This web page has three stories about small towns in Virginia, the last of them being Exmore. It says that the Cameo Theatre opened in 1938 with the Katherine Hepburn-Ginger Rogers film Stage Door. The house closed in the late 1950s.
The building is now occupied by a company called New Ravenna Mosaics, which bills itself as a designer of handcrafted mosaics in glass and stone. The ultimate goal is to restore the Cameo for use as the company’s main showroom.
The Majestic is listed in Frank Cullen’s book Vaudeville Old & New as one of four Reading houses that were at one time or another on the Keith-Albee vaudeville circuit (the other three were the Hippodrome, the Rajah, and Wilmer & Vincent’s Orpheum.)
The March 3, 1923, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the original Fairmont Theatre:
“The theatre being erected on Adams street, Fairmont, W. Va., by the West Virginia Amusement Company, will be known as the Fairmont Theatre. The name was decided upon after a contest held among the citizens of the city, to suggest names for the new house.”
The former Cherryvale Mall Cinema’s original, three-screen building is now the home of the GAR South Trampoline Park, operated by Gymnastics Academy of Rockford, so I suppose gymnasium would be the most accurate description of the current use. The trampoline park uses the address 1949 South Bell School Road, but even with that address Google Maps won’t put the pin icon in the proper place.
The building is at the southwest corner of Bell School Road and Mid Mall Drive, at the northeast corner of the mall property. In Google Maps' satellite view the building appears to be in good condition, but street view shows that grass is attempting to reclaim the severely crazed parking lot.
An ad for the Massey Seating Company on this page of Boxoffice, August 2, 1976, features a photo of one of the auditoriums of Plitt’s CherryVale 1-2-3.
The March 13, 1972, issue of Boxoffice said that a free-standing Jerry Lewis Cinema had opened March 1 in Monahans, Texas, at the southwest corner of 2nd and Allen. That’s where the Texan is.
The Wikipedia article on the Sylvester Commercial Historic District, citing an NRHP nomination form, says that the Sylvia Theatre was built in 1915 at 118 E. Kelly Street.
The Sylvia Theatre was mentioned in the May 14, 1921, issue of The Moving Picture World. The manager at that time was named R.A. Heinsohn, but the magazine misspelled it as Heinshon.
I believe the theater was in a building now housing the Daniel Auction Co., which uses the address 116 but is wide enough to have housed a theater entrance flanked by two small storefronts. A taller section at the back, which looks to have been an addition, could have been the auditorium.
It looks like the Dowagiac Theatre’s building is still standing, occupied by the offices of an outfit called LPL Financial, a business services and financial planning company, but the facade has been refinished with new brick.
Comments on the Caruso Theatre page at Water Winter Wonderland indicate that, though the theater never reopened after the 1977 fire, the marquee remained in place until 2004. Another comment says that Paul Caruso sold the theater in 1965.
Projects built for Loeks Theatres/Celebration! Cinema since 1995 have been designed by Grand Rapids architectural firm Post Associates, which is headed by Mark Post.
I see a Theatre Street in Concord, but none in Penacook, which is some distance north of Concord.
I tried to look this house up on cinemadata.org, but the site’s url returns only 404 “Not Found” errors. I hope it hasn’t vanished from the web forever. It has been a good source for information about New England theaters.
Don Lewis’s photo shows that, behind that ugly false front, the State Theatre has nice, decorative brickwork similar to that of Homer Harper’s Loma Theatre in Coloma, though the State also had a bit of ornate decoration now concealed by the angled sections of the false front. This would probably be a very handsome building if that ill-advised remodeling, which was probably done in the 1970s, would be undone.
The facade treatment of the Loma Theatre is quite similar to Homer Harper’s State Theatre in Benton Harbor, except the State’s original brick has been covered up with one of those (probably aluminum) false fronts so popular for cheap remodeling jobs in the 1960s and 1970s.
I believe the address 229 is obsolete. If the Smithfield Theatre was built next door to the Jamestown Theatre, then it had to have been in what is now the 100 block of Main Street, between Mason Street and Church Street. See my comment on the Jamestown Theatre page for more detail.
The addresses on the map wsasser uploaded appear to be obsolete. It shows the Jamestown Hotel on the south side of Main Street between Mason Street and Church Street (not labeled on the map, but it’s the street angling off to the southeast.) That block is now the 100 block.
I notice that the old map also shows both odd and even numbers on both sides of the street. The numbering system today has odd numbers on the south side and even numbers on the north. I suspect that the renumbering took place when Church Street, which ends at Main Street on the old map, was cut through to the north.
The Nebraska State Historical Society’s page about Omaha architectural firm John Latenser & Sons includes in its references section a listing of the Orpheum Theatre as a 1954 project. Given the timing, this was likely a renovation that included adapting the house for CinemaScope movies.
The June 29, 1918, issue of Dramatic Mirror said that Aubrey M. Kennedy’s new Symphony Theatre had opened on June 14. The opening night feature film was The Unchastened Woman, starring Grace Valentine.
The Rhapsodic commentary on the opening of the Rialto that appeared in the June 22, 1918, issue of Motography is worth quoting in full:
“New $750,000 Theatre Opened at Omaha
“A. H. Blank and Associates Give Pictures a Home That Has Few Equals in the Country
“THE Rialto Theatre of Omaha, Nebraska, built at a cost of $750,000, was recently opened to the public.
“It is one of the most beautiful playhouses devoted to pictures in America. The exterior was designed by John Latenser, Jr., and the interior by Frank Latenser, two Omaha architects. The structure is a composite of Venetian renaissance with modern adaptations. The building is 132x132 in dimensions. The dominant tones of the exterior trimming are of old ivory and blue terra cotta, with panels of tapestry brick in soft tones.
“The interior gives the spectator the effect of overlooking an Italian formal garden. Mural paintings form a per-> spective in which Lombardy poplars and ornamental shrubs lead the eye away to far-off mountains. There are marble balustrades and balconies with alcoves containing cleverly lighted fountains.
“The house is flooded with light from concealed electric globes and many beautiful color effects are gained.
“The seating arrangement is in keeping with the perfection of the house. The seats in the pit are so located that a perfect view of the screen is given from any part of the floor. There are no columns or pillars to obstruct the view.
“The draperies of the curtain and screen are of old rose silk velour, and all of the carpets are of soft-toned gray. Usherettes are costumed in gray, in keeping with the color scheme.
“The ventilation and heating system is the best obtainable. The washed air system is used and the air is entirely changed in the theatre ten times in an hour.
“One of the largest organs in the world has been installed. A prominent musician, Kenneth Widenor, is the organist. The orchestra is under the direction of Harry Silverman.
“The Rialto is essentially an Omaha institution, owned by Charles Grotte, Walter Brandes, John Latenser, Sr., and A. H. Blank.
“The opening play was John Barrymore in ‘Raffles.’ Paramount and Fox standard pictures are shown.”
Of interest are the revelations that the interior was designed by Frank J. Latenser in “…a composite of Venetian renaissance with modern adaptations.” The “modern adaptations” must have referred to such things as the art nouveau lighting fixtures I noted in an earlier comment.
The firm of John Latenser & Sons was formed in 1914 when John L. Latenser, who had practiced architecture in Omaha since 1885, established a partnership with his sons, who thereupon took over most of the work. On the Rialto project, John Jr. designed the exterior and acted as structural engineer and supervising architect. The Rialto was the first of five theater projects designed by the firm, including a 1954 remodeling of the Orpheum.
The January 2, 1929, issue of The Film Daily noted briefly that the Suffolk Amusement Company’s new Cavalier Theatre at Suffolk, Virginia, had opened recently.
The Cavalier Theatre has been demolished, but the buildings across the street are still standing. The one that in the vintage photo looks like it is probably directly opposite the theater has two storefronts with the addresses 147 and 149 N. Main, so the Theatre was probably at 148 N. Main. The theater’s site is now under the footprint of the courthouse.
Courtesy ads in school yearbook from as early as 1942 and as late as 1952 indicate that the Cavalier was during that period operated by the Pitts' Theaters chain.
This web page has three stories about small towns in Virginia, the last of them being Exmore. It says that the Cameo Theatre opened in 1938 with the Katherine Hepburn-Ginger Rogers film Stage Door. The house closed in the late 1950s.
The building is now occupied by a company called New Ravenna Mosaics, which bills itself as a designer of handcrafted mosaics in glass and stone. The ultimate goal is to restore the Cameo for use as the company’s main showroom.
The Majestic is listed in Frank Cullen’s book Vaudeville Old & New as one of four Reading houses that were at one time or another on the Keith-Albee vaudeville circuit (the other three were the Hippodrome, the Rajah, and Wilmer & Vincent’s Orpheum.)
The March 3, 1923, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the original Fairmont Theatre:
Goodbye to another Palace. CinemaTour has a few exterior photos made in 1989.
The former Cherryvale Mall Cinema’s original, three-screen building is now the home of the GAR South Trampoline Park, operated by Gymnastics Academy of Rockford, so I suppose gymnasium would be the most accurate description of the current use. The trampoline park uses the address 1949 South Bell School Road, but even with that address Google Maps won’t put the pin icon in the proper place.
The building is at the southwest corner of Bell School Road and Mid Mall Drive, at the northeast corner of the mall property. In Google Maps' satellite view the building appears to be in good condition, but street view shows that grass is attempting to reclaim the severely crazed parking lot.
An ad for the Massey Seating Company on this page of Boxoffice, August 2, 1976, features a photo of one of the auditoriums of Plitt’s CherryVale 1-2-3.
Linkrot repair: The August 2, 1976, Boxoffice article about the original Northwest Six can now be found at this link.
Linkrot repair: Large scans of the article about the Plaza Theatre in the August 2, 1976, issue of Boxoffice can now be seen at this link.
Ah, yes, I see that the latticework brick parapet on the former department store building has survived intact.
The March 13, 1972, issue of Boxoffice said that a free-standing Jerry Lewis Cinema had opened March 1 in Monahans, Texas, at the southwest corner of 2nd and Allen. That’s where the Texan is.
The Wikipedia article on the Sylvester Commercial Historic District, citing an NRHP nomination form, says that the Sylvia Theatre was built in 1915 at 118 E. Kelly Street.
The Sylvia Theatre was mentioned in the May 14, 1921, issue of The Moving Picture World. The manager at that time was named R.A. Heinsohn, but the magazine misspelled it as Heinshon.
I believe the theater was in a building now housing the Daniel Auction Co., which uses the address 116 but is wide enough to have housed a theater entrance flanked by two small storefronts. A taller section at the back, which looks to have been an addition, could have been the auditorium.
Duke Filmography lists the Olympia Theatre as first appearing in the FDY in 1932. It was an Odeon house.
It looks like the Dowagiac Theatre’s building is still standing, occupied by the offices of an outfit called LPL Financial, a business services and financial planning company, but the facade has been refinished with new brick.
Comments on the Caruso Theatre page at Water Winter Wonderland indicate that, though the theater never reopened after the 1977 fire, the marquee remained in place until 2004. Another comment says that Paul Caruso sold the theater in 1965.
Projects built for Loeks Theatres/Celebration! Cinema since 1995 have been designed by Grand Rapids architectural firm Post Associates, which is headed by Mark Post.
I see a Theatre Street in Concord, but none in Penacook, which is some distance north of Concord.
I tried to look this house up on cinemadata.org, but the site’s url returns only 404 “Not Found” errors. I hope it hasn’t vanished from the web forever. It has been a good source for information about New England theaters.
Don Lewis’s photo shows that, behind that ugly false front, the State Theatre has nice, decorative brickwork similar to that of Homer Harper’s Loma Theatre in Coloma, though the State also had a bit of ornate decoration now concealed by the angled sections of the false front. This would probably be a very handsome building if that ill-advised remodeling, which was probably done in the 1970s, would be undone.
The facade treatment of the Loma Theatre is quite similar to Homer Harper’s State Theatre in Benton Harbor, except the State’s original brick has been covered up with one of those (probably aluminum) false fronts so popular for cheap remodeling jobs in the 1960s and 1970s.
I believe the address 229 is obsolete. If the Smithfield Theatre was built next door to the Jamestown Theatre, then it had to have been in what is now the 100 block of Main Street, between Mason Street and Church Street. See my comment on the Jamestown Theatre page for more detail.
The addresses on the map wsasser uploaded appear to be obsolete. It shows the Jamestown Hotel on the south side of Main Street between Mason Street and Church Street (not labeled on the map, but it’s the street angling off to the southeast.) That block is now the 100 block.
I notice that the old map also shows both odd and even numbers on both sides of the street. The numbering system today has odd numbers on the south side and even numbers on the north. I suspect that the renumbering took place when Church Street, which ends at Main Street on the old map, was cut through to the north.
The Nebraska State Historical Society’s page about Omaha architectural firm John Latenser & Sons includes in its references section a listing of the Orpheum Theatre as a 1954 project. Given the timing, this was likely a renovation that included adapting the house for CinemaScope movies.
The June 29, 1918, issue of Dramatic Mirror said that Aubrey M. Kennedy’s new Symphony Theatre had opened on June 14. The opening night feature film was The Unchastened Woman, starring Grace Valentine.
The Rhapsodic commentary on the opening of the Rialto that appeared in the June 22, 1918, issue of Motography is worth quoting in full:
Of interest are the revelations that the interior was designed by Frank J. Latenser in “…a composite of Venetian renaissance with modern adaptations.” The “modern adaptations” must have referred to such things as the art nouveau lighting fixtures I noted in an earlier comment.The firm of John Latenser & Sons was formed in 1914 when John L. Latenser, who had practiced architecture in Omaha since 1885, established a partnership with his sons, who thereupon took over most of the work. On the Rialto project, John Jr. designed the exterior and acted as structural engineer and supervising architect. The Rialto was the first of five theater projects designed by the firm, including a 1954 remodeling of the Orpheum.
The Phoenix Theatre was opened on June 14, 1913, according to the December 6 issue of The Moving Picture World.
The January 2, 1929, issue of The Film Daily noted briefly that the Suffolk Amusement Company’s new Cavalier Theatre at Suffolk, Virginia, had opened recently.
The Cavalier Theatre has been demolished, but the buildings across the street are still standing. The one that in the vintage photo looks like it is probably directly opposite the theater has two storefronts with the addresses 147 and 149 N. Main, so the Theatre was probably at 148 N. Main. The theater’s site is now under the footprint of the courthouse.
Courtesy ads in school yearbook from as early as 1942 and as late as 1952 indicate that the Cavalier was during that period operated by the Pitts' Theaters chain.