Brooks Theatre
116 E. Harrison Avenue,
Guthrie,
OK
73044
116 E. Harrison Avenue,
Guthrie,
OK
73044
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dallasmovietheaters – Looks like it was called the Guthrie theater as early as 1910. No? http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16067/photos/290833
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.
I recently found a Guthrie Theatre sign for sale and did some research to verify it’s authenticity before purchasing it. There’s a lot of information available on the Oklahoma Historical Society site: https://gateway.okhistory.org/ I’ve posted several images that I discovered.
The sign is indeed authentic. The theater went by several names including the Brooks Theatre, Brooks Opera House, and Guthrie Theatre. The various names appear to have been used interchangeably. I found no mention of it ever being referred to as the Avon Motion Picture Theater, other than the description on the historical marker.
The covered entrance with the Guthrie Theatre sign was not original and was added sometime after 1910 and before 1940 based on photos.
Note the hotel was named the Hotel Royal in 1910 and by 1940 changed to Royal Hotel.
This is a modern view of the parking lot where the Brooks (AKA-Avon) Theatre once stood,
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This site contains a little material on the late Brooks Opera House (AKA Avon);
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/383
The Brooks Opera House opened in 1899. Its immediate predecessor in Guthrie was the McKennon Opera House which is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses for the theatres listed in this Guide. The McKennon had 700 seats and was located on the second floor of its building. Its stage was 26 feet deep and there were 8 members of its house orchestra. The 1897 population of Guthrie was 12,000.
Wonderful vintage interior/exterior photos show exactly what this frontier theatre was all about. To see these exciting images type in word ‘Guthrie’ …
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The status above says unknown, so i’ll just go ahead and confirm that the building is completely demolished.
Brooks Opera House and Muskogee’s Ritz (nee-Hinton) Theatre were so similar in style and design, one can’t help but wonder if both buildings were from J. Foucart’s drawing board.
Brooks Opera House was designed by Joseph Foucart, a renouned architect from Paris, France, who pariticipated in the Great Run of ‘89.
Historical photos of Brooks Opera House, Pollard Theatre, and Highland Theatre can be seen on below links-
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and Hollywood stars at the Pollard-
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Every Monday night during the darkest days of The Great Depression the Guthrie Convention Hall would present free second run movies.
Click ePodunk link below to view color postcard of Convention Hall-
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/v.php?c=614954&e
Other Guthrie historic auditoriums can be seen by clicking here- – -
http://guthriescottishrite.org/egypt.html
&
http://guthriescottishrite.org/auditorium.html
Brooks Opera House address was 116 East Harrison, Guthrie, OT.
It has been reported that Brooks Opera House and Royal Hotel shared a common lobby. An economical idea. Click below to see a vintage picture of Guthrie’s Royal Hotel-
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Shown here is a bronze marker outlining a complete history of Brooks Opera House (AKA-Avon Theatre) 1899-1967.
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The name painted on the sidewall reads BROOKS Theatre, not Brook. Sure hope the facade was less messy than the rest of the building!
Why must these web addresses be so complicated?
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pan.6a15540
Here is a 1910 photo of Brook Theater.
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp.6a15540