Historic Gaslight Theater
301 S. Main Street,
Georgetown,
OH
45121
301 S. Main Street,
Georgetown,
OH
45121
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According to PreserveAmerica.gov, this theater was opened in 1907 as a vaudeville house and was the first theater in Georgetown to show "talkies". The theatre remained in use as a movie theater until 1962.
The building, which was refurbished in 2000, currently acts as a cultural center where performing arts, plays, lectures, concerts, educational programs, and historic presentations are given.
Contributed by
Nick Heckathorn
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This theatre was also known as the Auditorium and the Grant Theatre. This is a portion of an article published in the News Democrat:
What is today The Gaslight Theater originated from a 1905 windstorm that removed the roof of the Georgetown Opera House, which was located across from the Brown County Courthouse. The village’s officials at the time saw the Opera House as a public commodity and were compelled to include a new and better production venue in the planned municipal structure that would come to be known simply as the “Public Building.” Construction progressed through 1906 and 1907 with the costs of the main structure of the building estimated at $55,000.
The Auditorium was used primarally for special events and productions until the first renter, Frank Crist, installed a silent motion picture machine in 1916. Before 1929, the Auditorium was primarily managed by village council member Frank Moyer, a man who likely spent more time over the years in the theater than anyone. With the specialization needed to operate the technologically advanced “sound included” movies that first appeared in 1928, Moyer stepped down for a while.
Crisis hit the theater in the mid-30s as the town fathers had been using revenue generated by the Auditorium to purchase coal for the building, instead of setting aside a fund for the theater’s upkeep. In 1939 J. Henry Davidson of Lynchburg and K.R. Roberts of Greenfield, two respected theater operators, leased the stage for $60 a month and put in $7,000 in improvements. The town kicked in $4,000 to $5,000 for repairs to the building as well.
When re-opened on April 27, 1939 (in honor of President Grant’s birthday) the first show was the Columbia motion picture “Blondie Meets the Boss” based on the comic strip with Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as Dagwood. The Auditorium was then renamed The Grant Theatre. An aging Frank Moyer regained management and nightly movies were shown through the 50s and 60s.
In 1962, The Grant Theater closed its doors and remained vacant until 1967. The year 1967 began a modern revitalization of the theater undertaken by many people still living and working in the area. A group called the Georgetown Players took over the Grant Theater, renamed it The Gaslight Theater and put $4000 in renovations.