The Elm Theater was in operation by 1922, being mentioned in both the April 3 and April 20 issues of The Kentucky Post. An article about the construction of the new Ludlow Theatre appeared in Showmen’s Trade Review of October 13, 1945, saying that the new house “…will be built for Louis Wiethe and Harry Hilling. Hilling is the operator of the existing Ludlow Theatre which will be replaced by the new structure.” The 1945 FDY lists only the the Elm Theatre at Ludlow, so it must have been the one being replaced by the new house, which opened January 4, 1947. The 1914-1915 AMPD lists only the Wilma Theatre, 2 Elm Street, at Ludlow, so the Elm must have opened later.
The October 13, 1945 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review said that a remodeling of the Broadway Theatre in Covington had recently been completed by the F& Y Building Service.
Another item about the 1923 mystery theater planned for Fifth Avenue is this one from the August 11, 1923 Exhibitors Trade Review: “PITTSBURGH, PA. - Rubin & VeShancey, Union Arcade have completed plans for the $75.000 to $100,000 soon to be erected Fifth Avenue, near Mages St., by Owner, The Majestic Theatre Corporation, Jos. C. Marcus, 2014 Fifth Ave.”
This is probably the house that was the subject of this item in the August 11, 1923 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review: “TRENTON, N. J.- Walter Hankin, 39 State Street, Trenton, has completed plans for the theatre to be placed on Olden & Walnut Aves., by Owner, George E. Ten Eyck, care architect.”
A 1941 photo on this web page shows the spelling Gaiety on the theater’s small sign. I’ve also come across a blog post mentioning in passing “Ten Eyck’s Gaiety Theatre.”
This item from Exhibitors Trade Review of August 11, 1923 might be about this house: “L. F. W. Stuebe, 415 Adams Bldg., Danville, Ill., has completed plans for the theatre soon to be erected by C. P. McDonogh, Milford.” The architect’s full name was Leonard Frederick William Stuebe.
The August 11, 1923 Exhibitors Trade Review said that James Cardina had bought a Marr & Colton Concert organ for this new theater under construction on Bailey Avenue.
Exhibitors Trade Review of August 11, 1923 said that W. W. Berinstein’s Hudson Theatre at Albany had been almost totally destroyed by a recent fire. Berinstein also operated the Colonial Theatre in Albany, as well as houses in Troy, Elmira, and Schenectady.
The 350-seat Regent Theatre is the only house listed at Eureka, Kansas in the 1926 FDY. The absence of the Princess was probably an oversight, as there was a movie theater on that theater’s site as early as 1917, while the name Princess appears in trade journals as early as January, 1925, and the Princess is listed in later editions of the FDY. In 1923 a new theater was proposed on the northwest corner of 4th and Main, though I’ve been unable to confirm that the project was carried out. If it was, then it might have been the Regent.
I’ve found the Princess mentioned in trade journals as early as January, 1925. A 1917 Sanborn map shows a movie theater on the Princess’s site, though the flanking storefronts were numbered 116 and 118, with 120 and 122 being the numbers for a garage to the north, the location of the Safeway market in our vintage photo.
The theater probably had a different name in 1917. The 1914-1915 AMPD lists three houses at Eureka. One, the Gem, was listed on S. Main St., but no locations were given for the other two, the Crescent and the Electric, so one of those might have been the house that became the Princess. The Electric is mentioned in trade journals a late as 1923.
Trade and construction journals in 1923 note a proposal for a new theater on the northwest corner of 4th and Main streets in Eureka, but I’ve been unable to discover if the proposal was carried out. In any case, both the northwest and southeast corners of 4th and Main are now occupied by modern buildings, so the Princess and any theater that might have been built on the northwest corner have been demolished.
A 1932 item I can’t date precisely because it only appears in a snippet of Google books search says “…Klock has taken over Dickinson’s Uptown Theatre at Neodesha , Kas . , and will assume operation of the house on April 24.” This is the only reference to a Neodesha house called the Uptown I have yet seen.
Here is an item from the July 13, 1929 Motion Picture News:
“Dickinson Absorbs Klock’s Houses In Neodesha, Kans.
“A total of twenty-four motion picture theatres is now held by the Glen W. Dickinson circuit, the two Glen E. Klock houses in Neodesha, Kans., being acquired by the Dickinson chain last week. The purchase price
was not disclosed. The key house will be completely redecorated and installed with W. E. Sound equipment, according to Chester D. Bell, general manager of the Dickinson circuit. The opening is set for September 1.”
A Gene [mistake?] Klock had acquired the Princess Theatre in Neodesha, according to The Billboard of October 30, 1926.
Among theater changes listed in Kansas in the July 23, 1934 Film Daily is the notice “NEODESHA - Crescent (dismantled).” Oddly, a new house called the Gem appeared under the “openings” heading in the same column. The Gem was run by an A. J. Long, and was mentioned again in the December 8 issue of the <em<Daily, so lasted at least half a year.
The Billboard of March 6, 1909 mentioned a New Theatre in Neodesha, though it provided no details other than the names of the manager (J. D. Allen) and booking agent (J. J. Coleman.) The 610-seat Blakeslee Theatre, Barton Blakeslee manager, is listed in the 1909-1910 Cahn guide. Oddly, J. D. Allen was listed in the guide as the bill poster for the house. I guess he got downgraded.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory still lists the Glendale Theatre at 704 4th Street (renamed Broadway in 1918) but also lists a second Glendale Theatre at 521 4th Street (this would have been on the block where the post office is now.) There were also houses called the Jewell City Theatre and the Majestic Theatre, with no addresses provided.
After reexamining a history of the Gustine area by Patricia Carson Snoke I am convinced that the Gustine Theatre was the former Gustine Opera House, which Ms. Snoke says opened in May, 1912. It was equipped to show movies from the beginning, but also presented vaudeville and a variety of local events. In 1915 it was sold to Peter Bladt, who remodeled it, giving it a sloped floor for the first time.
On March 7, 1920 a projection booth fire broke out during the show. A capacity audience escaped unscathed, though a bucket brigade using water from a nearby horse trough failed to save the building or two neighboring structures. There were presumed casualties, however. Several goldfish who had been kept in the trough by a local were missing following the conflagration, and were assumed to have perished in the flames, or perhaps under the feet of the bucket brigade.
The correct address of the Valley Theatre is 498 Fifth Street. The timeline in a locally published history of the Gustine area by Patricia Carson Snoke says that Jack Frates built the Victoria Theatre in 1920. It was remodeled and renamed Valley Theatre in 1948. It closed in 1954 and the building was converted for use as a bowling alley in 1958.
As Trolleyguy notes in the previous comment, the most recent occupant of the building was an antique mall, said to be permanently closed in a notation on the March, 2024 Google street view. Real estate web sites say the unoccupied building is currently listed for sale at $375,000.
This house might have opened earlier than 1919, or perhaps there was an earlier theater of the same name. This item is from Moving Picture World of November 17, 1917: “GUSTINE, CALIF.—Gustine theater has opened under the management of Fred Muller.” Gustine had a movie theater at least as early as 1916, when the April1 MPW had this item: “Gustine, Cal.—P. J. Bladt has taken over a theater here and has installed a Power’s Cameragraph No. 6A and a Fort Wayne Compensarc.”
The Gustine Theatre suffered a fire in 1920, as reported in the April 3 Exhibitors Herald: “NEWMAN. CAL.— The Gustine theatre was destroyed recently by fire which originated in the projection room.”
The notice datelined Columbia, MO, in Boxoffice of December 11, 1948 said “A. B. Coleman plans to open the new Frances, a 400-seater, to cater the Negro trade, early in January. Construction is underway.”
Groundbreaking for the $40,000, 425-seat theater project at Lodi, Wisconsin was noted in the December 11, 1948 issue of Boxoffice. Opening was expected in the spring of 1949. Owner Lyle Turner had been operating a theater in the town’s City Hall. The new building would feature a concrete block front with second floor office, projection booth, and cry room, and a Quonset type auditorium.
The Bell Theatre suffered $25,000 damage from a fire in late 1948, according to the item in Boxoffice of December 11 that year. The damage included the loss of the building’s roof, though the 500 seats suffered only water damage. The owners of the house at that time were Leon Kaplan and Nathan Fadim.
Ralph Todd’s sale of the Diana Theatre and its equipment to Willis J. Ford of Peoria was noted in the December 11, 1948 issue of Boxoffice. Ford was slated to take control of the house around January 1.
A December 11, 1948 Boxoffice item noted that work had begun on Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baker’s new, 500-seat theater at Bunker Hill, Illinois. The Bakers' earlier house, the 350-seat Lincoln Theatre, had been “blown over” by a tornado on March 19, though “[l]ater it was righted and repaired, reopening for business in May.” The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists only a house called the Lyric Theatre at Bunker Hill, and the 1926 FDY has only a theater called the Opera House. No details were provided for either, so there are no clues if either was the Lincoln under earlier name.
The Sidney Theatre at Sidney Iowa was on a list of movie houses that was published in the April 7, 1958 issue of Boxoffice under the heading “Theatres Reopened During First Quarter of 1958.” The headline of the accompanying article noted that 114 theaters in 39 states had been relit since January 1, many having been renovated as well. Another item in the same issue said that Quentin Chapman had taken over the Sidney Theatre from Earl Cowden, who had operated the house for many years.
The August 20, 1927 issue of Movie Age said that “[t]he old Opera House at Sidney, Iowa, which has been used lately as a picture house is being torn down.” The Opera House might have gotten a reprieve, as it is listed one last time in the 1929 FDY, though this could easily be one of the FDY’s frequent errors.
Colchester’s original Princess Theatre was in operation by 1921, as the November 12 issue of Exhibitors Herald that year published a letter from the manager, T. H. Smith. Colchester had not been listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
An article about the Princess in the spring, 1998 issue of the Colchester Area Historical Society Newsletter reveals that the first Princess was at a different location than its 1926 replacement. The new theater’s site had been occupied by a building that burned, but it had housed a retail store. Thomas Smith moved his Princess Theater into its new building on April 22, 1926. The opening program included an organ concert, an International News Reel, an “Our Gang” comedy, and the MGM feature “The Midshipman” starring Ramon Navarro.
The new theater had been designed by Peoria architect Hamilton Bogart Dox.
The Elm Theater was in operation by 1922, being mentioned in both the April 3 and April 20 issues of The Kentucky Post. An article about the construction of the new Ludlow Theatre appeared in Showmen’s Trade Review of October 13, 1945, saying that the new house “…will be built for Louis Wiethe and Harry Hilling. Hilling is the operator of the existing Ludlow Theatre which will be replaced by the new structure.” The 1945 FDY lists only the the Elm Theatre at Ludlow, so it must have been the one being replaced by the new house, which opened January 4, 1947. The 1914-1915 AMPD lists only the Wilma Theatre, 2 Elm Street, at Ludlow, so the Elm must have opened later.
The October 13, 1945 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review said that a remodeling of the Broadway Theatre in Covington had recently been completed by the F& Y Building Service.
Another item about the 1923 mystery theater planned for Fifth Avenue is this one from the August 11, 1923 Exhibitors Trade Review: “PITTSBURGH, PA. - Rubin & VeShancey, Union Arcade have completed plans for the $75.000 to $100,000 soon to be erected Fifth Avenue, near Mages St., by Owner, The Majestic Theatre Corporation, Jos. C. Marcus, 2014 Fifth Ave.”
This is probably the house that was the subject of this item in the August 11, 1923 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review: “TRENTON, N. J.- Walter Hankin, 39 State Street, Trenton, has completed plans for the theatre to be placed on Olden & Walnut Aves., by Owner, George E. Ten Eyck, care architect.”
A 1941 photo on this web page shows the spelling Gaiety on the theater’s small sign. I’ve also come across a blog post mentioning in passing “Ten Eyck’s Gaiety Theatre.”
This item from Exhibitors Trade Review of August 11, 1923 might be about this house: “L. F. W. Stuebe, 415 Adams Bldg., Danville, Ill., has completed plans for the theatre soon to be erected by C. P. McDonogh, Milford.” The architect’s full name was Leonard Frederick William Stuebe.
The August 11, 1923 Exhibitors Trade Review said that James Cardina had bought a Marr & Colton Concert organ for this new theater under construction on Bailey Avenue.
Exhibitors Trade Review of August 11, 1923 said that W. W. Berinstein’s Hudson Theatre at Albany had been almost totally destroyed by a recent fire. Berinstein also operated the Colonial Theatre in Albany, as well as houses in Troy, Elmira, and Schenectady.
The 350-seat Regent Theatre is the only house listed at Eureka, Kansas in the 1926 FDY. The absence of the Princess was probably an oversight, as there was a movie theater on that theater’s site as early as 1917, while the name Princess appears in trade journals as early as January, 1925, and the Princess is listed in later editions of the FDY. In 1923 a new theater was proposed on the northwest corner of 4th and Main, though I’ve been unable to confirm that the project was carried out. If it was, then it might have been the Regent.
I’ve found the Princess mentioned in trade journals as early as January, 1925. A 1917 Sanborn map shows a movie theater on the Princess’s site, though the flanking storefronts were numbered 116 and 118, with 120 and 122 being the numbers for a garage to the north, the location of the Safeway market in our vintage photo.
The theater probably had a different name in 1917. The 1914-1915 AMPD lists three houses at Eureka. One, the Gem, was listed on S. Main St., but no locations were given for the other two, the Crescent and the Electric, so one of those might have been the house that became the Princess. The Electric is mentioned in trade journals a late as 1923.
Trade and construction journals in 1923 note a proposal for a new theater on the northwest corner of 4th and Main streets in Eureka, but I’ve been unable to discover if the proposal was carried out. In any case, both the northwest and southeast corners of 4th and Main are now occupied by modern buildings, so the Princess and any theater that might have been built on the northwest corner have been demolished.
A 1932 item I can’t date precisely because it only appears in a snippet of Google books search says “…Klock has taken over Dickinson’s Uptown Theatre at Neodesha , Kas . , and will assume operation of the house on April 24.” This is the only reference to a Neodesha house called the Uptown I have yet seen.
Here is an item from the July 13, 1929 Motion Picture News:
A Gene [mistake?] Klock had acquired the Princess Theatre in Neodesha, according to The Billboard of October 30, 1926.Among theater changes listed in Kansas in the July 23, 1934 Film Daily is the notice “NEODESHA - Crescent (dismantled).” Oddly, a new house called the Gem appeared under the “openings” heading in the same column. The Gem was run by an A. J. Long, and was mentioned again in the December 8 issue of the <em<Daily, so lasted at least half a year.
The Billboard of March 6, 1909 mentioned a New Theatre in Neodesha, though it provided no details other than the names of the manager (J. D. Allen) and booking agent (J. J. Coleman.) The 610-seat Blakeslee Theatre, Barton Blakeslee manager, is listed in the 1909-1910 Cahn guide. Oddly, J. D. Allen was listed in the guide as the bill poster for the house. I guess he got downgraded.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory still lists the Glendale Theatre at 704 4th Street (renamed Broadway in 1918) but also lists a second Glendale Theatre at 521 4th Street (this would have been on the block where the post office is now.) There were also houses called the Jewell City Theatre and the Majestic Theatre, with no addresses provided.
After reexamining a history of the Gustine area by Patricia Carson Snoke I am convinced that the Gustine Theatre was the former Gustine Opera House, which Ms. Snoke says opened in May, 1912. It was equipped to show movies from the beginning, but also presented vaudeville and a variety of local events. In 1915 it was sold to Peter Bladt, who remodeled it, giving it a sloped floor for the first time.
On March 7, 1920 a projection booth fire broke out during the show. A capacity audience escaped unscathed, though a bucket brigade using water from a nearby horse trough failed to save the building or two neighboring structures. There were presumed casualties, however. Several goldfish who had been kept in the trough by a local were missing following the conflagration, and were assumed to have perished in the flames, or perhaps under the feet of the bucket brigade.
The correct address of the Valley Theatre is 498 Fifth Street. The timeline in a locally published history of the Gustine area by Patricia Carson Snoke says that Jack Frates built the Victoria Theatre in 1920. It was remodeled and renamed Valley Theatre in 1948. It closed in 1954 and the building was converted for use as a bowling alley in 1958.
As Trolleyguy notes in the previous comment, the most recent occupant of the building was an antique mall, said to be permanently closed in a notation on the March, 2024 Google street view. Real estate web sites say the unoccupied building is currently listed for sale at $375,000.
This house might have opened earlier than 1919, or perhaps there was an earlier theater of the same name. This item is from Moving Picture World of November 17, 1917: “GUSTINE, CALIF.—Gustine theater has opened under the management of Fred Muller.” Gustine had a movie theater at least as early as 1916, when the April1 MPW had this item: “Gustine, Cal.—P. J. Bladt has taken over a theater here and has installed a Power’s Cameragraph No. 6A and a Fort Wayne Compensarc.”
The Gustine Theatre suffered a fire in 1920, as reported in the April 3 Exhibitors Herald: “NEWMAN. CAL.— The Gustine theatre was destroyed recently by fire which originated in the projection room.”
The notice datelined Columbia, MO, in Boxoffice of December 11, 1948 said “A. B. Coleman plans to open the new Frances, a 400-seater, to cater the Negro trade, early in January. Construction is underway.”
Groundbreaking for the $40,000, 425-seat theater project at Lodi, Wisconsin was noted in the December 11, 1948 issue of Boxoffice. Opening was expected in the spring of 1949. Owner Lyle Turner had been operating a theater in the town’s City Hall. The new building would feature a concrete block front with second floor office, projection booth, and cry room, and a Quonset type auditorium.
The Bell Theatre suffered $25,000 damage from a fire in late 1948, according to the item in Boxoffice of December 11 that year. The damage included the loss of the building’s roof, though the 500 seats suffered only water damage. The owners of the house at that time were Leon Kaplan and Nathan Fadim.
Ralph Todd’s sale of the Diana Theatre and its equipment to Willis J. Ford of Peoria was noted in the December 11, 1948 issue of Boxoffice. Ford was slated to take control of the house around January 1.
A December 11, 1948 Boxoffice item noted that work had begun on Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baker’s new, 500-seat theater at Bunker Hill, Illinois. The Bakers' earlier house, the 350-seat Lincoln Theatre, had been “blown over” by a tornado on March 19, though “[l]ater it was righted and repaired, reopening for business in May.” The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists only a house called the Lyric Theatre at Bunker Hill, and the 1926 FDY has only a theater called the Opera House. No details were provided for either, so there are no clues if either was the Lincoln under earlier name.
The Sidney Theatre at Sidney Iowa was on a list of movie houses that was published in the April 7, 1958 issue of Boxoffice under the heading “Theatres Reopened During First Quarter of 1958.” The headline of the accompanying article noted that 114 theaters in 39 states had been relit since January 1, many having been renovated as well. Another item in the same issue said that Quentin Chapman had taken over the Sidney Theatre from Earl Cowden, who had operated the house for many years.
The August 20, 1927 issue of Movie Age said that “[t]he old Opera House at Sidney, Iowa, which has been used lately as a picture house is being torn down.” The Opera House might have gotten a reprieve, as it is listed one last time in the 1929 FDY, though this could easily be one of the FDY’s frequent errors.
Colchester’s original Princess Theatre was in operation by 1921, as the November 12 issue of Exhibitors Herald that year published a letter from the manager, T. H. Smith. Colchester had not been listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
An article about the Princess in the spring, 1998 issue of the Colchester Area Historical Society Newsletter reveals that the first Princess was at a different location than its 1926 replacement. The new theater’s site had been occupied by a building that burned, but it had housed a retail store. Thomas Smith moved his Princess Theater into its new building on April 22, 1926. The opening program included an organ concert, an International News Reel, an “Our Gang” comedy, and the MGM feature “The Midshipman” starring Ramon Navarro.
The new theater had been designed by Peoria architect Hamilton Bogart Dox.