Additional timeline history credit Kenosha History Center.
“Ground was broken on what was to be called the Butterfly Theatre in September 1916 (not to be confused with the older Butterfly in Milwaukee, which was on the site of the extant Warner Grand). Columbia Hall was demolished to make the room. I don’t know if we have a photo of that building, nor many details about it. It existed at least by the 1880s, and was a standard hall. Indoor baseball, concerts, dances, speeches, plays, weddings… Sometimes an older building is converted into a new building, but this is not the case. On 2 September 1916, the Kenosha News reported that "This morning workmen laid the pick an axe to old Columbia Hall and it is to be leveled…”
The Butterfly Theatre was to be the finest theater in the city at that point, costing Ernst Klinkert of Racine and Kenosha’s Charles Pacini a total of $45,000. Pacini would be the operator with a long term lease. At construction, with George Lindemann as general contractor and Tully as the masonry contractor, it was claimed the theater would seat 1000 people but by the time it opened that dropped to 650. Charles O. Augustine, a Kenosha-based architect designed the building and its “sanitary” features: the ventilation was powerful enough to completely cycle the air in the theater every six minutes, it had separate flush toilets for gentlemen and ladies, floors that could be sanitized (I assume tile), a pipe organ, and space for an 14 piece orchestra.
Pacini already operated the Majestic on 6th Ave downtown (which would be remodeled after the Butterfly opened) and the Cozy Theatre on 7th Ave a block south of the Butterfly and closed up the Cozy and transferred its equipment to the new digs.
It opened 17 March 1917 to showings of Chaplin’s “Easy Street,” and a Helen Rosson drama called “The Undertow.” “Easy Street” is a classic, set a new standard for Chaplin comedic stunts. I am totally unfamiliar with “The Undertow;” it has a convoluted summary but it was a 5 reeler, so as many as 75 minutes long, and had time to spin a long yarn.
Pacini, as we all know, was murdered in August 1920. He owned the Majestic, Butterfly, and New Strand theatres and had the lease on the land of the Eichelman Hotel (where the Schwartz Building is today) and was planning a skyscraper with a huge theater inside. Within two years, the Butterfly would be a Collins theater, which also controlled the Burke and Virginian. The Pacini estate was complicated, apparently, and his heirs also said they wanted to make a go of it. But Collins by 1922.
At this point, I am going to stop trying to keep track of owners.
In 1929, the theater had a Movietone system installed to allow for talkies. Not long after, it closed. It’s mentioned into February 1930, and then vanishes for two years. And in August 1932, the theater reopened after a major redecoration, which included a new large screen instead of a small one. It shows the quality of reporting in “the good old days” that the newspaper didn’t bother looking when it closed but says it had been closed “three or four years.” Actually, only about two and a half.
In early 1941, it was redecorated again and reopened in May of that year as the Hollywood. And the photo was taken the following July.
The search terms “hollywood theater” or “hollywood theatre” in newspapers dot com yields too many durned results to sift through, as the site has a generous interpretation of searches. So let’s skip to 1952, in April the last listing of the films showing was posted: two East Side Kids films “The Smart Alecks” and “The Wise Guy.” The East Side Kids were a low budget 1940s copy of the successful 1930s Dead End Kids. The most well known Dead End Kids film was “Angels with Dirty Faces,” which was spoofed as nested films in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2”. Keep the change, ya filthy animal. The East Side Kids, however, were not successful. But they were retooled into The Bowery Boys, which were huge. The last East Side Kids movie premiered in 1945, the two showing at the Hollywood were from 1942: the Hollywood showing them in 1952 is sign of its decline.
It managed to reopen in October 1953, showing Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten in “Niagara.” That’s a good movie, it was a top film of the year so Hollywood is back? It was paired with “Invaders from Mars,” which isn’t as bad as it sounds, the camera work defies its genre, it performed well and was reviewed well and is still reviewed well, and is a massively significant film because Stephen Spielberg and Joe Dante and John Landis and Martin Scorsese all saw it as children and got interested in making movies.
But didn’t last.
In 1955, the Hollywood became home to the Kenosha Missionary Baptist Church, and in 1959 they moved out to become the Temple Baptist Church on 47th Ave and 52nd St.
In 1963, the Auxiliary of the Polish Legion of American Veterans began raising funds to convert the theater into a clubhouse. It was home to the PLAV for 49 years. In the spring of 2012 it was sold and reopened the next year as Circa on Seventh."
Per the Double Door Facebook page post below, it will sadly not be re-opening in the former Wilson Theatre as previously planned.
But in another location.
“It has been a long road …
I want to share an update, albeit a painful one for our artists and supporters. The opening of Double Door in the Uptown Wilson Theatre location as previously announced is not moving forward.
Staying true to what made Double Door Double Door matters. This isn’t an ending — it’s a pivot. We’re actively exploring other locations and opportunities that better align with our vision. And we think we have found one! This is all in an effort to keep the heart and soul of music and the Double Door moving forward.
In the meantime, we’re keeping the brand alive through pop-ups, collaborations, and special moments. Our first step is a collaboration with Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown. For almost 40 years Gallery Cabaret has been a haven for artists and musicians looking to showcase their craft in an eclectic neighborhood setting.
We are updating the sound, the music calendar, and the overall vibe that made Double Door the best place to see music, but more importantly, to be part of what makes Chicago’s scene the best in the country.
We will be reopening the bar on March 1st. Come and see us and check it out.
We hope you’ll stay with us, follow along, and be part of what comes next.”
As of January 2026 it has been renovated into divided retail spaces, with 4 entrances on the building’s left side.
New roof & mechanicals.
The marquee has been restored and reinstalled since the July 2025 street view.
Link with photos below.
Original owner and builder was Woodmont Development Corporation, leased to Sidney B. Lust for operation. Original seating was 1000.
(Image added with information)
Additional history credit Missouri Historical Society, link at bottom. January 31, 2017 Origin Story: The Fabulous Fox
by Jen Tebbe | Former Digital Communications Manager SHARE
Although his name isn’t on the marquee, St. Louisans largely have Charles Howard Crane to thank for the Fox Theatre’s breathtaking architecture. Crane, a Connecticut native, certainly had a niche: He designed more than 250 movie theaters over the course of his career, including several so-called movie palaces.
In 1914, New York’s Mark Strand Theatre became the first movie palace to open its doors. With its unique second-floor viewing balcony and the ability to seat approximately 3,000 people, the Strand ignited a new appreciation for escapism through entertainment. For a small fee, patrons could enter a movie palace and be engulfed in the rich and exotic, immediately forgetting the drudgery of day-to-day existence.
Crane’s Fox theatres in Detroit and St. Louis fully embraced the exotic with their use of Siamese-Byzantine style, which mixed “the salient features of Burmese, Hindoo, Persian, Indian and Chinese architecture and decoration,” according to the March 1929 issue of Union Electric Magazine. Owner William Fox referred to the theatres’ décor differently, calling it “Eve Leo style” in reference to his wife’s hands-on involvement: She traveled widely to purchase furnishings for Fox’s theatres, making numerous trips from New York to Detroit to St. Louis to oversee their delivery and installation.
The two theatres are nearly identical twins, with the biggest difference visible when you observe them from the street. Because Detroit’s Fox Theatre was built in that city’s downtown, it was attached to an office building—albeit an intricately styled one. St. Louis’s Fox Theatre was built far enough from downtown that the building could have its own ornate façade, hence the elaborate arch housing a massive window that overlooks the grandiose lobby inside.
On January 31, 1929, the St. Louis Fox was ready for its debut. William Fox himself addressed the crowds, as well as Missouri governor Henry S. Caulfield and St. Louis mayor Victor J. Miller. In addition to the feature film Street Angel, which also happened to be the premiere film at the Detroit Fox’s opening, attendees were treated to a performance of Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture courtesy of the 150-person Fox Grand Orchestra; Tableaux St. Louis, “a tribute to the city’s civic pride and progressive enterprise”; and a performance of Irving Berlin’s “Roses of Yesterday” by the Fox Ballet and Choral Ensemble.
Today the Fox is home to concerts and touring Broadway performances. Although these spectacles weren’t what Crane had in mind when designing the space, the escapist nature of the venue’s entertainment remains intact thanks to towering red-and-gold columns, a powerful Wurlitzer organ, a bejeweled chandelier, and stunning staircases that lead us up and away from our daily grind—for a few hours anyway.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because Crane’s renderings of the Fox are still under copyright, we can’t show you the detail here. If you want to take a look at—and even touch!—these fabulous artifacts, simply stop by the Library & Research Center at 225 S. Skinker Blvd. during regular operating hours.
Architecture, Charles Howard Crane, Detroit, Eve Leo, Fox Theater, movie palaces, Siamese-Byzantine style, Street Angel, William Fox, Wurlitzer organ.
In case the links go dead, I added the photos from the 2010 comments to the gallery, plus one circa December 1989 closing night photo.
The Flickr link photo is 1955 not 1948, based on the “Where There’s a Will” promo above the entrance.
The link for the Wayne Theatre page I added does not work.
It was located at a different address than this theatre.
I have photos of it.
It too burned down after only a few weeks of operation.
The screen was blown down in a windstorm on Tuesday July 20, 1954 forcing it’s closure.
It remained closed until Thursday April 27, 1955, when it reopened with the first aluminum, 7 story CinemaScope screen in that part of the country.
Reopening features were “The Adventures of Hajji Baba” in CinemaScope and color, and “Down Three Dark Streets” in B&W.
Articles added to photo gallery credit Decatur Herald.
Courtesy Decatur Public Library.
“Ad photo for the day the West Side Story was to appear in part on the Ed Sullivan show on September 14, 1958. Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert from the original cast duplicating their world famous photo from the album cover.”
Additional history credit Bartlesville Area History Museum.
“According to Edgar Weston, late area historian, the Gem Theater opened in the Yale Theater building. Earl Freiburger purchased and opened the Gem about 1919 and Mr. A.L. Ramsey was the manager. The auditorium was large and roomy, and well seated with comfortable chairs. A Baird projection machine was installed, which was “one of the best in the state.” The Gem was equipped with a gold fiber screen, two big typhoon fans that kept every part of the house cool and the lighting in the theater was splendid. The stage was arranged to accommodate Vaudeville, lectures, athletic and dramatic entertainment too. In 1921, Mr. Ramsey married and moved to Dallas. Misses Lucy Jack and Blanche Cutler operated the Gem Theater and contracted to show Paramount, First National and Goldwyn pictures until W.H. Hale purchased the Gem March 24, 1922.”
Circa 1908 photo & description added credit Bartlesville Area History Museum.
“The Oklah Air Dome was built in 1908 by J.L. Overlees, located on the corner of Dewey and Fourth St. It was the place to go on those warm June evenings - until at least until October - to watch a stock company perform a different play each night. It was an open-air theater where you sat under the stars on hard wooden benches and listened to Al Jolson play the piano or William Hart, World Famous Movie star, act out a 3 act play. The theatre remained at 328 Dewey Ave until 1915.”
Additional timeline history credit Kenosha History Center.
“Ground was broken on what was to be called the Butterfly Theatre in September 1916 (not to be confused with the older Butterfly in Milwaukee, which was on the site of the extant Warner Grand). Columbia Hall was demolished to make the room. I don’t know if we have a photo of that building, nor many details about it. It existed at least by the 1880s, and was a standard hall. Indoor baseball, concerts, dances, speeches, plays, weddings… Sometimes an older building is converted into a new building, but this is not the case. On 2 September 1916, the Kenosha News reported that "This morning workmen laid the pick an axe to old Columbia Hall and it is to be leveled…”
The Butterfly Theatre was to be the finest theater in the city at that point, costing Ernst Klinkert of Racine and Kenosha’s Charles Pacini a total of $45,000. Pacini would be the operator with a long term lease. At construction, with George Lindemann as general contractor and Tully as the masonry contractor, it was claimed the theater would seat 1000 people but by the time it opened that dropped to 650. Charles O. Augustine, a Kenosha-based architect designed the building and its “sanitary” features: the ventilation was powerful enough to completely cycle the air in the theater every six minutes, it had separate flush toilets for gentlemen and ladies, floors that could be sanitized (I assume tile), a pipe organ, and space for an 14 piece orchestra.
Pacini already operated the Majestic on 6th Ave downtown (which would be remodeled after the Butterfly opened) and the Cozy Theatre on 7th Ave a block south of the Butterfly and closed up the Cozy and transferred its equipment to the new digs.
It opened 17 March 1917 to showings of Chaplin’s “Easy Street,” and a Helen Rosson drama called “The Undertow.” “Easy Street” is a classic, set a new standard for Chaplin comedic stunts. I am totally unfamiliar with “The Undertow;” it has a convoluted summary but it was a 5 reeler, so as many as 75 minutes long, and had time to spin a long yarn.
Pacini, as we all know, was murdered in August 1920. He owned the Majestic, Butterfly, and New Strand theatres and had the lease on the land of the Eichelman Hotel (where the Schwartz Building is today) and was planning a skyscraper with a huge theater inside. Within two years, the Butterfly would be a Collins theater, which also controlled the Burke and Virginian. The Pacini estate was complicated, apparently, and his heirs also said they wanted to make a go of it. But Collins by 1922.
At this point, I am going to stop trying to keep track of owners.
In 1929, the theater had a Movietone system installed to allow for talkies. Not long after, it closed. It’s mentioned into February 1930, and then vanishes for two years. And in August 1932, the theater reopened after a major redecoration, which included a new large screen instead of a small one. It shows the quality of reporting in “the good old days” that the newspaper didn’t bother looking when it closed but says it had been closed “three or four years.” Actually, only about two and a half.
In early 1941, it was redecorated again and reopened in May of that year as the Hollywood. And the photo was taken the following July.
The search terms “hollywood theater” or “hollywood theatre” in newspapers dot com yields too many durned results to sift through, as the site has a generous interpretation of searches. So let’s skip to 1952, in April the last listing of the films showing was posted: two East Side Kids films “The Smart Alecks” and “The Wise Guy.” The East Side Kids were a low budget 1940s copy of the successful 1930s Dead End Kids. The most well known Dead End Kids film was “Angels with Dirty Faces,” which was spoofed as nested films in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2”. Keep the change, ya filthy animal. The East Side Kids, however, were not successful. But they were retooled into The Bowery Boys, which were huge. The last East Side Kids movie premiered in 1945, the two showing at the Hollywood were from 1942: the Hollywood showing them in 1952 is sign of its decline.
It managed to reopen in October 1953, showing Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten in “Niagara.” That’s a good movie, it was a top film of the year so Hollywood is back? It was paired with “Invaders from Mars,” which isn’t as bad as it sounds, the camera work defies its genre, it performed well and was reviewed well and is still reviewed well, and is a massively significant film because Stephen Spielberg and Joe Dante and John Landis and Martin Scorsese all saw it as children and got interested in making movies.
But didn’t last.
In 1955, the Hollywood became home to the Kenosha Missionary Baptist Church, and in 1959 they moved out to become the Temple Baptist Church on 47th Ave and 52nd St.
In 1963, the Auxiliary of the Polish Legion of American Veterans began raising funds to convert the theater into a clubhouse. It was home to the PLAV for 49 years. In the spring of 2012 it was sold and reopened the next year as Circa on Seventh."
Full history in link below.
https://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/news/home/262238/the-amazing-history-of-the-adelphi-in-dundalk.html
Circa 1909.
https://cdm16795.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/histpcdspfd/id/281/rec/1?fbclid=IwY2xjawQMQUBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJXc2tPQklaTmFSWVRxejFhc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHrXIDSkdyAMaKbCdDFogALI_w64LJH5I6631mVxMMcdYqKAbiEWESsk275Ko_aem_EQIkryO5ozmXpAV2-JfIKw
Per the Double Door Facebook page post below, it will sadly not be re-opening in the former Wilson Theatre as previously planned. But in another location.
“It has been a long road … I want to share an update, albeit a painful one for our artists and supporters. The opening of Double Door in the Uptown Wilson Theatre location as previously announced is not moving forward. Staying true to what made Double Door Double Door matters. This isn’t an ending — it’s a pivot. We’re actively exploring other locations and opportunities that better align with our vision. And we think we have found one! This is all in an effort to keep the heart and soul of music and the Double Door moving forward. In the meantime, we’re keeping the brand alive through pop-ups, collaborations, and special moments. Our first step is a collaboration with Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown. For almost 40 years Gallery Cabaret has been a haven for artists and musicians looking to showcase their craft in an eclectic neighborhood setting. We are updating the sound, the music calendar, and the overall vibe that made Double Door the best place to see music, but more importantly, to be part of what makes Chicago’s scene the best in the country. We will be reopening the bar on March 1st. Come and see us and check it out. We hope you’ll stay with us, follow along, and be part of what comes next.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1250853883838354&set=a.530683382522078
As of January 2026 it has been renovated into divided retail spaces, with 4 entrances on the building’s left side. New roof & mechanicals. The marquee has been restored and reinstalled since the July 2025 street view. Link with photos below.
https://www.commercialsearch.com/commercial-property/us/mo/cape-girardeau/824-broadway-st/
All print ads and Sanborn Map in the gallery show the address to have been 2540-2542 N. Milwaukee.
Original owner and builder was Woodmont Development Corporation, leased to Sidney B. Lust for operation. Original seating was 1000. (Image added with information)
Purchased by actress Kristen Stewart per Architectural Digest.
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/kristen-stewarts-plan-to-bring-a-beloved-los-angeles-theater-back-to-life
Crisper version via Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=855993829968374&set=pb.100066732935177.-2207520000&type=3
Street view confirms it is now Demolished.
June 21, 1985 photo credit Advance/SILive.com | Steve Zaffarano.
Address need correcting again. The recent update has a typo showing “21435” instead of 2145.
Address needs correcting to show 2145 N. Talbott Street.
2143 is the house next door to the right.
Located on U.S. Highway 277 eighteen miles northwest of Eagle Pass in the Quemado Valley area of Northwestern Maverick County.
Previously posted in 2022. Photo taken October 5-6, 1973.
https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1015/photos/365549
Photo credit Carl Burton.
Additional history credit Missouri Historical Society, link at bottom.
January 31, 2017
Origin Story: The Fabulous Fox
by Jen Tebbe | Former Digital Communications Manager
SHARE
Although his name isn’t on the marquee, St. Louisans largely have Charles Howard Crane to thank for the Fox Theatre’s breathtaking architecture. Crane, a Connecticut native, certainly had a niche: He designed more than 250 movie theaters over the course of his career, including several so-called movie palaces.
In 1914, New York’s Mark Strand Theatre became the first movie palace to open its doors. With its unique second-floor viewing balcony and the ability to seat approximately 3,000 people, the Strand ignited a new appreciation for escapism through entertainment. For a small fee, patrons could enter a movie palace and be engulfed in the rich and exotic, immediately forgetting the drudgery of day-to-day existence.
Crane’s Fox theatres in Detroit and St. Louis fully embraced the exotic with their use of Siamese-Byzantine style, which mixed “the salient features of Burmese, Hindoo, Persian, Indian and Chinese architecture and decoration,” according to the March 1929 issue of Union Electric Magazine. Owner William Fox referred to the theatres’ décor differently, calling it “Eve Leo style” in reference to his wife’s hands-on involvement: She traveled widely to purchase furnishings for Fox’s theatres, making numerous trips from New York to Detroit to St. Louis to oversee their delivery and installation.
The two theatres are nearly identical twins, with the biggest difference visible when you observe them from the street. Because Detroit’s Fox Theatre was built in that city’s downtown, it was attached to an office building—albeit an intricately styled one. St. Louis’s Fox Theatre was built far enough from downtown that the building could have its own ornate façade, hence the elaborate arch housing a massive window that overlooks the grandiose lobby inside.
On January 31, 1929, the St. Louis Fox was ready for its debut. William Fox himself addressed the crowds, as well as Missouri governor Henry S. Caulfield and St. Louis mayor Victor J. Miller. In addition to the feature film Street Angel, which also happened to be the premiere film at the Detroit Fox’s opening, attendees were treated to a performance of Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture courtesy of the 150-person Fox Grand Orchestra; Tableaux St. Louis, “a tribute to the city’s civic pride and progressive enterprise”; and a performance of Irving Berlin’s “Roses of Yesterday” by the Fox Ballet and Choral Ensemble.
Today the Fox is home to concerts and touring Broadway performances. Although these spectacles weren’t what Crane had in mind when designing the space, the escapist nature of the venue’s entertainment remains intact thanks to towering red-and-gold columns, a powerful Wurlitzer organ, a bejeweled chandelier, and stunning staircases that lead us up and away from our daily grind—for a few hours anyway.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because Crane’s renderings of the Fox are still under copyright, we can’t show you the detail here. If you want to take a look at—and even touch!—these fabulous artifacts, simply stop by the Library & Research Center at 225 S. Skinker Blvd. during regular operating hours.
Architecture, Charles Howard Crane, Detroit, Eve Leo, Fox Theater, movie palaces, Siamese-Byzantine style, Street Angel, William Fox, Wurlitzer organ.
https://mohistory.org/blog/origin-story-the-fabulous-fox?fbclid=IwY2xjawPbTmRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFCUm5JQVRwc1ZjZm8ycHpKc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmA315wfclEmIrrInD7Ft-VQLOQWzPy_jjSFKtpj9u02UMmk20frDFtUEVEo_aem_4otwS7FwdsfOpnoQe9e5UA
In case the links go dead, I added the photos from the 2010 comments to the gallery, plus one circa December 1989 closing night photo. The Flickr link photo is 1955 not 1948, based on the “Where There’s a Will” promo above the entrance.
Decatur Public Library link with three November 1945 photos of the Wayne Theatre. Credit & copyright Herald and Review, Decatur, IL.
http://omeka.decaturlibrary.org/items/show/8695#?c=&m=&s=&cv=1&xywh=-134%2C-1780%2C2660%2C5344
The link for the Wayne Theatre page I added does not work. It was located at a different address than this theatre. I have photos of it. It too burned down after only a few weeks of operation.
The screen was blown down in a windstorm on Tuesday July 20, 1954 forcing it’s closure. It remained closed until Thursday April 27, 1955, when it reopened with the first aluminum, 7 story CinemaScope screen in that part of the country. Reopening features were “The Adventures of Hajji Baba” in CinemaScope and color, and “Down Three Dark Streets” in B&W. Articles added to photo gallery credit Decatur Herald. Courtesy Decatur Public Library.
Edited description credit Robert Roberson:
“Ad photo for the day the West Side Story was to appear in part on the Ed Sullivan show on September 14, 1958. Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert from the original cast duplicating their world famous photo from the album cover.”
Additional history credit Bartlesville Area History Museum.
“According to Edgar Weston, late area historian, the Gem Theater opened in the Yale Theater building. Earl Freiburger purchased and opened the Gem about 1919 and Mr. A.L. Ramsey was the manager. The auditorium was large and roomy, and well seated with comfortable chairs. A Baird projection machine was installed, which was “one of the best in the state.” The Gem was equipped with a gold fiber screen, two big typhoon fans that kept every part of the house cool and the lighting in the theater was splendid. The stage was arranged to accommodate Vaudeville, lectures, athletic and dramatic entertainment too. In 1921, Mr. Ramsey married and moved to Dallas. Misses Lucy Jack and Blanche Cutler operated the Gem Theater and contracted to show Paramount, First National and Goldwyn pictures until W.H. Hale purchased the Gem March 24, 1922.”
Circa 1908 photo & description added credit Bartlesville Area History Museum.
“The Oklah Air Dome was built in 1908 by J.L. Overlees, located on the corner of Dewey and Fourth St. It was the place to go on those warm June evenings - until at least until October - to watch a stock company perform a different play each night. It was an open-air theater where you sat under the stars on hard wooden benches and listened to Al Jolson play the piano or William Hart, World Famous Movie star, act out a 3 act play. The theatre remained at 328 Dewey Ave until 1915.”
July 2024 link with full history and additional photos.
https://sapulpatimes.com/this-week-in-sapulpa-history-yale-theatre/