According to an article in Boxoffice of January 7, 1950, about the closing of the Majestic Theatre, the 300-seat Exhibit Theatre was the first movie house opened by Max Stearn, who opened the Majestic in 1914. The patrons' nickels would get them a show of approximately thirty minutes, featuring three short films. During State Fair Week in 1907, Stearn racked up 34,000 admissions at the Exhibit.
The Majestic’s last show ran on December 31, 1949, according to the article about the theater in the January 7, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. The Majestic claimed to have been the first theater with a rising organ console, but on opening it also featured a 23-piece orchestra.
In its last years, the Majestic ran mostly westerns and action movies. I twas demolished to make way for an H. L. Green five and ten cent store, which has itself since been demolished.
The NRHP registration form for the Spearfish Historic Commercial District says that the Matthews Opera House Block was designed by the Deadwood architectural firm Bartlett & Phillips.
The Opera House was originally slated to have been designed by Deadwood architect Ortho C. Jewett, who had designed for Matthews the heavily rusticated block built at the corner of Hudson Street in 1900. The Opera House was announced in the April, 1901, issue of the building trades journal Stone“
"Spearfish, S. D.—Thomas N. Matthews will erect a theater and business building of buff sandstone and steel frame, costing $25,000. 0. C. Jewett, Deadwood, architect.”
Jewett’s death in April, 1902, and the five-year delay in the construction of the project, probably prevented the Opera House from having the same facade as his 1900 building. Bartlett & Phillips chose a more modern Italianate style for their design, which was continued in the 1912 addition to the north (622-630 North Main) which completed the building as it stands today.
The Rheem Theatre will be closing again, with its final showings scheduled for Sunday, January 7, according to this article from today’s East Bay Times. The theater will not be dismantled, for now, in hopes that it can be reopened in the future.
This web page has a photo of the Cedar Lake Theatre, and says that the house opened in 1927 and closed in 1929. The building was demolished around 1977. The address of the Pizza Palace restaurant, located on the site of the theater, is 7704 Lake Shore Drive.
It’s likely that the Jefferson Theatre was in operation, perhaps under a different name, prior to 1910, and I suspect it was called the Hyde Park Theatre. This item in the January 1, 1910, issue of The Economist said that a theater on 55th Street and Lake Avenue (Lake Avenue was renamed Lake Park Avenue in 1913) was to be enlarged and to have a new stage added. The architect for the $8,000 project was Edwin J. Seipp.
The 1910 Economist item names a John A. Orb as the owner of the theater that was being altered. Interestingly, Orb was a brewer, and in the 1880s had been associated in business with another Chicago brewer, Conrad Seipp. It seems likely that architect Edwin Seipp was related to Conrad Seipp.
The November 12, 1904, issue of the Chicago Eagle carried an advertisement for the Murphy Bros. Theatres. They had the Cream City Theatre in Milwaukee and the Ashland Theatre in Chicago, and also in Chicago the Hyde Park Theatre, 55th Street and Lake Avenue. The new Hyde Park Theatre opened at 53rd and Lake in 1914 must have been the second house of that name.
A preservation web site says that the Jefferson Theater was one of the buildings replaced by the Art Deco Ritz-55th Garage in 1929. If there was a Jefferson Theatre operating in Chicago in the 1940s it must have been at a different location.
The White Palace must have been in operation prior to 1910, possibly under a different name. The “Building Permits” column of the January 15, 1910, issue of The Economist noted the planned remodeling and expansion of a theater at 1607-1613 S. Kedzie Avenue. The architect was Alexander L. Levy, eventually to be designer of at least a dozen other theaters in Chicago.
According to the notice in the “Building Permits” column of the January 15, 1910, issue of The Economist, the theater that was to be built at 3110-3112 State Street had been designed by the architectural firm of Ottenheimer, Stern & Reichert.
Henry L. Ottenheimer studied in Paris and apprenticed under Louis Sullivan. His partners were Isaac S. Stern and William Reichert.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist listed a brick theater, 38x100 feet, to be built at 4930-4932 N. Evanston Avenue (renamed Broadway in 1913.) The architect was C. W. Stevens.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist included a brick theater, 58x117 feet, at 4533-4535 N. Clark Street. The architect was Albert S. Hecht.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist noted this theater project at 1419-1421 W. Madison Street. The architect was William F. Pagels.
The April 3, 1910, issue of The Economist said that the theater and store building to be built at 51st Street and Calumet Avenue for the Willard Amusement Company had been designed by architect Henry L. Newhouse.
An item in the February 19, 1910, issue of The Economist said that architects Hall & Westerlind had prepared plans for a project at North Clark Street and Farragut Avenue. It was to include stores, flats, and a theater on a parcel 117x160 feet. This must be the place.
Hall & Westerlind (Eric E. Hall and Carl W. Westerlind) also designed the 1914 Ideal Theatre in the Lincoln Park district.
This item is from the July 4, 1925, issue of Motion Picture News:
“The Marr & Colton Co. installed an organ in the West Park theatre, operated by Lefkowitz [sic] & Polster. This beautiful theatre was recently opened and is attracting excellent crowds.”
Then there is this item from the April 19, 1937, issue of The Film Daily:
“Cleveland — An 1,800-seat theater, to be called the New West Park, is now being constructed by Max Lefkowich and associates.”
The “New West Park Theatre” was built, but it opened as the Riverside Theatre.
I notice that the marquee of the Orpheum in our vintage photo advertises the Ginger Rogers movie Roxie Hart, which was released in 1942. If there was a fire in the Orpheum in 1936, the house clearly had reopened under the same name after that. It was the 1943 fire that led to the final closure the Orpheum.
Further evidence that the Orpheum did not close down permanently after a fire in 1936 is this from the Theater History page of the Eltrym Theatre’s web site, about events following the destruction of the Clarick Theatre by fire in 1937:
“The Buckmillers were not completely out of luck, however, as they had their other theaters to keep them busy. The Orpheum Theater operated in the former location of Marilyn’s Music, between the Lone Pine Cafe and Betty’s books. The Empire was located in the building that is next to what is now the US Bank parking lot.”
Obviously, the Orpheum did not close permanently until after the 1943 fire. Wartime restrictions of civilian construction probably prevented its rebuilding and reopening as the Baker Theatre until after the war.
The July 13, 1912, issue of Construction News said that architects Worthman & Steinbach were preparing plans for a 297-seat, one-story, brick, 5-cent theater, 25x125 feet, in Chicago Lawn. If this was the only movie house built in the neighborhood in 1912, the announcement must have been about the Lawn Theatre.
Broan: Is there a date for the Sanborn map? If it’s post-1912, it makes me think it even more likely that the 1912-13 structure was at least in part expanded upward rather than entirely demolished. Satellite view shows that the section fronting Pensacola Street, in the area that is unbuilt on the Sanborn map, looks like it is a separate but partly attached structure, though tied into the rest of the street front by a facade of light brown face brick. It seems like this configuration would not have been done had the building been entirely new in the 1920s.
The configuration of the storefronts is the same in the current building as on the map, with three narrower stores at 4334 through 4338, and the wider storefront at 4340 where the theater was, with a new door added at its south end for access to the apartments upstairs. The rear building on Pensacola has what looks like its own entrance, with a fancy white plaster or terra cotta surround. It looks like the corner storefront has a back door on Pensacola, too.
There’s also something odd at the rear of the theater’s footprint. A second floor section looks like it isn’t attached above the first floor to either building. I wonder if it might be small living quarters, or an office, for the storefront where the theater used to be, accessed only by a stairway within that store?
Architect Harry I. Dalsey was taking bids on a one-story brick building to contain three stores and a 300-seat movie theater at the corner of Western and Pensacola Avenue, for owners Kusel & Harns, as noted in the November 8, 1912, issue of Construction News.
If the Favorite Theatre was in operation by 1911, perhaps its original building was replaced in 1912-1913. And as the three-story building on the site today has four storefronts, perhaps the 1912 building was not demolished in the 1920s, but had the two floors of apartments added above the existing brick building, and the theater was converted into a fourth storefront?
The November 8, 1912 ,issue of Construction News said that architects Postle & fisher were taking bids on a one story brick building, 105x75 feet, to contain two stores and a theater, on Wentworth Avenue near 73rd Street. H, P. Waynan and J. M. Grossmith were the owners of the project.
A permit had been applied for to build a one-story brick theater, 140x50 feet, at 4346 W.Madison Street, according to the October 12, 1912, issue of Construction News. Owner of the project was Leopold Semon, the architect was C. W. Christiansen (or perhaps Christianson— I’ve seen both spellings, but can’t confirm either as correct.)
Damen Avenue was called Robey Street until 1927, so this item from the September 21, 1912, issue of Construction News must be about the Advance Theatre:
“Stores Offices & Theater— $30.000. Robey, Lincoln Av. and Irving Park Blvd. Archt. H.I. Dalsey 1123 Throop St. Owners Kusel & Harris, 30 N. La Salle St., taking bids to close at once. Brk., and re. conc., 2 stys.”
Architect Harry Dalsey was quite active during this period. If bids on the project were being taken in September, it’s possible that the project was completed before the end of 1912, but even if not the theater was surely open by early 1913.
The “Picture Theatres” section of Gus Hill’s National Theatrical Directory for 1914-1915 lists two movie houses in Baker City: The 600-seat Orpheum, a fifteen-cent house, and the 350-seat Grand, a ten-cent house. Both theater were managed by A. B. Hager. The guide also lists a 951-seat Baker Theatre, presenting music and drama, which was probably the Baker Opera House.
Oddly, the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Piture Directoy lists only the Grand at Baker City.
The September 17, 1917, issue of Motion Picture News had this item about the theaters in Baker City:
“THE Orpheum, Grand and Empire theatres at Baker City. Ore., have all been completely remodeled under the direction of J. P. Cotter, owner and manager. New equipment throughout has been installed, with a new pipe organ in the Orpheum. Contracts for the entire Artcraft. Paramount and Fox output have been made. The three houses have a combined seating capacity of 1,275, in a population of 8,000.”
The October 2, 1943, issue of Showmens Trade Review filed this brief report on a fire at the Orpheum:
“A spectacular fire at Orpheum Theatre block
in Baker, Ore., caused a loss of $75,000. The cause was undetermined. Frank Buckmiller, owner, was insured.”
Myrtle Buckmiller’s entry into the theater business at Baker City was noted in the January 5, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News:
“Mrs. Myrtle Buckmiller has purchased the interests of the Haselton Theatres, Inc., of Baker, Ore., consisting of the Clarick, Orpheum and Empire Theatres. She will be president of the company and also assume active management of the houses.”
The 1909-1910 Cahn guide lists the Baker Opera House as a ground-floor theater with a stage 30 feet deep from footlights to back wall and 59 ½ feet between side walls. There were 400 seats on the orchestra floor, 302 in the balcony, and 375 in the gallery.
The September 13, 1900, issue of Engineering News reported that the contract had been let to Grant & Haines for construction of the new opera house at Baker City, but no details were provided. A late 1900 opening is possible, but early 1901 is as likely.
The Local History Collections of the Saskatoon Public Library gives this sequence of the names for this theater:
Original Theatre built in 1913 and opened as Victoria Theatre. 1930-1965 it became the Tivoli Theatre. In 1965 it was modernized and opened as the Odeon Theatre. In 1992 the name changed to the Paradise Theatre and by 2009 the theatre was extensively renovated and became part of O'Brien’s Event Centre.
The library has several photos of the theater, but I’ve been unable to make any functional links to them. Start with this page and scroll down to the link that says “At the Movies: a Photographic Exhibition”. This gallery has links to additional galleries with multiple photos of many of Saskatoon’s theaters, including the Victoria and Tivoli.
The Empire Theatre was designed by the Regina architectural firm of Storey & Van Egmond (Edgar M. Storey and William Gysbert Van Egmond.) The house opened on December 29, 1910, with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “H.M.S. Pinafore” featuring members of the Saskatoon Amateur Operatic Society. Renovations in 1918 made it possible to show moving pictures more frequently, but occasional stage production were still mounted after the Empire became a full-time movie house.
According to an article in Boxoffice of January 7, 1950, about the closing of the Majestic Theatre, the 300-seat Exhibit Theatre was the first movie house opened by Max Stearn, who opened the Majestic in 1914. The patrons' nickels would get them a show of approximately thirty minutes, featuring three short films. During State Fair Week in 1907, Stearn racked up 34,000 admissions at the Exhibit.
The Majestic’s last show ran on December 31, 1949, according to the article about the theater in the January 7, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. The Majestic claimed to have been the first theater with a rising organ console, but on opening it also featured a 23-piece orchestra.
In its last years, the Majestic ran mostly westerns and action movies. I twas demolished to make way for an H. L. Green five and ten cent store, which has itself since been demolished.
The NRHP registration form for the Spearfish Historic Commercial District says that the Matthews Opera House Block was designed by the Deadwood architectural firm Bartlett & Phillips.
The Opera House was originally slated to have been designed by Deadwood architect Ortho C. Jewett, who had designed for Matthews the heavily rusticated block built at the corner of Hudson Street in 1900. The Opera House was announced in the April, 1901, issue of the building trades journal Stone“
Jewett’s death in April, 1902, and the five-year delay in the construction of the project, probably prevented the Opera House from having the same facade as his 1900 building. Bartlett & Phillips chose a more modern Italianate style for their design, which was continued in the 1912 addition to the north (622-630 North Main) which completed the building as it stands today.The Rheem Theatre will be closing again, with its final showings scheduled for Sunday, January 7, according to this article from today’s East Bay Times. The theater will not be dismantled, for now, in hopes that it can be reopened in the future.
This web page has a photo of the Cedar Lake Theatre, and says that the house opened in 1927 and closed in 1929. The building was demolished around 1977. The address of the Pizza Palace restaurant, located on the site of the theater, is 7704 Lake Shore Drive.
It’s likely that the Jefferson Theatre was in operation, perhaps under a different name, prior to 1910, and I suspect it was called the Hyde Park Theatre. This item in the January 1, 1910, issue of The Economist said that a theater on 55th Street and Lake Avenue (Lake Avenue was renamed Lake Park Avenue in 1913) was to be enlarged and to have a new stage added. The architect for the $8,000 project was Edwin J. Seipp.
The 1910 Economist item names a John A. Orb as the owner of the theater that was being altered. Interestingly, Orb was a brewer, and in the 1880s had been associated in business with another Chicago brewer, Conrad Seipp. It seems likely that architect Edwin Seipp was related to Conrad Seipp.
The November 12, 1904, issue of the Chicago Eagle carried an advertisement for the Murphy Bros. Theatres. They had the Cream City Theatre in Milwaukee and the Ashland Theatre in Chicago, and also in Chicago the Hyde Park Theatre, 55th Street and Lake Avenue. The new Hyde Park Theatre opened at 53rd and Lake in 1914 must have been the second house of that name.
A preservation web site says that the Jefferson Theater was one of the buildings replaced by the Art Deco Ritz-55th Garage in 1929. If there was a Jefferson Theatre operating in Chicago in the 1940s it must have been at a different location.
The White Palace must have been in operation prior to 1910, possibly under a different name. The “Building Permits” column of the January 15, 1910, issue of The Economist noted the planned remodeling and expansion of a theater at 1607-1613 S. Kedzie Avenue. The architect was Alexander L. Levy, eventually to be designer of at least a dozen other theaters in Chicago.
According to the notice in the “Building Permits” column of the January 15, 1910, issue of The Economist, the theater that was to be built at 3110-3112 State Street had been designed by the architectural firm of Ottenheimer, Stern & Reichert.
Henry L. Ottenheimer studied in Paris and apprenticed under Louis Sullivan. His partners were Isaac S. Stern and William Reichert.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist listed a brick theater, 38x100 feet, to be built at 4930-4932 N. Evanston Avenue (renamed Broadway in 1913.) The architect was C. W. Stevens.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist included a brick theater, 58x117 feet, at 4533-4535 N. Clark Street. The architect was Albert S. Hecht.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist noted this theater project at 1419-1421 W. Madison Street. The architect was William F. Pagels.
The April 3, 1910, issue of The Economist said that the theater and store building to be built at 51st Street and Calumet Avenue for the Willard Amusement Company had been designed by architect Henry L. Newhouse.
An item in the February 19, 1910, issue of The Economist said that architects Hall & Westerlind had prepared plans for a project at North Clark Street and Farragut Avenue. It was to include stores, flats, and a theater on a parcel 117x160 feet. This must be the place.
Hall & Westerlind (Eric E. Hall and Carl W. Westerlind) also designed the 1914 Ideal Theatre in the Lincoln Park district.
This item is from the July 4, 1925, issue of Motion Picture News:
Then there is this item from the April 19, 1937, issue of The Film Daily:The “New West Park Theatre” was built, but it opened as the Riverside Theatre.I notice that the marquee of the Orpheum in our vintage photo advertises the Ginger Rogers movie Roxie Hart, which was released in 1942. If there was a fire in the Orpheum in 1936, the house clearly had reopened under the same name after that. It was the 1943 fire that led to the final closure the Orpheum.
Further evidence that the Orpheum did not close down permanently after a fire in 1936 is this from the Theater History page of the Eltrym Theatre’s web site, about events following the destruction of the Clarick Theatre by fire in 1937:
Obviously, the Orpheum did not close permanently until after the 1943 fire. Wartime restrictions of civilian construction probably prevented its rebuilding and reopening as the Baker Theatre until after the war.The July 13, 1912, issue of Construction News said that architects Worthman & Steinbach were preparing plans for a 297-seat, one-story, brick, 5-cent theater, 25x125 feet, in Chicago Lawn. If this was the only movie house built in the neighborhood in 1912, the announcement must have been about the Lawn Theatre.
Broan: Is there a date for the Sanborn map? If it’s post-1912, it makes me think it even more likely that the 1912-13 structure was at least in part expanded upward rather than entirely demolished. Satellite view shows that the section fronting Pensacola Street, in the area that is unbuilt on the Sanborn map, looks like it is a separate but partly attached structure, though tied into the rest of the street front by a facade of light brown face brick. It seems like this configuration would not have been done had the building been entirely new in the 1920s.
The configuration of the storefronts is the same in the current building as on the map, with three narrower stores at 4334 through 4338, and the wider storefront at 4340 where the theater was, with a new door added at its south end for access to the apartments upstairs. The rear building on Pensacola has what looks like its own entrance, with a fancy white plaster or terra cotta surround. It looks like the corner storefront has a back door on Pensacola, too.
There’s also something odd at the rear of the theater’s footprint. A second floor section looks like it isn’t attached above the first floor to either building. I wonder if it might be small living quarters, or an office, for the storefront where the theater used to be, accessed only by a stairway within that store?
Architect Harry I. Dalsey was taking bids on a one-story brick building to contain three stores and a 300-seat movie theater at the corner of Western and Pensacola Avenue, for owners Kusel & Harns, as noted in the November 8, 1912, issue of Construction News.
If the Favorite Theatre was in operation by 1911, perhaps its original building was replaced in 1912-1913. And as the three-story building on the site today has four storefronts, perhaps the 1912 building was not demolished in the 1920s, but had the two floors of apartments added above the existing brick building, and the theater was converted into a fourth storefront?
The November 8, 1912 ,issue of Construction News said that architects Postle & fisher were taking bids on a one story brick building, 105x75 feet, to contain two stores and a theater, on Wentworth Avenue near 73rd Street. H, P. Waynan and J. M. Grossmith were the owners of the project.
A permit had been applied for to build a one-story brick theater, 140x50 feet, at 4346 W.Madison Street, according to the October 12, 1912, issue of Construction News. Owner of the project was Leopold Semon, the architect was C. W. Christiansen (or perhaps Christianson— I’ve seen both spellings, but can’t confirm either as correct.)
Damen Avenue was called Robey Street until 1927, so this item from the September 21, 1912, issue of Construction News must be about the Advance Theatre:
Architect Harry Dalsey was quite active during this period. If bids on the project were being taken in September, it’s possible that the project was completed before the end of 1912, but even if not the theater was surely open by early 1913.The “Picture Theatres” section of Gus Hill’s National Theatrical Directory for 1914-1915 lists two movie houses in Baker City: The 600-seat Orpheum, a fifteen-cent house, and the 350-seat Grand, a ten-cent house. Both theater were managed by A. B. Hager. The guide also lists a 951-seat Baker Theatre, presenting music and drama, which was probably the Baker Opera House.
Oddly, the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Piture Directoy lists only the Grand at Baker City.
The September 17, 1917, issue of Motion Picture News had this item about the theaters in Baker City:
The October 2, 1943, issue of Showmens Trade Review filed this brief report on a fire at the Orpheum:Myrtle Buckmiller’s entry into the theater business at Baker City was noted in the January 5, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News:The 1909-1910 Cahn guide lists the Baker Opera House as a ground-floor theater with a stage 30 feet deep from footlights to back wall and 59 ½ feet between side walls. There were 400 seats on the orchestra floor, 302 in the balcony, and 375 in the gallery.
The September 13, 1900, issue of Engineering News reported that the contract had been let to Grant & Haines for construction of the new opera house at Baker City, but no details were provided. A late 1900 opening is possible, but early 1901 is as likely.
The Local History Collections of the Saskatoon Public Library gives this sequence of the names for this theater:
The library has several photos of the theater, but I’ve been unable to make any functional links to them. Start with this page and scroll down to the link that says “At the Movies: a Photographic Exhibition”. This gallery has links to additional galleries with multiple photos of many of Saskatoon’s theaters, including the Victoria and Tivoli.The Empire Theatre was designed by the Regina architectural firm of Storey & Van Egmond (Edgar M. Storey and William Gysbert Van Egmond.) The house opened on December 29, 1910, with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “H.M.S. Pinafore” featuring members of the Saskatoon Amateur Operatic Society. Renovations in 1918 made it possible to show moving pictures more frequently, but occasional stage production were still mounted after the Empire became a full-time movie house.