There is some conflicting information in the book History of Leavenworth County, by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand, published in 1921, which says that “[t]he old Crawford Grand Opera House was erected in 1880. It… will be remembered by many of the old timers of the present day. It was located on Shawnee street, south side, between Fifth and Sixth streets, and was erected by a stock company of which H. D. Rush was president. It played for years to large audiences and always showed the very best bills. In 1910 the building was sold to the Abdallah Shrine and after being thoroughly overhauled, has been since used as a Shrine Temple.”
If the Opera House doesn’t show up on Sanborn Maps prior to 1905, it’s safe to assume that Messrs. Hall and Hand were misinformed about its construction date. There must have been an earlier Crawford’s Opera House at a different location, and “Crawford’s New Opera House” was built after 1897 to replace it. There are multiple references to a Crawford’s Opera House at Leavenworth prior to 1897, but I’ve been unable to discover its address. Internet searches are complicated by the fact that there was more than one Crawford’s Opera House, and most search results concern the larger theater of that name in Topeka.
At the time the book I cited was published in 1921, the Shriners were building a new temple on land adjacent to the former Crawford’s. It might be that the old building became a full time movie theatre when the new Temple was completed, but if so it probably would not have been listed as the Abdallah Temple, as that name would have belonged to the new building.
The book I cited in my previous comment also says that C. F. Mensing “…came to Leavenworth in 1908 and remodeled the old McKelvery livery barn into the Hippodrome Skating Rink….” Mr. Mensing later took control of a rival skating rink, the Coliseum, and it was presumably after that when the Hippodrome was converted into a movie house.
Here is (most of) a thumbnail biography of Carl F. Mensing, one time owner of the Orpheum. It is from the book History of Leavenworth County, by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand, published in 1921:
“C. F. Mensing, a member of a pioneer family of Kansas, is one of the most widely known picture show proprietors in the state. He was born in Manhattan, Kansas in 1875, and is the son of J. F. and Clara Mensing, who were early settlers of that city, the former being one of the first merchants locating in Manhattan in 1865.
“C. F. Mensing was one of the early men in the picture show business, and was first engaged in that line of work in 1897 at a time when the picture show was in its infancy. He operated a show in Kansas City, Missouri, and instituted popular price ten cent vaudeville. He came to Leavenworth in 1908 and remodeled the old McKelvery livery barn into the Hippodrome Skating Rink, and built the Casino picture house, where the Masonic Temple now stands. He then built the Princess movie house, where the Linck Sill and Kirmayer Clothing House is now located. He also took over the Coliseum skating rink and made a success of that business. He later bought the Palm and Fern Movie Show from Mr. Lansing, and the Airdrome Theater on Shawnee Street. He purchased the Orpheum in 1912 from M. B. Shamberg, which he still owns and operates. In the same year he bought the Lyceum Theater, which was being foreclosed under mortgage. He also owns and operates this show.
“The Orpheum has a reputation throughout the state for its fine projection and excellent music. The capacity of the Orpheum Theater is 1,000 and that of the Lyceum is 750. These show houses are two of the best in Kansas. Mr. Mensing has a thorough knowledge of the business and the people of Leavenworth appreciate the result of his wide experience in the amusement line, and an excellent and substantial patronage is given him. Mr. Mensing is wide awake and progressive and endeavors to give the people the very best and latest shows.”
The Royal was opened by 1921. History of Leavenworth County by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand published that year says of a Mr. John W. Evans that “…he… opened the first moving picture airdome in Tonganoxie which developed into the present Royal Theatre.”
Here are two relevant paragraphs about the Hippodrome from the 1921 book Hstory of Leavenworth County by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand:
“Thomas J. Brown, the manager of the Hippodrome of Leavenworth, Kansas, is a well known business man and very successful in his present line of work. The Hippodrome Theater, with Thomas J. Brown and Frank J. Warren as owners, has a reputation of giving clean, high class pictures. This theater is located at 526-528 Delaware Street.
“In February, 1915, Mr. Brown bought an interest in the Hippodrome from Frank J. Warren, who continued as his partner. They have two shows every afternoon and evening of the week with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays, when the show is continuous.”
The Iowana Theatre does not appear in the FDY until the 1928 edition, which is also the last year a house called the Oak Theatre is listed (it was also listed in 1926 and 1927.) I’m wondering if Oak was an aka for the Iowana? The only other theater listed at Red Oak during that period is the Beardsley.
The Iowana was probably the proposed house noted in this item from the March 10, 1923 Motion Picture News: “It is announced that A. H. Blank, of Des Moines and Omaha, will build a new theatre in Red Oak, Iowa.”
Despite having been called an Opera House, this theater was planned to accommodate movies from its inception. Plans for the project were announced in the February 7, 1914 issue of movie theater industry trade journal Motography: “F. O. McGill of Gooding was awarded the contract to build the new moving picture theater at Glenns Ferry, for which plans have been drawn by Tourtellotte & Hummel. The building will cost $10,000.”
An early announcement about Quinn’s Superba appeared in Motography of February 7, 1914: “J. A. Quinn, owner and manager of the Garrick and Lyceum theaters, has signed a lease on the property at 518 to 524 South Broadway, below Fifth street, Los Angeles, and will remodel and transform it into a picture theater with a seating capacity of 900. The theater will be opened about April 1 as Quinn’s Superba.” Plans were clearly altered before construction, as the theater ended up larger and took longer to build than this item said.
The February 7, 1914 issue of Motography contradicts my earlier source for the year of opening for the Princess, saying “[t]he new Princess fireproof theater on One Hundred and Nineteenth street, Whiting, opened New Year’s day.”
The February 24, 1917 Moving Picture World said that C. G. Neiswanger planned to build a 500-seat airdome to operate in conjunction with his Crystal Theatre at Osborne, Kansas. In October of that year, Mr. Neiswanger was submitting capsule movie reviews to MPW’s rival trade journal, Motogrpahy. A thumbnail biography of Mr. Neiswanger reveals that it was he who had the new Crystal Theatre built in 1920.
A July 1, 1922 Motion Picture News about the sale of the new Crystal Theatre said that one of the buyers was Joseph Buck, owner of the Novelty Theatre in Osborne, which he was planning to close for the summer. The Novelty isn’t listed in the 1926 or later FDYs, so it probably closed permanently before then. It might be that the Novelty was a new name for the old Crystal, after it moved in 1920.
This item from the July 1, 1922 issue of Motion Picture News mentions the Crystal Theatre as well as another Osborne house: “John Ritter of the Pastime theatre, Tipton, Kas., and Joseph Buck purchased the Crystal theatre at Osborne, Kas. The Novelty theatre at Osborne, owned by Mr. Buck, will be closed for the summer.”
It looks like this theater also has a missing aka that never made it into the FDY. This item is from the April 6, 1929 Motion Picture News: “The Delharco, Osborne, Kas., has been purchased by Sam Blair of Belleville, Kas., from D. F. Harris.” I don’t think this was a different theater. Delmar Harris later owned at least two other houses he called the Delharco, in Salina and Concordia, Kansas. He probably didn’t own the Crystal for very long.
Sam Blair, who bought the house from Harris, was William Blair’s father. The 1938 FDY lists the Blair Theatre Enterprises Co. of Belleville, with Sam Blair as President and William H. Blair as Managing Director. The chain then operated four Kansas houses, all called the Blair. They were in Belleville, Osborne, Mankato and Smith Center.
William Blair died quite young, two days short of his forty-first birthday, on August 18, 1948. His widow, Mildred, operated the theater for some time after his death, but moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 1959, according to her 2006 obituary. It may have been a later owner of the Blair Theatre who placed this advertisement that appeared in the “Theaters for Sale” column of Boxoffice of April 1, 1963: “Drive-In and Indoor. Osborne, Kansas. For sale, both $41,000. Terms: lease with option to buy. 300-car drive-in complete, 700-seat, both ‘Scope. County seat town with large trade area. Manager now postmaster and must refrain from business. Boxoffice 9663.”
These lines about P. J. Concannon and the Electric Theatre appear in a history of Kansas published in 1918: “His chief business at Emporia has been the operation of moving picture theaters. At one time he owned three moving picture houses, but one was burned and the other he sold. He now devotes his time to the management of the Electric Theater at 612 Commercial Street. This is one of the best patronized houses in the city and has a seating capacity of 400. Mr. Concannon is state secretary of the Exhibitors League, an association of moving picture theater owners and operators.”
The March 22, 1952 issue of Boxoffice said that Dan Blair had begun construction of a drive-in at Smith Center. The May 17 issue of the same journal said that he expected to open the drive-in by May 30.
The Bison Theatre is not listed in the FDY until 1929. Prior to that, a house called the Arcade Theatre is listed in its place. However, the name Bison appears in an article in Moving Picture World of June 11, 1927. The Bison was then owned by an Anthony Jim, who the item said had operated it for the past 13 years. He had just bought the Plaza Theatre. The name Bison also appears on a 1924 Sanborn map. The Arcade was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. An item in The Billboard> of January 14, 1922 said that the Arcade Theatre in Brownsville had recently been destroyed by a fire. I’m not sure just what is going on here, but some miscommunication between the theater owners and the FDY’s editors seems most likely.
Unless it had been rebuilt, the Plaza was older than Film Daily thought in 1933. The June 11, 1927 Moving Picture World said that Anthony Jim, operator of Brownsville’s Bison Theatre for the previous 13 years, had bought Tom Wright’s Plaza Theatre, which Wright had built six years before. A Plaza Theatre is indeed listed in the 1926 FDY, along with the Bijou, the Arcade, and the Strand. No Bison Theatre is listed, so Mr. Jim’s earlier house must have operated under a different name then (apparently the Arcade, as that is the only one of the four that is missing from the 1929 FDY, which does list the Bison.)
This item from Moving Picture World of October 1, 1927, appears to contradict the information in the NRHP form I cited in my previous comment:
“One of the most important theatre projects in the local territory, has recently been undertaken by the Columbus Amusement Company, who also operate the Liberty, Strand and State theatres in New Kensington. The new theatre, which will be known as the Ritz, will occupy the site formerly occupied by the old Imperial theatre on Fifth avenue, New Kensington. The new house will seat 1100 persons, and opening is expected by October 17th. Vaudeville and first run pictures will be the attractions. Samuel Haimovitz is president and general manager of the company; William Leibovitz is vice president and treasurer and Russell C. Roshon is publicity director.”
Some light is shed on this puzzle by an item in the July 23, 1927 issue of The Billboard, which notes that the Columbus Amusement Company had taken a long term lease on the Imperial Theatre at New Kensington and would expand the house to 1,100 seats. Indeed, the FDY lists the Imperial from 1926 through 1928, and the Ritz only makes its first appearance in the 1929 edition. I don’t know if the company made their goal of an October 17, 1927 opening or not, but the Ritz surely must have been opened by 1928. In any case, this house needs its opening name of Imperial Theatre added as an aka.
To add a bit more complication, the “New Theatres” column of the July 1, 1923 issue of Film Daily had this item: “Pana, Ill.— ‘Bella Donna’ was the attraction at the recent opening of the New Palace theater.”
This item from the July 29, 1916 issue of The American Contractor is probably about the original Clintonia Theatre, given the location and the size of the building, so I’ll put it on this page:
“CONTRACTS AWARDED Picture Theater (2 stores apt.): $10,000. 1 & 2 sty. 44 x 120. Cor. Main & Monroe sts., Clinton, Ill. Archt. A.F. Moratz, People’s Bank bldg., Bloomington. Owner W.B. Sadduth, 5 [or S. ?] Jackson av. On walls. Gen Contr. Jas. M. Kirk. Htg. & plmg. let to Byerly Htg. Co., Clinton.”
I’ve been unable to discover what became of the original Clintonia, but it might be that its walls were part of the new theater in 1937. Incidentally, I believe we’ve got the 1937 architect’s name wrong above. It should be Axel J. Claesson, who also designed the DeKalb Theatre and two other Illinois houses.
The September 24, 1923 issue of Film Daily mentioned the Arcade: “Jacksonville, Fla.—After being closed two weeks for beautifying and the installation of a new organ, the Arcade is again open.” The pipe organ database says that the instrument installed at the Arcade in 1923 was a two-manual Wurlitzer, opus 674, but has no other details. The fate of the organ is unknown.
Could this be the place? Moving Picture World of March 6, 1909: “Leavenworth, Kan.-Ed Lampson is considering the erection of a Summer theater on Shawnee street.”
On March 27, this item appeared: “Leavenworth, Kan.-Ed. Lampson has been granted a permit for the erection of a Summer theater, on Shawnee street.”
The April 3 issue has this: “Leavenworth, Kan.-Ed. Lampson is making arrangements to build a new Summer theater on Shawnee street.”
I’ve been unable to find any more reports about the project from 1909, but the Airdome was definitely in operation by 1910, as it was mentioned three times in the July 1 issue of The Labor Chronicle, published in Leavenworth.
A June 27, 1919 report in The Leavenworth Times of a storm which had struck the city said that “[p]art of the front of the old Airdome theater Shawnee street was blown down.” The “building” (what there was of it) at least was still standing then, even if the place had been closed for years. It was not one of the three houses listed at Leavenworth in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The February 15, 1910 issue of The Nickelodeon had this item: “LEAVENWORTH, KANS.-C. F. Mensing, owner of the Casino and Princess theaters, has purchased the Palm Theater, 31 [sic] Delaware street, and the Fern Theater, 302 Delaware street, both formerly owned by Ed Lampson. This gives Mr. Mensing complete control of the moving picture business in this city.”
Here is an item from July 13, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World about the opening of the Airdome next to the Grand Theatre:
“Olathe, Kansas. —Weldon & Wilson have opened what is known as the Grand Theater Annex, joining the Grand on the south. It is an open air theater forty feet in width. The side walls and back will be of galvanized iron. The booth is fireproof. This new play house will seat 500 people.”
The fact that Weldon and Wilson were operating the Grand in 1912 and the Gem in 1916 may increase the chances that those were the same theater. The pair sold the Gem in 1919, along with a second Olathe house called the Moneta Theatre. This was reported in the July 17, 1919 Olathe News.
The October 7, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World has an article about the Gem Theatre (which might have been the Grand with a new name, not the Gem on Park Street) which is headed “Olathe’s One Picture Show,” so the Lyric was closed by 1916.
There is some conflicting information in the book History of Leavenworth County, by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand, published in 1921, which says that “[t]he old Crawford Grand Opera House was erected in 1880. It… will be remembered by many of the old timers of the present day. It was located on Shawnee street, south side, between Fifth and Sixth streets, and was erected by a stock company of which H. D. Rush was president. It played for years to large audiences and always showed the very best bills. In 1910 the building was sold to the Abdallah Shrine and after being thoroughly overhauled, has been since used as a Shrine Temple.”
If the Opera House doesn’t show up on Sanborn Maps prior to 1905, it’s safe to assume that Messrs. Hall and Hand were misinformed about its construction date. There must have been an earlier Crawford’s Opera House at a different location, and “Crawford’s New Opera House” was built after 1897 to replace it. There are multiple references to a Crawford’s Opera House at Leavenworth prior to 1897, but I’ve been unable to discover its address. Internet searches are complicated by the fact that there was more than one Crawford’s Opera House, and most search results concern the larger theater of that name in Topeka.
At the time the book I cited was published in 1921, the Shriners were building a new temple on land adjacent to the former Crawford’s. It might be that the old building became a full time movie theatre when the new Temple was completed, but if so it probably would not have been listed as the Abdallah Temple, as that name would have belonged to the new building.
The book I cited in my previous comment also says that C. F. Mensing “…came to Leavenworth in 1908 and remodeled the old McKelvery livery barn into the Hippodrome Skating Rink….” Mr. Mensing later took control of a rival skating rink, the Coliseum, and it was presumably after that when the Hippodrome was converted into a movie house.
Here is (most of) a thumbnail biography of Carl F. Mensing, one time owner of the Orpheum. It is from the book History of Leavenworth County, by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand, published in 1921:
The Royal was opened by 1921. History of Leavenworth County by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand published that year says of a Mr. John W. Evans that “…he… opened the first moving picture airdome in Tonganoxie which developed into the present Royal Theatre.”
Here are two relevant paragraphs about the Hippodrome from the 1921 book Hstory of Leavenworth County by Jesse A. Hall and Leroy T. Hand:
The February 7, 1914 issue of Motography said that “[t]he Colonial theater in Cedar Rapids opened to the public January 5, and seats 370.”
The Iowana Theatre does not appear in the FDY until the 1928 edition, which is also the last year a house called the Oak Theatre is listed (it was also listed in 1926 and 1927.) I’m wondering if Oak was an aka for the Iowana? The only other theater listed at Red Oak during that period is the Beardsley.
The Iowana was probably the proposed house noted in this item from the March 10, 1923 Motion Picture News: “It is announced that A. H. Blank, of Des Moines and Omaha, will build a new theatre in Red Oak, Iowa.”
Despite having been called an Opera House, this theater was planned to accommodate movies from its inception. Plans for the project were announced in the February 7, 1914 issue of movie theater industry trade journal Motography: “F. O. McGill of Gooding was awarded the contract to build the new moving picture theater at Glenns Ferry, for which plans have been drawn by Tourtellotte & Hummel. The building will cost $10,000.”
An early announcement about Quinn’s Superba appeared in Motography of February 7, 1914: “J. A. Quinn, owner and manager of the Garrick and Lyceum theaters, has signed a lease on the property at 518 to 524 South Broadway, below Fifth street, Los Angeles, and will remodel and transform it into a picture theater with a seating capacity of 900. The theater will be opened about April 1 as Quinn’s Superba.” Plans were clearly altered before construction, as the theater ended up larger and took longer to build than this item said.
The February 7, 1914 issue of Motography contradicts my earlier source for the year of opening for the Princess, saying “[t]he new Princess fireproof theater on One Hundred and Nineteenth street, Whiting, opened New Year’s day.”
The February 24, 1917 Moving Picture World said that C. G. Neiswanger planned to build a 500-seat airdome to operate in conjunction with his Crystal Theatre at Osborne, Kansas. In October of that year, Mr. Neiswanger was submitting capsule movie reviews to MPW’s rival trade journal, Motogrpahy. A thumbnail biography of Mr. Neiswanger reveals that it was he who had the new Crystal Theatre built in 1920.
A July 1, 1922 Motion Picture News about the sale of the new Crystal Theatre said that one of the buyers was Joseph Buck, owner of the Novelty Theatre in Osborne, which he was planning to close for the summer. The Novelty isn’t listed in the 1926 or later FDYs, so it probably closed permanently before then. It might be that the Novelty was a new name for the old Crystal, after it moved in 1920.
This item from the July 1, 1922 issue of Motion Picture News mentions the Crystal Theatre as well as another Osborne house: “John Ritter of the Pastime theatre, Tipton, Kas., and Joseph Buck purchased the Crystal theatre at Osborne, Kas. The Novelty theatre at Osborne, owned by Mr. Buck, will be closed for the summer.”
It looks like this theater also has a missing aka that never made it into the FDY. This item is from the April 6, 1929 Motion Picture News: “The Delharco, Osborne, Kas., has been purchased by Sam Blair of Belleville, Kas., from D. F. Harris.” I don’t think this was a different theater. Delmar Harris later owned at least two other houses he called the Delharco, in Salina and Concordia, Kansas. He probably didn’t own the Crystal for very long.
Sam Blair, who bought the house from Harris, was William Blair’s father. The 1938 FDY lists the Blair Theatre Enterprises Co. of Belleville, with Sam Blair as President and William H. Blair as Managing Director. The chain then operated four Kansas houses, all called the Blair. They were in Belleville, Osborne, Mankato and Smith Center.
William Blair died quite young, two days short of his forty-first birthday, on August 18, 1948. His widow, Mildred, operated the theater for some time after his death, but moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 1959, according to her 2006 obituary. It may have been a later owner of the Blair Theatre who placed this advertisement that appeared in the “Theaters for Sale” column of Boxoffice of April 1, 1963: “Drive-In and Indoor. Osborne, Kansas. For sale, both $41,000. Terms: lease with option to buy. 300-car drive-in complete, 700-seat, both ‘Scope. County seat town with large trade area. Manager now postmaster and must refrain from business. Boxoffice 9663.”
These lines about P. J. Concannon and the Electric Theatre appear in a history of Kansas published in 1918: “His chief business at Emporia has been the operation of moving picture theaters. At one time he owned three moving picture houses, but one was burned and the other he sold. He now devotes his time to the management of the Electric Theater at 612 Commercial Street. This is one of the best patronized houses in the city and has a seating capacity of 400. Mr. Concannon is state secretary of the Exhibitors League, an association of moving picture theater owners and operators.”
The recent reopening of the former Orpheum Theatre at Fergus Falls as the Fergus Theatre was noted in the April 8, 1950 issue of Boxoffice.
The March 22, 1952 issue of Boxoffice said that Dan Blair had begun construction of a drive-in at Smith Center. The May 17 issue of the same journal said that he expected to open the drive-in by May 30.
The Bison Theatre is not listed in the FDY until 1929. Prior to that, a house called the Arcade Theatre is listed in its place. However, the name Bison appears in an article in Moving Picture World of June 11, 1927. The Bison was then owned by an Anthony Jim, who the item said had operated it for the past 13 years. He had just bought the Plaza Theatre. The name Bison also appears on a 1924 Sanborn map. The Arcade was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. An item in The Billboard> of January 14, 1922 said that the Arcade Theatre in Brownsville had recently been destroyed by a fire. I’m not sure just what is going on here, but some miscommunication between the theater owners and the FDY’s editors seems most likely.
Unless it had been rebuilt, the Plaza was older than Film Daily thought in 1933. The June 11, 1927 Moving Picture World said that Anthony Jim, operator of Brownsville’s Bison Theatre for the previous 13 years, had bought Tom Wright’s Plaza Theatre, which Wright had built six years before. A Plaza Theatre is indeed listed in the 1926 FDY, along with the Bijou, the Arcade, and the Strand. No Bison Theatre is listed, so Mr. Jim’s earlier house must have operated under a different name then (apparently the Arcade, as that is the only one of the four that is missing from the 1929 FDY, which does list the Bison.)
This item from Moving Picture World of October 1, 1927, appears to contradict the information in the NRHP form I cited in my previous comment:
Some light is shed on this puzzle by an item in the July 23, 1927 issue of The Billboard, which notes that the Columbus Amusement Company had taken a long term lease on the Imperial Theatre at New Kensington and would expand the house to 1,100 seats. Indeed, the FDY lists the Imperial from 1926 through 1928, and the Ritz only makes its first appearance in the 1929 edition. I don’t know if the company made their goal of an October 17, 1927 opening or not, but the Ritz surely must have been opened by 1928. In any case, this house needs its opening name of Imperial Theatre added as an aka.To add a bit more complication, the “New Theatres” column of the July 1, 1923 issue of Film Daily had this item: “Pana, Ill.— ‘Bella Donna’ was the attraction at the recent opening of the New Palace theater.”
This item from the July 29, 1916 issue of The American Contractor is probably about the original Clintonia Theatre, given the location and the size of the building, so I’ll put it on this page:
I’ve been unable to discover what became of the original Clintonia, but it might be that its walls were part of the new theater in 1937. Incidentally, I believe we’ve got the 1937 architect’s name wrong above. It should be Axel J. Claesson, who also designed the DeKalb Theatre and two other Illinois houses.The September 24, 1923 issue of Film Daily mentioned the Arcade: “Jacksonville, Fla.—After being closed two weeks for beautifying and the installation of a new organ, the Arcade is again open.” The pipe organ database says that the instrument installed at the Arcade in 1923 was a two-manual Wurlitzer, opus 674, but has no other details. The fate of the organ is unknown.
Could this be the place? Moving Picture World of March 6, 1909: “Leavenworth, Kan.-Ed Lampson is considering the erection of a Summer theater on Shawnee street.”
On March 27, this item appeared: “Leavenworth, Kan.-Ed. Lampson has been granted a permit for the erection of a Summer theater, on Shawnee street.”
The April 3 issue has this: “Leavenworth, Kan.-Ed. Lampson is making arrangements to build a new Summer theater on Shawnee street.”
I’ve been unable to find any more reports about the project from 1909, but the Airdome was definitely in operation by 1910, as it was mentioned three times in the July 1 issue of The Labor Chronicle, published in Leavenworth.
A June 27, 1919 report in The Leavenworth Times of a storm which had struck the city said that “[p]art of the front of the old Airdome theater Shawnee street was blown down.” The “building” (what there was of it) at least was still standing then, even if the place had been closed for years. It was not one of the three houses listed at Leavenworth in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The February 15, 1910 issue of The Nickelodeon had this item: “LEAVENWORTH, KANS.-C. F. Mensing, owner of the Casino and Princess theaters, has purchased the Palm Theater, 31 [sic] Delaware street, and the Fern Theater, 302 Delaware street, both formerly owned by Ed Lampson. This gives Mr. Mensing complete control of the moving picture business in this city.”
Here is an item from July 13, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World about the opening of the Airdome next to the Grand Theatre:
The fact that Weldon and Wilson were operating the Grand in 1912 and the Gem in 1916 may increase the chances that those were the same theater. The pair sold the Gem in 1919, along with a second Olathe house called the Moneta Theatre. This was reported in the July 17, 1919 Olathe News.The October 7, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World has an article about the Gem Theatre (which might have been the Grand with a new name, not the Gem on Park Street) which is headed “Olathe’s One Picture Show,” so the Lyric was closed by 1916.