Wheaton Theatre

The Twin Falls Daily News on May 21, 1937 said that a $40,000 fire destroyed the old Wheaton Theatre in Weiser earlier in the day. The Bend Oregon Daily Bulletin said in their coverage that the theatre was worth $75,000. At the time of the fire the theater, built in 1908, was once the premiere center of entertainment but had been closed for many years. Dorothy Yockey Maxwell said in a 2001 memoir in the Weiser Signal American that W.W. Wheaton built the $80,000 theater, designed with an Egyptian motif, in 1906. It was said to be the finest theater in the state and was once called the Wheaton Opera House. At the time of the fire, Wulff Hardware, located next door, owned the shuttered Wheaton.

Sometimes the present day local Star Theatre has been referred to as the former Wheaton. Linda Morton-Keithley, writing for the project “Movie Industry in Idaho” for the Idaho State Historical Society found out differently. Her research into newspaper accounts shows the Wheaton and Star in operation at the same time. Sanborn maps also show both theaters at different locations. In 1998 Morton- Keithley interviewed Bruce Gordon, the grandson of A.C. Gordon who built the Star. This interview shed some light on the location. In about 1913 Mr. Gordon’s grandfather bought the Wheaton and he temporarily renamed it the Star and then moved the Star to its present location in about 1917. Despite the brief name change, the old opera house will be remembered as the Wheaton Theatre. Adding to the confusion is that the local Knights of Pythias lodge hall was also once called the Star. Today Peoples Furniture occupies part of the old Wheaton location. According to an old photograph in the Signal American, the Wheaton building would have been across the alley from the present day Ace Auto Parts.

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