There were two theaters called the Star in Salem. The second one opened in either 1941 or 1942, and was at 27 N. Main Street (though the Google Map insists on saying it is at 213, if you zoom in you can plainly see the 27 on one of the building’s colonial style columns.)
The first Star Theatre was in a two-story building that might be one that now has a third floor on it. An old real photo postcard of it exists, but the full-sized version isn’t currently available on the Internet. It’s hard to make out the details in the thumbnail version, but it looks to me like the first Star might have been in the building on the northeast corner of Main and Broadway.
The “New Theaters” column in The Film Daily of March 12, 1929, said: “Delavan, Wis. — Construction of the new
Delavan is nearing completion.”
There is surprisingly little about this theater in the trade journals. In the 1940s it was a Warner Bros. house, and in 1949 the manager was named Bud Campbell, and that’s all I’ve found.
A bit more history of this theater appeared in an item in Boxoffice of November 28, 1966 which said that the house was slated to be closed on December 1. Manager Charles Thomas had reopened the house on February 23, 1962. For parts of 1960 and 1961, the Del-Van had been operated by the Delavan Better Business Club.
Edson Hart, The owner of the theater, had acquired it in 1941 and operated it for fifteen years. Closed for four years starting in 1956, the Del-Van never got wide-screen equipment until Thomas had it installed after taking over in 1962.
The adjacent building to the right of the theater in the photo is probably a narrow, two-story brick building that is still standing on the west side of the 400 block of Locust Street, just north of a parking lot for a church. On the other side of the theater was an ornate building that I don’t see anywhere on Locust Street. Both it and the theater were probably demolished for the church’s parking lot.
Konrad Schiecke’s Historic Movie Theatres in Illinois, 1883–1960 says that the Del-Van Theatre opened in 1938.
The NRHP registration form for the Noblesville Commercial Historic District indicates that we have the wrong address for the Logan Theatre. There is currently no 880 Logan Street, and the building we are showing in street view, the Evans block at 864-870 Logan, was not a theater. The Logan Theatre was in the Lacy Block, now numbered 848-856 Logan, though that was not always its number.
The NRHP form says that the Logan Theatre was in the east bay of the Lacy Block, which is now a boutique called the Linden Tree, at 856 W. Logan. The form also says that it was earlier the location of houses called the Star Theatre and the U. S. Theatre. Other sources reveal that the Star Theatre was in operation by 1911, when it was mentioned in the April 11 issue of Motography, and the U. S. Theatre was in operation as early as December, 1914, and as late as April, 1920, per mentions in The Noblesville Register.
There is also a possibility that the house operated as the Isis Theatre prior to being renamed the U. S. Theatre, and it is very likely that it was also called the American Theatre through part of 1923 and 1924, and became the Palace Theatre in late 1924, possibly continuing under that name into 1925. I’m still trying to find more evidence of these three names being used for this house. There might be additional aka’s under which the house operated as well.
The recent opening of the Karlton Theatre was noted in this item from The Moving Picture World of June 9, 1923:
“A. K. Allen has just completed booking the newest features of first-class producers for showing in his newly opened Karlton Theatre, at Quakertown, Pa., among them ‘Hunting Big Game’ and opening last week with ‘Peg o’ My Heart.‘ This will be the first showing of the African Game Hunt in the territory.”
The November 1, 1902, issue of The Engineering Record reported that architect James M. Wood was drawing the plans for the rebuilding of Bay City’s Wood Opera House.
This house had still another aka, according to this item from the January 7, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
“Bay City-Rialto Theater Co. has been incorporated as operating company for the Temple, Bay City, being renamed the Rialto upon acquisition by Associated Theaters.”
The Colonial Theatre at Hamburg, Iowa, is listed in the 1926 FDY, but no seating capacity is given.
The December 1, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World had an item datelined Hamburg saying “Howard Cohen plans to erect a moving picture theater here.” That might have been the Colonial.
Or maybe not. The 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory lists a remarkable three movie theaters in the tiny town of Hamburg: the Empire, the Lyric, and the Favorite, any of which might later have become the Colonial.
As of the last time Google’s camera car went by the Valley Theatre had not been demolished. The auditorium has gotten fenestration though, so it has been converted to either offices or possibly housing.
The Valley Theatre had a Link organ installed in 1923. The Valley is first listed in the FDY in 1927, with 900 seats.
A 20-watt radio station, WGBW, had been licensed to the Valley Theatre, according to a notice in the March 7, 1925, issue of Radio Digest.
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, reported that fourteen boys, the oldest being twelve, had petitioned the Spring Valley City Council to have the Valley Theatre reopened. The Council resolved to contact the owners of the theater building about the matter, but it looks like the boys never got their wish.
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, said that the Little River Drive-In had opened on Friday, March 20. Owner Bill Crosby was also the operator of Wright City’s indoor house, the Choctaw Theatre.
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, reported that H. A. Greenlin, operator of the Avenue Theatre, had reopened the Garden Theatre with Spanish language films. Several Latin American live performers and a feature film made up the opening program.
The March 30, 1959, issue of Boxoffice said that the Princess Theatre in Meredosia was to be remodeled for use as part of Steinberg Motors, an auto dealership. C. F. Skinner had established the Princess in 1919, in a remodeled building previously owned by the Sanitary Flush Manufacturing Company. Presumably this was a company that made either toilets or the mechanism for flushing them.
The March 30, 1959, issue of Boxoffice reported that the 340-seat Empire Theatre at Chrisman, Illinois, had been destroyed by a fire on March 19. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley R. Kent, indicated no plans to rebuild.
The two buildings flanking the theater in the vintage photo are still standing on the south side of the town square. The bank on the corner has built an addition on the space once occupied by the theater. The bank uses the address 147 W. Monroe, so the theater’s address must have been slightly lower, perhaps 143 W. Monroe.
Two brief items in the March 30, 1959 issue of Boxoffice mention the Liberty Theatre. One notes that the old Grand Theatre was scheduled to be demolished and that
Alliance Theatre Corporation would move its operations to the old Liberty. The other says that Alliance intended to spend $100,000 to renovate the Liberty, which had been dark for some time.
The Rex listed with 450 seats starting with the 1935 FDY must have been the one at 119 S. C Street. The 1938 FDY lists a 650-seat New Rex Theatre, and that must have been the house at 232 E. Yosemite which was opened in 1937. Oddly, both the Rex and the New Rex continued to be listed in the FDYs well into the 1940s, but with the Rex always listed as closed.
This undated photo (though “Young Tom Edison” was released in March, 1940) shows the Madera Theatre at the left, and the marquee of the Rex can be made out on the right side of the street near the beginning of the next block, just past the hotel on the corner of C Street. The sites of both the hotel and the Rex Theatre are now occupied by a branch of Chase Bank.
This undated photo from the California State Library collection shows Center Street in Taft, Looking west across 5th Street. The C & C Theatre is on the corner, and it appears to be the same building that was later the Sunshine Theatre. On the right can be seen a collection of movie posters on display in front of the Sparber Building. This was 428 Center Street, the Star/Optic Theatre.
The article about the opening of the Forum Theatre that appeared in the August, 1924, issue of Architect and Engineer had this interesting information:
“Eighteen hundred people can be accommodated in the theater, while the roof garden, which has complete cafe service, has a capacity of 200 persons.”
Looking Google’s the aerial view of the building today I see no evidence of this roof garden. The building just has an ordinary roof, with no flat areas. Does anyone know what became of the vanished rooftop cafe?
Okay, the Boxoffice article uploaded by moviejs1944 says that the Mini Theatre was actually inside the mall, not in the outbuilding that now houses Sam’s Sorrento Pizza.
The article also credits the design of the Mini Theatre to “Lou Wilse” but this is clearly an error. The architect was undoubtedly Louis Wiltse, who designed or remodeled more than a dozen theaters in Michigan.
In 1921 the Pageant was remodeled for Charles Skouras, the project being noted in the December 18, 1920, issue of The American Contractor. Plans for the $35,000 project were drawn by Kansas City architect H. Alexander Drake.
The September 23, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that the Zoe Theatre had been opened by the Armentrout Circuit. Some of the houses in the circuit were called the Clark Theatre, after founder Clark Armentrout. This house was named for Clark’s granddaughter Zoe, daughter of Russell Armentrout.
The Rolla Preservation Alliance informs me that the Rollamo Theatre was at 210 W. 8th Street. The drastically altered building is still standing, and now houses a bank.
There were two theaters called the Star in Salem. The second one opened in either 1941 or 1942, and was at 27 N. Main Street (though the Google Map insists on saying it is at 213, if you zoom in you can plainly see the 27 on one of the building’s colonial style columns.)
The first Star Theatre was in a two-story building that might be one that now has a third floor on it. An old real photo postcard of it exists, but the full-sized version isn’t currently available on the Internet. It’s hard to make out the details in the thumbnail version, but it looks to me like the first Star might have been in the building on the northeast corner of Main and Broadway.
The “New Theaters” column in The Film Daily of March 12, 1929, said: “Delavan, Wis. — Construction of the new
Delavan is nearing completion.”
There is surprisingly little about this theater in the trade journals. In the 1940s it was a Warner Bros. house, and in 1949 the manager was named Bud Campbell, and that’s all I’ve found.
A bit more history of this theater appeared in an item in Boxoffice of November 28, 1966 which said that the house was slated to be closed on December 1. Manager Charles Thomas had reopened the house on February 23, 1962. For parts of 1960 and 1961, the Del-Van had been operated by the Delavan Better Business Club.
Edson Hart, The owner of the theater, had acquired it in 1941 and operated it for fifteen years. Closed for four years starting in 1956, the Del-Van never got wide-screen equipment until Thomas had it installed after taking over in 1962.
American Classic Images has a photo of the Del-Van Theatre dated March, 1985.
The adjacent building to the right of the theater in the photo is probably a narrow, two-story brick building that is still standing on the west side of the 400 block of Locust Street, just north of a parking lot for a church. On the other side of the theater was an ornate building that I don’t see anywhere on Locust Street. Both it and the theater were probably demolished for the church’s parking lot.
Konrad Schiecke’s Historic Movie Theatres in Illinois, 1883–1960 says that the Del-Van Theatre opened in 1938.
The NRHP registration form for the Noblesville Commercial Historic District indicates that we have the wrong address for the Logan Theatre. There is currently no 880 Logan Street, and the building we are showing in street view, the Evans block at 864-870 Logan, was not a theater. The Logan Theatre was in the Lacy Block, now numbered 848-856 Logan, though that was not always its number.
The NRHP form says that the Logan Theatre was in the east bay of the Lacy Block, which is now a boutique called the Linden Tree, at 856 W. Logan. The form also says that it was earlier the location of houses called the Star Theatre and the U. S. Theatre. Other sources reveal that the Star Theatre was in operation by 1911, when it was mentioned in the April 11 issue of Motography, and the U. S. Theatre was in operation as early as December, 1914, and as late as April, 1920, per mentions in The Noblesville Register.
There is also a possibility that the house operated as the Isis Theatre prior to being renamed the U. S. Theatre, and it is very likely that it was also called the American Theatre through part of 1923 and 1924, and became the Palace Theatre in late 1924, possibly continuing under that name into 1925. I’m still trying to find more evidence of these three names being used for this house. There might be additional aka’s under which the house operated as well.
The recent opening of the Karlton Theatre was noted in this item from The Moving Picture World of June 9, 1923:
The November 1, 1902, issue of The Engineering Record reported that architect James M. Wood was drawing the plans for the rebuilding of Bay City’s Wood Opera House.
This house had still another aka, according to this item from the January 7, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
The family’s surname was Frels. No apostrophe in it.
Rubin Frels.
The Colonial Theatre at Hamburg, Iowa, is listed in the 1926 FDY, but no seating capacity is given.
The December 1, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World had an item datelined Hamburg saying “Howard Cohen plans to erect a moving picture theater here.” That might have been the Colonial.
Or maybe not. The 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory lists a remarkable three movie theaters in the tiny town of Hamburg: the Empire, the Lyric, and the Favorite, any of which might later have become the Colonial.
As of the last time Google’s camera car went by the Valley Theatre had not been demolished. The auditorium has gotten fenestration though, so it has been converted to either offices or possibly housing.
The Valley Theatre had a Link organ installed in 1923. The Valley is first listed in the FDY in 1927, with 900 seats.
A 20-watt radio station, WGBW, had been licensed to the Valley Theatre, according to a notice in the March 7, 1925, issue of Radio Digest.
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, reported that fourteen boys, the oldest being twelve, had petitioned the Spring Valley City Council to have the Valley Theatre reopened. The Council resolved to contact the owners of the theater building about the matter, but it looks like the boys never got their wish.
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, said that the Little River Drive-In had opened on Friday, March 20. Owner Bill Crosby was also the operator of Wright City’s indoor house, the Choctaw Theatre.
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, reported that H. A. Greenlin, operator of the Avenue Theatre, had reopened the Garden Theatre with Spanish language films. Several Latin American live performers and a feature film made up the opening program.
The March 30, 1959, issue of Boxoffice said that the Princess Theatre in Meredosia was to be remodeled for use as part of Steinberg Motors, an auto dealership. C. F. Skinner had established the Princess in 1919, in a remodeled building previously owned by the Sanitary Flush Manufacturing Company. Presumably this was a company that made either toilets or the mechanism for flushing them.
The March 30, 1959, issue of Boxoffice reported that the 340-seat Empire Theatre at Chrisman, Illinois, had been destroyed by a fire on March 19. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley R. Kent, indicated no plans to rebuild.
The two buildings flanking the theater in the vintage photo are still standing on the south side of the town square. The bank on the corner has built an addition on the space once occupied by the theater. The bank uses the address 147 W. Monroe, so the theater’s address must have been slightly lower, perhaps 143 W. Monroe.
Two brief items in the March 30, 1959 issue of Boxoffice mention the Liberty Theatre. One notes that the old Grand Theatre was scheduled to be demolished and that Alliance Theatre Corporation would move its operations to the old Liberty. The other says that Alliance intended to spend $100,000 to renovate the Liberty, which had been dark for some time.
The Rex listed with 450 seats starting with the 1935 FDY must have been the one at 119 S. C Street. The 1938 FDY lists a 650-seat New Rex Theatre, and that must have been the house at 232 E. Yosemite which was opened in 1937. Oddly, both the Rex and the New Rex continued to be listed in the FDYs well into the 1940s, but with the Rex always listed as closed.
This undated photo (though “Young Tom Edison” was released in March, 1940) shows the Madera Theatre at the left, and the marquee of the Rex can be made out on the right side of the street near the beginning of the next block, just past the hotel on the corner of C Street. The sites of both the hotel and the Rex Theatre are now occupied by a branch of Chase Bank.
This undated photo from the California State Library collection shows Center Street in Taft, Looking west across 5th Street. The C & C Theatre is on the corner, and it appears to be the same building that was later the Sunshine Theatre. On the right can be seen a collection of movie posters on display in front of the Sparber Building. This was 428 Center Street, the Star/Optic Theatre.
The article about the opening of the Forum Theatre that appeared in the August, 1924, issue of Architect and Engineer had this interesting information:
Looking Google’s the aerial view of the building today I see no evidence of this roof garden. The building just has an ordinary roof, with no flat areas. Does anyone know what became of the vanished rooftop cafe?Okay, the Boxoffice article uploaded by moviejs1944 says that the Mini Theatre was actually inside the mall, not in the outbuilding that now houses Sam’s Sorrento Pizza.
The article also credits the design of the Mini Theatre to “Lou Wilse” but this is clearly an error. The architect was undoubtedly Louis Wiltse, who designed or remodeled more than a dozen theaters in Michigan.
It looks like the Mini Theatre building is now the location of Sam’s Sorrento Pizza. Sam’s is at the theater’s address, at least.
Here is a photo of 18th Street with the Boone Theatre at the left and the Gem Theatre in the next block.
The New Rialto was designed by architect H. Alexander Drake.
In 1921 the Pageant was remodeled for Charles Skouras, the project being noted in the December 18, 1920, issue of The American Contractor. Plans for the $35,000 project were drawn by Kansas City architect H. Alexander Drake.
The September 23, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that the Zoe Theatre had been opened by the Armentrout Circuit. Some of the houses in the circuit were called the Clark Theatre, after founder Clark Armentrout. This house was named for Clark’s granddaughter Zoe, daughter of Russell Armentrout.
The Rolla Preservation Alliance informs me that the Rollamo Theatre was at 210 W. 8th Street. The drastically altered building is still standing, and now houses a bank.