Grand Theatre

Some information on the “Grand” and “Betsy” Theaters in Elizabethton, Tennessee. During the years 1926 through 1929 Elizabethton experience a boom time when the Bemberg and Glanzstoff Rayon factories began operations there and several theaters were the result of that boom. The “Grand” was the first theater in Elizabethton and was located on south side of Elk Avenue about four buildings east of Sycamore Avenue. The “Grand” burned in late 1926 or early 1927 but was remodeled and re-opened in December of 1927. Sometime latter it was renamed the “Betsy” Theater, “Betsy” the nickname for Elizabeth Maclin Carter for whom Elizabethton was named in 1796. In the 1970’s a downtown renewal project turned the “Betsy” into a walkway to a parking lot leaving only the facade. The facade is visible today.