They have the Uptown listed as closed and demolished, the theatre is still there and it is the Uptown Church as mentioned above.
This is the Uptown Theater as of two hours ago. ;–)
View link
The marquee says the building is the Central Assembly of God and the address listed on the marquee is 18 East McMicken so it looks like the address listed in the header is correct.
Here is an item announcing the plans for this theater in the October 30, 1912, issue of The American Architect:
The November 20 issue of the same publication had an item about another projected theater designed by the same firm:This theater would have been only a short distance from the Variety/Uptown. I don’t know if the second project was ever completed, but if it was it must have been at the northeast corner of the intersection. The other corners all have buildings on them that clearly date from the 19th century. The building on the northeast corner could have been a theater, though if so it would have been a very small one, probably not seating many more than 300 patrons.Uptown Th. started as The Variety th. in 1913 according to our City Directory at 18 East Mc Micken. The name changed to Uptown Th. around 1930 when perhaps the new owners took over.
As a child, from 1943 til about 1948 I would attend the “cowboy westerns” every Saturday. ( The movies for “grown-ups” would start after 4PM.) The cost was ten cents for the double features held each week. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Sunset Carson, etc..
To the right of the theater , now a vacant lot, was a neighborhood bar.