Prior to being remodeled in 1940, this house was called the Star Theatre. Plans for the remodeling were by architect Alfred M. Lublin. Eric Ledell Smith’s book African American Theater Buildings says that the Star was an African American house at least as early as 1930.
The Lyric reopened under different ownership later. The June 3, 1916, issue of Motography said that “[t]he Lyric theater, North Fifth street, Beatrice, has been taken over by H. W. Crosson of Hastings.”
Later that year, yet another operator, Hal Kelly, who also operated the Gilbert Theatre, succeeded in getting the City Council to respond positively to a petition he submitted requesting that theaters be allowed to run movies on Sundays. This rare quick success in the industry’s fight against Sunday blue laws was reported in the September 2, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World.
The “History” page of the Sun Theatre’s official web site says the theater was built as an opera house in 1909 and became a movie house in 1926. However, there is this item from the December 27, 1917, issue of Exhibitors Herald:
“Gothenburg, Neb. — Gothenburg’s new Sun Theatre, a motion picture house, was opened to the public recently. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people witnessed the two performances on opening day. Nate Desky of Brush, Colo., is owner.”
That 1917 is when the Opera House was converted into a movie theater called the Sun is confirmed by this notice from the July 21, 1917, issue of The American Contractor:
“Gothenburg, Nebr. — Opera House (rem.): $2,500. 2 sty. 50x92. Archt. Victor F. Beck, North Platte, Nebr. Owner Nat. Desky, Brush, Colo. Taking bids.”
This item about the Roxy Theatre is from the Sunday, May 1, 1932, issue of the Miami Daily News-Record:
“The Roxy theater was opened in Picher Saturday night by Carl Gordon, well known former theater man of the district, in the building formerly occupied by the Gayety theater at 211 South Main street. The new theater quarters have been enlarged and extensively improved. Equipment includes talking picture facilities of the Western Electric company. The theater has a seating capacity of approximately 500. Mr. Gordon has announced that it will be his policy to give the theatergoing public of Picher and vicinity a thoroughly modern playhouse with strictly modern prices.”
Picher had a movie house called the Gayety Theatre at least as early as 1921.
The Globe Theatre was situated on Douglas Avenue, Beaver’s main business street. The March 22, 1917, issue of The Beaver Herald said that the Globe’s operators, Spangler Brothers, who had taken over the house in 1916, had started excavating for a new theater on the lot south of the Herald building.
The July 5 issue of the Herald said that the theater would open in its new location the following night. The new Globe building was 25x120 feet.
Boxoffice of June 11, 1962, reported the recent death of Mrs. A. L. McArthur who had, with her late husband, operated the Beaver Theatre for many years. The McArthurs' granddaughter, Betty Parker, was operating the house.
Adams & Angleton, operators of the Novelty theatre at Forgan, Oklahoma, provided capsule movie reviews to various issues of Exhibitors Herald in 1921.
Forgan’s population never got much above 600, so it’s possible that all three of the movie theaters listed for the town at CinemaTour (Novelty, Alta, and Forgan) were the same house under different names.
Here is a page about the renovationof the Saenger Theatre, on the web site of Martinez & Johnson Architecture. The firm has handled or collaborated on the renovations of several historic theaters.
Another house called the National Theatre was in operation in Breckenridge before this house opened. It was advertised in the October 16, 1920, issue of the Breckenridge American, as were the new Alhambra Theater, set to open on the 18th, a House called the Broadway Theatre and another called the American Theatre, plus the Ruby Theatre. The ad for the National boasted of its “Photoplayer Supreme.”
The 360-seat Palace Theatre is last listed in the FDY in 1929, as is the 500-seat Alhambra. In 1930 the Palace is listed with 546 seats, indicating that it had moved to the old Alhambra Theatre building by the time that edition of the FDY was compiled. The name Buckaroo Theatre does not appear in the FDY until 1945, but I don’t think the old Palace was vacant all that time.
In 1932, a 375-seat Plaza Theatre appears in the FDY. The Plaza remains in the listings through 1938, though it is listed as closed in 1936 and 1938. It vanishes from the listing in 1939, but reappears in 1942, though with no seating capacity listed. It remains listed through 1944, but vanishes when the 350-seat Buckaroo Theatre appears in 1945.
The Alhambra Theatre is last listed in the FDY in 1929, with 500 seats. In 1930, the Palace is the only theater listed in Breckenridge, but it has gone from the 350 seats it had in the 1920s to 546 seats. Depending on when the 1930 FDY was compiled, the Palace must have moved to the Alhambra’s building in late 1929 or very early 1930. By 1931 the seating capacity of the Palace has gone to 536, where it remains thereafter.
The Valley is probably the theater that first shows up in the FDY in 1938 as the Avenue Theatre, with 450 seats. Probably opened in 1937, or very late 1936. The Avenue is last listed in the FDY in 1940, and the 470-seat Valley first appears the following year.
The Valley Theatre has not been demolished. The building seen in this 1995 photo by John Lewis at CinemaTour is still standing at 1088 Brackenridge Avenue.
“Near Tragedy Gas Overcomes 40 Children in Brackenridge” read a headline in The Pittsburgh Post of December 6, 1946. Due to a coal strike the Valley Theatre had converted to gas heating, and a defective flue filled the auditorium with carbon monoxide. Some forty children and a few adults in the audience of more than 100 were overcome by the fumes and collapsed, many of them after exiting the theater. No deaths were reported.
I have been unable to determine if the Valley Theatre was the same house that was in operation at Brackenridge by 1920 as the Luna Theatre, and which was renamed the Dreamland Theatre around January, 1923. The building does look old enough to have been there in 1920, and the rear portion looks as though it could have been built specifically to house an auditorium.
According to the following item from The Moving Picture World of October 14, 1922, Breckenridge than had about ten theaters, though several were closed:
“Ray Stinnett, who, two years ago, was manager of a local picture theatre, and who ran a shoestring into a sizeable bankroll through his theatre operations at Breckenridge, Texas, during the oil boom there, this week bought out the last of his opposition in that city, the National Theatre, from Mr. Zimmermann, the owner. The consideration is said to have been $36,000. Ray, as he is familiarly known along Film Row, now owns about ten theatres in Breckenridge, several of which are closed, and has full sway in the town.”
DriveInTheatre2001’s comment above and both of the photo links by Don Lewis pertain to the original Palace Theatre, later the Buckaroo Theatre, at 112 W. Walker.
This photo on the Buckaroo’s photo page shows the distinctive parapet of the National Theatre at the right, The marquee of the Palace, formerly the Alhambra, a couple of doors down, and, in the distance, the marquee of the Buckaroo, formerly the first Palace.
A color photo on the Buckaroo’s page shows the street from the other end, with the Buckaroo nearest, and the second Palace in the next block, though it’s difficult to make out the National/Regal.
The July 2, 1921, issue of Motion Picture News had this item:
“F. W. Zimmerman opened the new National theatre at Breckenridge, Texas, last week to pleased capacity business. The new house is strictly modern and up-to-date and said to have cost $750,000. The new theatre is strictly fireproof.”
I will assume that the figure of $750,000 is Texas-sized exaggeration. There’s no way that little 500-seat house cost three quarters of a million in 1921.
A bit of confusion arises from an item in Boxoffice of October 9, 1967. It says that Regal Broadcasting, owners of local radio station KSTB, were building a new 300-seat theater to be called the Regal. The company had bought the Palace Theatre and the National Theatre, and the National had been razed so the Regal could be built on its site. The Palace would continue to operate until the new theater was completed.
It appears that the writer of the Boxoffice item got the names of the theaters switched, and the house that was demolished was the Palace. Presumably the new Regal never got built, and the National was renovated and renamed the Regal instead.
Buckaroo was an aka for the first Palace Theatre. The Palace name was moved to the old Alhambra Theatre, 102 E. Walker, at some point. The various photos of theaters in Breckenridge make this clear.
The brief article about the 10th Street Art Theatre that ran in Boxoffice of October 9, 1967, said that the house was Atlanta’s first all night theater, though since the article also said it closed at 4:00 AM, they were stretching the phrase “all night” just a bit.
If the article was correct I find it a bit surprising that a city the size of Atlanta didn’t already have at least one all night grind house in operation. Where did Atlanta’s winos sleep off their half gallons of cheap muscatel?
I’m not so sure that the Strand itself was converted into a bowling alley. Palace Bowling Lanes at 78 Daniels Street opened on March 5, 1937, and the Strand Theatre was still operating at least as late as 1950 when two pages of ads local businesses congratulating the house on its redecoration, appeared in the February 22 Fitchburg Sentinel.
The Sentinel of January 4, 1916, had an article mentioning the building in Cleghorn Square “…occupied by the Rambeau theater and bowling alleys, and owned by Louis N. M. DesChenes….” so it appears there was a blowing alley in the theater building quite early. The 1937 opening of the Palace might have been a re-opening.
The March 4, 1899 issue of The Engineering Record said that the new theater to be built at 21-25 Blossom Street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, for L. W. Cumings & Sons would cost $30,000.
The Saturday, November 11, 1899, issue of the Fitchburg Sentinel said that the initial attraction at the new Cumings Theatre, “The Gay Debutante” would be presented the following Friday and Saturday, which would give an opening date of November 17, 1899.
The October 19, 1914, issue of the Fitchburg Sentinel said that the new Universal Theatre would open the following day.
No fewer than four good-sized new theaters opened in Fitchburg in 1914, perhaps a record for a city of its size. The other three were the Lyric (later the Saxon) on Main Street, Shea’s Theatre (later the Gem) on Day Street, and the Rambeau Theatre (later the Strand) in the Cleghorn Square neighborhood. Of these four, only the Rambeau/Strand is still standing.
The January 13, 1970 Sentinel reported that the Universal Theatre building was undergoing demolition. E. M. Loew had operated the house until the late 1940s. In 1955, the theater was renovated and reopened by Francis A. Fasano, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Fasano, who had once operated the Cumings Theatre. Despite the new CinemaScope screen and projection equipment, the reopened Universal was not a great success, and Fasano closed the house for the last time in May, 1960.
One surprising thing in this article is the line “…a large pipe organ is being torn down with the building.” It was unusual for a disused organ to still be sitting in an old theater as late as 1970. Most of them had been either dismantled and parted out, or snapped up by collectors or churches by that time. I’ve found no other information about this lost organ.
The Norfolk Building Inspection Department has a set of plans for the Hampton Theatre dated 7/18/1940 and drawn by architect Alfred M. Lublin.
Judging from Google’s street view, Old Dominion University has expanded onto this block and demolished all the old buildings, including the theater.
Prior to being remodeled in 1940, this house was called the Star Theatre. Plans for the remodeling were by architect Alfred M. Lublin. Eric Ledell Smith’s book African American Theater Buildings says that the Star was an African American house at least as early as 1930.
Plans for the Park Moving Picture Theatre were drawn in 1920 by architect A. O. Ferebee. The project was commissioned by E. J. Reass.
The Lyric reopened under different ownership later. The June 3, 1916, issue of Motography said that “[t]he Lyric theater, North Fifth street, Beatrice, has been taken over by H. W. Crosson of Hastings.”
Later that year, yet another operator, Hal Kelly, who also operated the Gilbert Theatre, succeeded in getting the City Council to respond positively to a petition he submitted requesting that theaters be allowed to run movies on Sundays. This rare quick success in the industry’s fight against Sunday blue laws was reported in the September 2, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World.
The “History” page of the Sun Theatre’s official web site says the theater was built as an opera house in 1909 and became a movie house in 1926. However, there is this item from the December 27, 1917, issue of Exhibitors Herald:
That 1917 is when the Opera House was converted into a movie theater called the Sun is confirmed by this notice from the July 21, 1917, issue of The American Contractor:This item about the Roxy Theatre is from the Sunday, May 1, 1932, issue of the Miami Daily News-Record:
Picher had a movie house called the Gayety Theatre at least as early as 1921.The Globe Theatre was situated on Douglas Avenue, Beaver’s main business street. The March 22, 1917, issue of The Beaver Herald said that the Globe’s operators, Spangler Brothers, who had taken over the house in 1916, had started excavating for a new theater on the lot south of the Herald building.
The July 5 issue of the Herald said that the theater would open in its new location the following night. The new Globe building was 25x120 feet.
Boxoffice of June 11, 1962, reported the recent death of Mrs. A. L. McArthur who had, with her late husband, operated the Beaver Theatre for many years. The McArthurs' granddaughter, Betty Parker, was operating the house.
Adams & Angleton, operators of the Novelty theatre at Forgan, Oklahoma, provided capsule movie reviews to various issues of Exhibitors Herald in 1921.
Forgan’s population never got much above 600, so it’s possible that all three of the movie theaters listed for the town at CinemaTour (Novelty, Alta, and Forgan) were the same house under different names.
The first appearance of the Nusho Theatre in the FDY was in 1936, making a 1935 opening very likely.
Here is a page about the renovationof the Saenger Theatre, on the web site of Martinez & Johnson Architecture. The firm has handled or collaborated on the renovations of several historic theaters.
The opening of the Alhambra Theatre on October 18, 1920, was advertised in the October 16 issue of the Breckenridge American.
Another house called the National Theatre was in operation in Breckenridge before this house opened. It was advertised in the October 16, 1920, issue of the Breckenridge American, as were the new Alhambra Theater, set to open on the 18th, a House called the Broadway Theatre and another called the American Theatre, plus the Ruby Theatre. The ad for the National boasted of its “Photoplayer Supreme.”
The 360-seat Palace Theatre is last listed in the FDY in 1929, as is the 500-seat Alhambra. In 1930 the Palace is listed with 546 seats, indicating that it had moved to the old Alhambra Theatre building by the time that edition of the FDY was compiled. The name Buckaroo Theatre does not appear in the FDY until 1945, but I don’t think the old Palace was vacant all that time.
In 1932, a 375-seat Plaza Theatre appears in the FDY. The Plaza remains in the listings through 1938, though it is listed as closed in 1936 and 1938. It vanishes from the listing in 1939, but reappears in 1942, though with no seating capacity listed. It remains listed through 1944, but vanishes when the 350-seat Buckaroo Theatre appears in 1945.
The Alhambra Theatre is last listed in the FDY in 1929, with 500 seats. In 1930, the Palace is the only theater listed in Breckenridge, but it has gone from the 350 seats it had in the 1920s to 546 seats. Depending on when the 1930 FDY was compiled, the Palace must have moved to the Alhambra’s building in late 1929 or very early 1930. By 1931 the seating capacity of the Palace has gone to 536, where it remains thereafter.
The Valley is probably the theater that first shows up in the FDY in 1938 as the Avenue Theatre, with 450 seats. Probably opened in 1937, or very late 1936. The Avenue is last listed in the FDY in 1940, and the 470-seat Valley first appears the following year.
The Valley Theatre has not been demolished. The building seen in this 1995 photo by John Lewis at CinemaTour is still standing at 1088 Brackenridge Avenue.
“Near Tragedy Gas Overcomes 40 Children in Brackenridge” read a headline in The Pittsburgh Post of December 6, 1946. Due to a coal strike the Valley Theatre had converted to gas heating, and a defective flue filled the auditorium with carbon monoxide. Some forty children and a few adults in the audience of more than 100 were overcome by the fumes and collapsed, many of them after exiting the theater. No deaths were reported.
I have been unable to determine if the Valley Theatre was the same house that was in operation at Brackenridge by 1920 as the Luna Theatre, and which was renamed the Dreamland Theatre around January, 1923. The building does look old enough to have been there in 1920, and the rear portion looks as though it could have been built specifically to house an auditorium.
According to the following item from The Moving Picture World of October 14, 1922, Breckenridge than had about ten theaters, though several were closed:
DriveInTheatre2001’s comment above and both of the photo links by Don Lewis pertain to the original Palace Theatre, later the Buckaroo Theatre, at 112 W. Walker.
This photo on the Buckaroo’s photo page shows the distinctive parapet of the National Theatre at the right, The marquee of the Palace, formerly the Alhambra, a couple of doors down, and, in the distance, the marquee of the Buckaroo, formerly the first Palace.
A color photo on the Buckaroo’s page shows the street from the other end, with the Buckaroo nearest, and the second Palace in the next block, though it’s difficult to make out the National/Regal.
The July 2, 1921, issue of Motion Picture News had this item:
I will assume that the figure of $750,000 is Texas-sized exaggeration. There’s no way that little 500-seat house cost three quarters of a million in 1921.A bit of confusion arises from an item in Boxoffice of October 9, 1967. It says that Regal Broadcasting, owners of local radio station KSTB, were building a new 300-seat theater to be called the Regal. The company had bought the Palace Theatre and the National Theatre, and the National had been razed so the Regal could be built on its site. The Palace would continue to operate until the new theater was completed.
It appears that the writer of the Boxoffice item got the names of the theaters switched, and the house that was demolished was the Palace. Presumably the new Regal never got built, and the National was renovated and renamed the Regal instead.
Buckaroo was an aka for the first Palace Theatre. The Palace name was moved to the old Alhambra Theatre, 102 E. Walker, at some point. The various photos of theaters in Breckenridge make this clear.
The brief article about the 10th Street Art Theatre that ran in Boxoffice of October 9, 1967, said that the house was Atlanta’s first all night theater, though since the article also said it closed at 4:00 AM, they were stretching the phrase “all night” just a bit.
If the article was correct I find it a bit surprising that a city the size of Atlanta didn’t already have at least one all night grind house in operation. Where did Atlanta’s winos sleep off their half gallons of cheap muscatel?
I’m not so sure that the Strand itself was converted into a bowling alley. Palace Bowling Lanes at 78 Daniels Street opened on March 5, 1937, and the Strand Theatre was still operating at least as late as 1950 when two pages of ads local businesses congratulating the house on its redecoration, appeared in the February 22 Fitchburg Sentinel.
The Sentinel of January 4, 1916, had an article mentioning the building in Cleghorn Square “…occupied by the Rambeau theater and bowling alleys, and owned by Louis N. M. DesChenes….” so it appears there was a blowing alley in the theater building quite early. The 1937 opening of the Palace might have been a re-opening.
The March 4, 1899 issue of The Engineering Record said that the new theater to be built at 21-25 Blossom Street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, for L. W. Cumings & Sons would cost $30,000.
The Saturday, November 11, 1899, issue of the Fitchburg Sentinel said that the initial attraction at the new Cumings Theatre, “The Gay Debutante” would be presented the following Friday and Saturday, which would give an opening date of November 17, 1899.
The October 19, 1914, issue of the Fitchburg Sentinel said that the new Universal Theatre would open the following day.
No fewer than four good-sized new theaters opened in Fitchburg in 1914, perhaps a record for a city of its size. The other three were the Lyric (later the Saxon) on Main Street, Shea’s Theatre (later the Gem) on Day Street, and the Rambeau Theatre (later the Strand) in the Cleghorn Square neighborhood. Of these four, only the Rambeau/Strand is still standing.
The January 13, 1970 Sentinel reported that the Universal Theatre building was undergoing demolition. E. M. Loew had operated the house until the late 1940s. In 1955, the theater was renovated and reopened by Francis A. Fasano, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Fasano, who had once operated the Cumings Theatre. Despite the new CinemaScope screen and projection equipment, the reopened Universal was not a great success, and Fasano closed the house for the last time in May, 1960.
One surprising thing in this article is the line “…a large pipe organ is being torn down with the building.” It was unusual for a disused organ to still be sitting in an old theater as late as 1970. Most of them had been either dismantled and parted out, or snapped up by collectors or churches by that time. I’ve found no other information about this lost organ.