Oxford Theatre
216 W. Front Street,
Plainfield,
NJ
07060
216 W. Front Street,
Plainfield,
NJ
07060
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Open since at least 1914 as Proctor’s Theatre, this theatre changed names to the Oxford Theatre and is listed as such in the 1951 Film Daily Yearbook.
By 1920 it was showing movies.
It was demolished in the mid-2000’s
Contributed by
tc
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Go to this link and type “theatre” in the search block for old postcards of both the Proctor’s and Oxford marquees:
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type in “Oxford” for a 1920 photograph:
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Upon examination of the attached postcard, I believe that this theatre was also known as the Plainfield Theatre:
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Key feature is the semi circular arch on top of the building.
Originally built as Stillman’s Music Hall. Opened on 10/18/1884 with 800 patrons paying an exorbitant $2.50 for reserved seats. Later known as Proctors (starting in 1908) and still later Oxford.
In 1899, the first full length moving picture to be shown in Plainfield, The Great Train Robbery, was shown at Stillman.
Correction to my earlier email – this theater was NOT the Plainfield Theater.
1942 progam:
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The theater is demolished – nothing but an empty lot now.
I remember the Oxford very well from the 1950s. My uncle, Ted Fulton, worked there as a projectionist. My brother and I spent a lot of time there. It was very ornate on the inside with a large lobby where popcorn and candy were sold, a balcony, and a special roped off area called the loge where the seats were red velvet and had once been more expensive than other seats in the theatre. In the early 50s, it also at least once hosted a small circus with clowns and performing animals including a baby elephant named Wanda.
My memory which may be flawed as I was quite young is that the Oxford was closed and possibly even demolished in the late 1950s, but perhaps it was just closed and the building used for other purposes. Sad to hear there is nothing there now but an empty lot!