JenniWiethe: You can upload photos to Cinema Treasures. Click on “Photos” button above the photo at the top of this page. Scroll to the bottom of the subsequent page. Click “Add New Photo” button, and follow upload instructions. Articles might be impossible to read because Cinema Treasures resizes files, and the size displayed isn’t very large. Readability would depend on the size of your original file, and how much it had to shrink to fit CT’s maximum size.
While the December 18, 1923, issue of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, writing about the new Lyric Theatre that was soon to open, explicitly stated of the new house that “…none of the wall space of the old Lyric [was] used in the new structure,” I doubt that was the case with the rebuilding of the second Lyric as the State in 1949. For one thing, the State has a stage house, and it seems very unlikely that the movie-oriented Butterfield interests would have built an entirely new, small town theater with a stage house as late as that year. It must have survived from the Lyric of 1923.
For another, the Record-Eagle article of 1923 was at pains to note the fire resistant design of the new Lyric, though it did say that parts of the theater featured wooden wall paneling. What with the paneling, and all the upholstery, draperies, carpets, and other accouterments of the theater there was undoubtedly plenty to burn in the 1949 fire, but it is very likely that the solidly built 1923 walls would have survived and that the State Theatre was built within them.
An article in the December 18, 1923, issue of the Traverse City Record-Eagle indicated that the second Lyric Theatre was an entirely new building, saying “[a]ll of the walls are new, none of the wall space of the old Lyric being used in the new structure.”
In short, I suspect that steelbeard1 was correct in saying that the Lyric (the second Lyric) “became” the State Theatre. The 1923 Record-Eagle article especially noted the fireproof construction of the new theater, so I think it very likely that the walls, and perhaps even the roof, survived the 1949 fire and are part of the State Theatre today.
Though it mispells the theater’s original name as Bronco, the October 2, 1972, issue of Boxoffice ran an item noting that this house had reopened as the Academy Theatre following a $75,000 remodeling. The Academy was operated by a new theater circuit based in Okalhoma City called the Heisman Theatre Corporation. Heisman was soon to open new four-plexes in Norman and Stillwater.
Multiple items in construction journals in 1914 indicate that the Cresco Opera House was designed and built by a St. Paul firm called Monarch Theater Construction & Supply Co.
So far I’ve been able to find three other theater projects involving the same firm, all from 1914. One was the Auditorium Theatre in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The others were in Montevideo and Willmar, Minnesota. I’ve been unable to establish the identity of either so far, though the Montevideo house was probably called the Star.
The 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory lists a Grand Theatre at 214 1st Street in Montevideo. I haven’t been able to discover if it occupied the same building that now houses Hollywood on Main. The directory also lists a Montevideo Opera House, with no address.
A trade journal from 1914 noted an expansion underway at a Star Theatre in Montevideo, and a construction journal notes a new theater being built there for a Mr. Starbeck. Either of those might have become the Grand. In 1919, there is a reference to a Monte Theatre, and in 1923 to a State Theatre, so we are still missing some of Montevideo’s theater history.
The Auditorium Theatre was owned by George and Gustave Frellson. Mutiple items in construction journals from 1914 say that the $50,000 theater being built at Waukesha for the Frellsons was designed and built by a St. Paul firm that went by the name Monarch Theater Construction & Supply Co.
I’ve found two other theaters erected by the same design/build/outfitting firm, both 1914 projects; one at Willmar, Michigan, and the other at Creston, Iowa.
An article in the August 8, 2002, issue of The Clay County Leader said that the paper began publishing in 1932 from a building “…between the Royal Theater (previously the Majestic) and the building occupied by Brad Staggs Tailor and Cleaning Shop.”
Later, Henrietta had a theater called the Ritz, but I’ve been unable to discover if this was a third house or just a later name for the Majestic/Royal. As far as I know, the town’s other house, the Dorothy Theatre, never operated under any other name.
There was a house called the Dorothy Theatre in Henrietta prior to 1920. Operated by H. L. Bear and named for his daughter Dorothy, the theater was mentioned in the January 3, 1920, issue of Exhibitors Herald. The item said that Mr. Bear had purchased a lot adjoining the Dorothy and planned to build a 350-sea theater on it. The Dorothy was to be remodeled in the spring.
Mr. Bear’s plans for a new theater were apparently delayed, as they were announced again in the 1921-1922 edition of Wid’s Year Book, which was published in September, 1921. I’m not sure the plans were ever carried out.
Bear did eventually open a second house, though, as an item in the “Theatre Deals” column of the November 21, 1945, issue of The Film Daily said that he had sold the Dorothy Theatre and the old Ritz Theatre building. No location was given for the Ritz. The item said that he had operated the Dorothy for thirty years, which would give an opening year of about 1915.
Numerous sources indicate that the Dorothy was located on the east side of the Courthouse square. It was still in operation at least as late as 1966.
The May 29, 1963, fire that destroyed the Gem Theatre was noted in the June 3 issue of Boxoffice. Damage was estimated at $50,000. The theater had also suffered a major fire in 1952. The magazine had been unable to contact owner Claude Thorp to see if he intended to rebuild in Ryan or not. He also operated theaters in Waurika, Oklahoma, and Henrietta and Burkburnett, Texas.
The recent history of the Island Theatre has been troubled. Twice last year the building was declared unsafe by inspectors, the second time in November when part of the ceiling collapsed following inadequate repairs that were made in response to the first citation.
According to this article in the Vinyard Gazette of March 16, 2017, the town has ordered repairs to be done, and if the theater’s owners do not make them, is debating whether to have the repairs done at public expense and file alien on the building, or simply have the theater demolished.
The building “… is estimated to be about a century old…. and has been vacant for several years.” The issue is slated to be discussed at the town meeting on April 11.
The Palace Theatre was built by and originally operated by Sylvester Enea and his brother-in-law, David Solari. Solari, who had studied engineering for two years, acted as architect, as well as managing the theater once it opened.
This web page at Silent Era says that the Palace opened in 1910 and originally seated 600. It finished its run in the 1960s as a Spanish language movie house, and was demolished for the town’s urban renewal project in the 1970s.
The page quotes a 1911 magazine article about the Palace which notes that it had a “Welts Orchestrion”, which probably should have read Welte Orchestrion. In its early days the Palace also presented vaudeville on weekends.
A 1920s photo of a “Capital” Theatre in Tallahassee can be found on this web page at Florida Memory. A book called The Community of Cinema: How Cinema and Spectacle Transformed the American Downtown, by James Forsher, has this line on page 97:
“Before 1920, African Americans were forced to go to the Capital Theatre, started by Mrs. Yellowhair, a graduate of Florida A & M University, the historically black university in Tallahassee.”
The book Tallahassee Florida, by Althemese Barnes and Ann Roberts, has a photo of Margaret Yellowhair and some of her fellow class of 1904 graduates, and the photo of the theater, the caption of which says it was located on Macomb Street in the historic Frenchtown district (Google Books preview.)
The New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists provides this web page with information about the Moller organ installed in the 86th Street Theatre when Marcus Loew took over its operation in 1916.
A fairly detailed history of the Yorkville Theatre can be found here It confirms TonyV’s claim that there was no theater in this building in the 1940s and later. The Yorkville closed for good in 1928.
Loew’s 86th Street, as Tony notes, was across from the Orpheum. Its address was 162 E. 86th, and a description of its organ, installed when Loew took over in 1916, can be found on this web page.
The Liberty Theatre building was not destroyed by the 2013 fire, though the roof was damaged beyond repair. A permit for the installation of new roof trusses was issued by the city in February, 2014. The city itself paid for emergency repairs to prevent the walls from collapsing. As NoReturn (second comment back) saw the building still standing in 2016, the repairs apparently succeeded. 114 N. 4th Avenue, #B, is currently the office of American Family Insurance, so I would guess the repaired building has been divided into space for at least two offices.
The two year delay in construction following the original announcement of the theater project in 1912 led to a change of architects. This item is from the February 12, 1914, issue of Engineering News:
“Pasco, Wash.—J. E. Doughty, Arch., Pasco, has prepared plans for the construction of the Pasco Playhouse, to be erected on Lewis and Clark Sts. The estimated cost is $300,000.”
The theater was of course between Lewis and Clark Streets, and I doubt if it cost anywhere near the $300,000 the item claimed, but despite the name “Pasco Playhouse” the item surely is about the Cord/Liberty.
Doughty’s involvement in the project is confirmed by this fairly detailed history of the Liberty Theatre written by Sarah LeCompte in 1984. LeCompte doesn’t mention the name Showbox Theatre, but does in the opening paragraph call it the Liberty-Playtime Theatre.
NeonMichael: If I saved a copy it is trapped on my old computer’s hard drive, but I believe the history you linked to is the same one. The Swan probably wouldn’t have shown up in the catalog until 1956, as it was built after the 1955 edition went to press.
However, it might not be in the 1956 catalog either, as about that time the catalog became less comprehensive, dropping its list of independent houses and listing only those that were part of chains. I don’t remember exactly which year they did that, but it was in the 1950s. If the “official” lists of that era were derived from the catalog, then a lot of independent theaters are probably missing.
An advertisement, and the caption of a photo, on the newspaper page rivest266 linked to say that the King Theatre was designed by architect Herbert C. Cayton.
Herbert Cohen Cayton appears to have been fairly well known in his day, but the only other buildings of his design to which I can find references on the Internet are a small craftsman bungalow and the 1934 design of Honolulu’s U.S. Immigration Station, done in collaboration with architect C.W. Dickey.
Loew’s Boston Common 19 was designed by the Rockwell Group. The firm’s founder, David Rockwell, also won the 2016 Tony award for best scenic design of a musical, for “She Loves Me.”
The Grand Theatre was a rebuild of the Grand Opera House which had suffered several fires over its career, the last in 1922. It had been leased since 1910 for vaudeville and pictures by the Soblosky brothers, operators of the Garrick Theatre. A bit of the Grand’s history can be found on this web page.
The Garrick Theatre was in operation prior to 1910 as a vaudeville house. It was owned and operated by the Sablosky family, who dominated the theater business in Norristown for decades.
An item in the April 25, 1950, issue of The Billboard noted that Dave Sablosky had announced his intention of closing the Garrick and Westmar Theatres. Upcoming pictures booked at the two houses would instead be shown at the Ridge Pike Drive-In at Conshohocken.
JenniWiethe: You can upload photos to Cinema Treasures. Click on “Photos” button above the photo at the top of this page. Scroll to the bottom of the subsequent page. Click “Add New Photo” button, and follow upload instructions. Articles might be impossible to read because Cinema Treasures resizes files, and the size displayed isn’t very large. Readability would depend on the size of your original file, and how much it had to shrink to fit CT’s maximum size.
While the December 18, 1923, issue of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, writing about the new Lyric Theatre that was soon to open, explicitly stated of the new house that “…none of the wall space of the old Lyric [was] used in the new structure,” I doubt that was the case with the rebuilding of the second Lyric as the State in 1949. For one thing, the State has a stage house, and it seems very unlikely that the movie-oriented Butterfield interests would have built an entirely new, small town theater with a stage house as late as that year. It must have survived from the Lyric of 1923.
For another, the Record-Eagle article of 1923 was at pains to note the fire resistant design of the new Lyric, though it did say that parts of the theater featured wooden wall paneling. What with the paneling, and all the upholstery, draperies, carpets, and other accouterments of the theater there was undoubtedly plenty to burn in the 1949 fire, but it is very likely that the solidly built 1923 walls would have survived and that the State Theatre was built within them.
An article in the December 18, 1923, issue of the Traverse City Record-Eagle indicated that the second Lyric Theatre was an entirely new building, saying “[a]ll of the walls are new, none of the wall space of the old Lyric being used in the new structure.”
In short, I suspect that steelbeard1 was correct in saying that the Lyric (the second Lyric) “became” the State Theatre. The 1923 Record-Eagle article especially noted the fireproof construction of the new theater, so I think it very likely that the walls, and perhaps even the roof, survived the 1949 fire and are part of the State Theatre today.
Though it mispells the theater’s original name as Bronco, the October 2, 1972, issue of Boxoffice ran an item noting that this house had reopened as the Academy Theatre following a $75,000 remodeling. The Academy was operated by a new theater circuit based in Okalhoma City called the Heisman Theatre Corporation. Heisman was soon to open new four-plexes in Norman and Stillwater.
Multiple items in construction journals in 1914 indicate that the Cresco Opera House was designed and built by a St. Paul firm called Monarch Theater Construction & Supply Co.
So far I’ve been able to find three other theater projects involving the same firm, all from 1914. One was the Auditorium Theatre in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The others were in Montevideo and Willmar, Minnesota. I’ve been unable to establish the identity of either so far, though the Montevideo house was probably called the Star.
The 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory lists a Grand Theatre at 214 1st Street in Montevideo. I haven’t been able to discover if it occupied the same building that now houses Hollywood on Main. The directory also lists a Montevideo Opera House, with no address.
A trade journal from 1914 noted an expansion underway at a Star Theatre in Montevideo, and a construction journal notes a new theater being built there for a Mr. Starbeck. Either of those might have become the Grand. In 1919, there is a reference to a Monte Theatre, and in 1923 to a State Theatre, so we are still missing some of Montevideo’s theater history.
The Auditorium Theatre was owned by George and Gustave Frellson. Mutiple items in construction journals from 1914 say that the $50,000 theater being built at Waukesha for the Frellsons was designed and built by a St. Paul firm that went by the name Monarch Theater Construction & Supply Co.
I’ve found two other theaters erected by the same design/build/outfitting firm, both 1914 projects; one at Willmar, Michigan, and the other at Creston, Iowa.
An article in the August 8, 2002, issue of The Clay County Leader said that the paper began publishing in 1932 from a building “…between the Royal Theater (previously the Majestic) and the building occupied by Brad Staggs Tailor and Cleaning Shop.”
Later, Henrietta had a theater called the Ritz, but I’ve been unable to discover if this was a third house or just a later name for the Majestic/Royal. As far as I know, the town’s other house, the Dorothy Theatre, never operated under any other name.
There was a house called the Dorothy Theatre in Henrietta prior to 1920. Operated by H. L. Bear and named for his daughter Dorothy, the theater was mentioned in the January 3, 1920, issue of Exhibitors Herald. The item said that Mr. Bear had purchased a lot adjoining the Dorothy and planned to build a 350-sea theater on it. The Dorothy was to be remodeled in the spring.
Mr. Bear’s plans for a new theater were apparently delayed, as they were announced again in the 1921-1922 edition of Wid’s Year Book, which was published in September, 1921. I’m not sure the plans were ever carried out.
Bear did eventually open a second house, though, as an item in the “Theatre Deals” column of the November 21, 1945, issue of The Film Daily said that he had sold the Dorothy Theatre and the old Ritz Theatre building. No location was given for the Ritz. The item said that he had operated the Dorothy for thirty years, which would give an opening year of about 1915.
Numerous sources indicate that the Dorothy was located on the east side of the Courthouse square. It was still in operation at least as late as 1966.
The May 29, 1963, fire that destroyed the Gem Theatre was noted in the June 3 issue of Boxoffice. Damage was estimated at $50,000. The theater had also suffered a major fire in 1952. The magazine had been unable to contact owner Claude Thorp to see if he intended to rebuild in Ryan or not. He also operated theaters in Waurika, Oklahoma, and Henrietta and Burkburnett, Texas.
The recent history of the Island Theatre has been troubled. Twice last year the building was declared unsafe by inspectors, the second time in November when part of the ceiling collapsed following inadequate repairs that were made in response to the first citation.
According to this article in the Vinyard Gazette of March 16, 2017, the town has ordered repairs to be done, and if the theater’s owners do not make them, is debating whether to have the repairs done at public expense and file alien on the building, or simply have the theater demolished.
The building “… is estimated to be about a century old…. and has been vacant for several years.” The issue is slated to be discussed at the town meeting on April 11.
The Palace Theatre was built by and originally operated by Sylvester Enea and his brother-in-law, David Solari. Solari, who had studied engineering for two years, acted as architect, as well as managing the theater once it opened.
This web page at Silent Era says that the Palace opened in 1910 and originally seated 600. It finished its run in the 1960s as a Spanish language movie house, and was demolished for the town’s urban renewal project in the 1970s.
The page quotes a 1911 magazine article about the Palace which notes that it had a “Welts Orchestrion”, which probably should have read Welte Orchestrion. In its early days the Palace also presented vaudeville on weekends.
A 1920s photo of a “Capital” Theatre in Tallahassee can be found on this web page at Florida Memory. A book called The Community of Cinema: How Cinema and Spectacle Transformed the American Downtown, by James Forsher, has this line on page 97:
The book Tallahassee Florida, by Althemese Barnes and Ann Roberts, has a photo of Margaret Yellowhair and some of her fellow class of 1904 graduates, and the photo of the theater, the caption of which says it was located on Macomb Street in the historic Frenchtown district (Google Books preview.)The New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists provides this web page with information about the Moller organ installed in the 86th Street Theatre when Marcus Loew took over its operation in 1916.
A fairly detailed history of the Yorkville Theatre can be found here It confirms TonyV’s claim that there was no theater in this building in the 1940s and later. The Yorkville closed for good in 1928.
Loew’s 86th Street, as Tony notes, was across from the Orpheum. Its address was 162 E. 86th, and a description of its organ, installed when Loew took over in 1916, can be found on this web page.
The Liberty Theatre building was not destroyed by the 2013 fire, though the roof was damaged beyond repair. A permit for the installation of new roof trusses was issued by the city in February, 2014. The city itself paid for emergency repairs to prevent the walls from collapsing. As NoReturn (second comment back) saw the building still standing in 2016, the repairs apparently succeeded. 114 N. 4th Avenue, #B, is currently the office of American Family Insurance, so I would guess the repaired building has been divided into space for at least two offices.
The two year delay in construction following the original announcement of the theater project in 1912 led to a change of architects. This item is from the February 12, 1914, issue of Engineering News:
The theater was of course between Lewis and Clark Streets, and I doubt if it cost anywhere near the $300,000 the item claimed, but despite the name “Pasco Playhouse” the item surely is about the Cord/Liberty.Doughty’s involvement in the project is confirmed by this fairly detailed history of the Liberty Theatre written by Sarah LeCompte in 1984. LeCompte doesn’t mention the name Showbox Theatre, but does in the opening paragraph call it the Liberty-Playtime Theatre.
The Uptown Theatre is now the home of a church with the rather unchurch-like name Eastlake Tri-Cities. Here is the map from their web site.
NeonMichael: If I saved a copy it is trapped on my old computer’s hard drive, but I believe the history you linked to is the same one. The Swan probably wouldn’t have shown up in the catalog until 1956, as it was built after the 1955 edition went to press.
However, it might not be in the 1956 catalog either, as about that time the catalog became less comprehensive, dropping its list of independent houses and listing only those that were part of chains. I don’t remember exactly which year they did that, but it was in the 1950s. If the “official” lists of that era were derived from the catalog, then a lot of independent theaters are probably missing.
Might be listed as CKH Theatre, as on this web page, which gives a number (I haven’t tried it to see if it works.)
An advertisement, and the caption of a photo, on the newspaper page rivest266 linked to say that the King Theatre was designed by architect Herbert C. Cayton.
Herbert Cohen Cayton appears to have been fairly well known in his day, but the only other buildings of his design to which I can find references on the Internet are a small craftsman bungalow and the 1934 design of Honolulu’s U.S. Immigration Station, done in collaboration with architect C.W. Dickey.
Loew’s Boston Common 19 was designed by the Rockwell Group. The firm’s founder, David Rockwell, also won the 2016 Tony award for best scenic design of a musical, for “She Loves Me.”
There is no Main Street in Barberton today.
The Grand Theatre was a rebuild of the Grand Opera House which had suffered several fires over its career, the last in 1922. It had been leased since 1910 for vaudeville and pictures by the Soblosky brothers, operators of the Garrick Theatre. A bit of the Grand’s history can be found on this web page.
Thumbnails of two interior photos of the Garrick can be seen on this page at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings.
The Garrick Theatre was in operation prior to 1910 as a vaudeville house. It was owned and operated by the Sablosky family, who dominated the theater business in Norristown for decades.
An item in the April 25, 1950, issue of The Billboard noted that Dave Sablosky had announced his intention of closing the Garrick and Westmar Theatres. Upcoming pictures booked at the two houses would instead be shown at the Ridge Pike Drive-In at Conshohocken.