This page at Landmark Hunter says that Grand Theatre was another name for the Greer Theatre. There is a photo of the house as the Greer. Unless the town had two houses called the Grand, or two houses called the Greer, this page (or the Greer page) is redundant.
As in 2002 the Woodstock Theatre expanded into the building that was once occupied by the Beverly Theatre, at 211 Main Street, shouldn’t the name Beverly be listed as an aka?
A document prepared for the Woodstock Historic Preservation Commission (PDF here) has a history of the theaters in Woodstock. The Beverly Theatre opened in 1920, and occupied the building that had been occupied by the first Princess Theatre, so maybe Princess should also be an aka.
The second Princess Theatre, which was demolished in 1927 to make way for the Miller Theatre, had been built in 1913 and opened that year as the Palace Theatre. The Princess moved into the 429-seat building some time later. The document says that the building was demolished:
“In 1927, John Miller demolished the second Princess Theater along with the E.J. Field Hardware store that was located between the two theaters and a new, larger theater was constructed.”
However, as the Palace/second Princess Theatre building was only 14 years old in 1927, I think it’s possible that it was not entirely demolished. It was not unknown for theater buildings to be expanded sideways in those days, and I suspect that it might have happened in this case, although I’ve found no historic documentation that this was done. It was usually more economical to leave at least part of a sound structure standing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if at least the north wall of the Woodstock Theatre turned out to be a remnant of the old Palace.
The opening as the Orpheum took place on February 3, 1921. This is an article from the March 1, 1921, issue of The Associated First National Franchise, the house organ of First National Pictures:
“Associated First National attractions have a new home in Oklahoma City, Okla.
“The Orpheum, seating 2200 people, has been opened to the public, and is declared by those who have seen it to be one of the finest motion picture theatres in the country. It represents an investment of $500,000, one-fifth of which is in furnishings.
“John Sinopoulo, long prominent in Oklahoma City as a showman, is one of the principal owners of the Orpheum. His brother, Pete, is manager of the house.
“‘Passion’ is one of the attractions which First National put into the Orpheum. On the opening day, February 3, seven thousand people paid admission at four shows, according to the local newspapers. One paper estimated that, judging by remarks made by patrons, many people would attend two and three times during the engagement, and that then all who wished to see the attraction would not be able to get in.”
The May 8, 1920, issue of The American Contractor said that plans for the rebuilding of the Overholser Opera House in Oklahoma City had been prepared by the St. Louis firm of Kennerly & Steigemeyer. George Hancock Kennerly and Oliver William Steigemeyer were in partnership from 1913 to 1933.
The real estate section of the November 15, 1913, issue of The Chicago Tribune had an item saying that the new Kimbark Theatre, opened only a few months previously, had been sold by William and Fred Bartholomae to H. T. Loper, operator of the Lyric Theatre in Springfield, Illinois.
The “Theatre Projects” column of Exhibitors Herald World of August 30, 1930, had this item from Illinois:
“SALEM. — The Lyric Theatre, a Fox-Midwest house, has been improved, redecorated and modern cooling system installed.”
The Lyric Theatre in Salem, Illinois, was on a list of theaters that had contracted to run the war documentary Pershing’s Crusaders that was published in the August 17, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World.
David: Although the streets in the vintage photo (which is probably from a postcard) are the color of dirt, I suspect that they were paved with granite blocks. This was the most common paving material for important streets in New England towns during that period. Lesser streets got cobbles or brick, or wood blocks treated with creosote.
The colors in old photos can be misleading in any case. There were color printing presses, but no color film, so the black and white photos would be hand tinted, and the person doing the tinting usually couldn’t be sure what the exact original colors in the scene were and would just make their best guess based on a written description. Essex Street might have been paved with a pinkish granite that was quarried around Milford and was quite popular in the late 19th century.
The book Salem: 15 Historic Postcards has a later photo of the Empire Theatre (Google Books preview) which shows considerably more of the building’s detail. The Empire Theatre was on the site of Mechanic Hall, built in 1839 and destroyed by fire in 1905.
I don’t believe that the Patio Theatre has been entirely demolished. The narrow building fronting on Galena Street, which is the right size for a theater entrance and lobby, is attached to a larger building which backs up to Spring Street and has two walls that angle inward, as do the walls either side of a theater’s proscenium. This building is also occupied by the Farm Bureau. There is a vacant area that I suspect held the stage house, which appears to have been the only part of the theater that was demolished. The bulk of the auditorium structure remains, and can be easily seen in Google’s satellite view.
The January 7, 1930, issue of The Freeport Journal Standard said that the Patio Theatre was designed and built by United Studios. That Chicago firm employed various architects at various times, among whom were Fred Jacobs, Ralph Beaudry and Larry P. Larsen, but I don’t know which of them worked on the Patio.
There’s a very early photo of the Palm Theatre about two thirds of the way down this web page. The caption says that it closed about 1929, so it could have been dark for a couple of years before being renovated and reopened as the State in 1931. The names of the movies can’t be seen in the photo, so I can’t date it by them, but Billie Burke made her movie debut in 1916, so it has to be no earlier than that.
This web page about the Ritz Theatre, says that its architect, George V. Bedell, also designed the Tacoma Theatre.
The Tacoma Theatre opened in 1913. The November 29 issue of The Moving Picture World had this item:
“The Tacoma Amusement Company, which recently opened a beautiful new $15,000 motion picture theater at East Washington street and Tacoma avenue, has announced an increase in its capital stock from $15,000 to $25,000.”
The original Plaza Theatre was built in 1913. The site had previously been occupied by a house called the Witch Theatre which had burned down earlier that year. The Plaza was to have been fireproof, but apparently wasn’t if it burned again in 1917. This is an item from the November 29, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“The Plaza Amusement Company, of Boston, is a new concern, with authorized paid in capital of $15,000. The promoters are: Harry F. Campbell, Samuel Grant and Ephraim N. Cook. This concern has taken a ten-year lease on the property in Salem, Mass., formerly occupied by William Game’s Witch Theater, which was burned some months ago. The house is being entirely rebuilt, and will be a modern, fireproof theater, with a seating capacity of 1,000. The house will now be known as the Plaza Theater, and Warner’s Features will be the special attraction here. The new owners show their faith in the pictures by so building the stage that no vaudeville acts could possibly be used.”
Destruction of the Witch Theatre had been reported in the April 16, 1913, issue of Fire and Water Engineering:
“Game’s Witch Theater, on Theater row, Essex street, Salem, Mass. was burned during a recent night fire, as was also the furniture store of the J. L. Lougee Company. The blaze started in the office of the theater, and for a time the entire district was threatened. Help was called for from Peabody, Marblehead, Beverly and Lynn. The theater was empty when the fire started.”
A later issue of MPW said that the Plaza Theatre opened on December 31, 1913. I’ve been unable to find anything in the trade publications about the later fire and rebuilding in 1917.
A house called the Majestic was one of two theaters listed at Nelsonville in the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory. The other was called the Pearl Theatre. At various times Nelsonville also had theaters called the Pastime and the Orpheum.
Also, Stuart’s Opera House was listed in the 1927 FDY, so it must have been showing movies at that time.
This item is from the October 12, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“NEWPORT NEWS, VA.—J. Ormof, 20th street and Jefferson avenue, has plans by W. H. Simpson, Board of Trade Building, Norfolk, Va., for one-story theatre, 50 by 100 feet, to cost $25,000.”
An item in The American Contractor of November 2, 1918, probably gets the owner’s name right, but mistakenly places the address in Philadelphia:
“Newport News, Va.—Theater: $25,000. 1 sty. 50x100. Archt. W. H. Simpson, Bd. of Trade bldg., Norfolk, Va. Owner I. Ornof, 20th & Jefferson sts., Phila., Pa. Gen. contr. let to J. R. Osbourne & Son, Inc., 1014 25th St., Newport News.”
The name I. Ornof also appears in a news item mentioning the project in the September 1, 1918, issue of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
I can’t find any other references to an architect named W. H. Simpson in Norfolk and suspect that MPW and AC both got his first and middle initials switched, and it was actually Norfolk architect H. W. (Herbert Woodley) Simpson who designed the Lincoln Theatre. Simpson had previously practiced in New Bern, North Carolina, where he designed the Athens Theatre. He moved to Norfolk sometime prior to 1915 and was quite successful in his new location.
Although the spelling Sophlet somehow got into the NRHP registration form for one of their buildings, the correct spelling of the architects' surname is Stophlet. That is the only spelling I’ve found in trade journals from the period in which they practiced, but more importantly it is the spelling used in the files of the American Institute of Architects, which includes their membership application forms and other documents.
Is there any word on the fate of the 50-year time capsule I mentioned in this earlier comment? As Boxoffice said it was to be installed on December 16, 1964, it’s now almost time to open it.
The April 3, 1920 issue of Motion Picture News said that the Princess Theatre in Springfield, Illinois (though the headline mistakenly identified the city as Springfield, Massachusetts) was being expanded and remodeled with plans by the architectural firm of Bullard & Bullard. A Web page about the firm reveals that they were also the original architects of the building.
An earlier comment by wcjfrisk says that the Ohio was the only theater designed by the firm of Stophlet & Stophlet, but this is mistaken. The Pantheon Theatre, opened two years earlier, was also their design.
The March 27, 1920, issue of Motion Picture News said that M. M. Stophlet and M. B. Stophlet were the architects of the Pantheon Theatre. Following a precedent set a few years earlier by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane, Stophlet & Stophlet gave the Pantheon Theatre a large section of stadium seating accounting for about half the capacity of the house. They would again use the stadium configuration in Toledo’s Ohio Theatre, opened in 1921.
As in the Ohio, the architects gave the interior of the Pantheon Theatre a very simple, almost austere, style with minimal decoration, and what there was being based mostly on Roman Classical elements. The front, on the other hand, was fairly ornate, with its eclectic details including elements suggestive of both the Italian Renaissance and the Gothic styles, but not exactly replicating either. The contrast between interior and exterior must have been quite startling for the theater’s patrons.
Manfred M. Stophlet appears to have been more frequently the lead architect on the firm’s projects, with the trade journals of the period more often attributing designs to him than to his brother Mark B. Stophlet.
The May 7, 1921, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this article about the Strand Theatre the day it was scheduled to open:
“THE Saxe Amusement Enterprises, of Milwaukee, franchise holder in the Associated First National Pictures, Inc., for the Wisconsin territory, has announced May 7 as the opening date for its new theatre in Green Bay. The date was set on the same day that the contractors who are constructing the new house announced a definite time for the conclusion of their work.
“The new theatre has already been christened the Strand. In architecture and interior finish as well as appointments it is one of the finest in the Middle West. The seating capacity is 1,000 and roomy over-size concert chairs have been selected. The interior color scheme is an original conception with rose, crimson and gold predominating. The aisles will be Wilton carpeted. and the drapes and other furnishings have been specially selected to harmonize with the interior color scheme.
“The stage is twelve feet deep, eighteen high and twenty-four wide. The ventilation provides for 2,500,000 cubic feet of fresh air an hour. Simplex machines are being installed and a screen of the latest type as well as a $10,000 organ.
“It is the intention of the Saxe Amusement Enterprises to conduct the Green Bay theatre on the same lavish scale as it conducts its Strand in Milwaukee. E. J. Weisfeldt, whose arrangements of prologues and general presentation for the Milwaukee Strand, has made Weisfeldt synonymous with the best in picture shows in the Middle West, will perform the same duties for the Green Bay Strand.”
The Capitol Theatre opened on July 14, 1917, as the Allen Theatre. According to Reel Time: Movie Exhibitors and Movie Audiences in Prairie Canada, 1896 to 1986 by Robert Morris Seiler and Tamara Palmer Seiler, the Allen Theatre was designed by architect J. W. Kirkland. Page 153 of the book has photos of the Capitol’s marquee around 1960 and the Allen’s auditorium around 1920 (Google Books preview.)
The Allen Theatre in Brandon is one of three theaters pictured on this page of Motion Picture News for March 27, 1920.
This page at Landmark Hunter says that Grand Theatre was another name for the Greer Theatre. There is a photo of the house as the Greer. Unless the town had two houses called the Grand, or two houses called the Greer, this page (or the Greer page) is redundant.
As in 2002 the Woodstock Theatre expanded into the building that was once occupied by the Beverly Theatre, at 211 Main Street, shouldn’t the name Beverly be listed as an aka?
A document prepared for the Woodstock Historic Preservation Commission (PDF here) has a history of the theaters in Woodstock. The Beverly Theatre opened in 1920, and occupied the building that had been occupied by the first Princess Theatre, so maybe Princess should also be an aka.
The second Princess Theatre, which was demolished in 1927 to make way for the Miller Theatre, had been built in 1913 and opened that year as the Palace Theatre. The Princess moved into the 429-seat building some time later. The document says that the building was demolished:
However, as the Palace/second Princess Theatre building was only 14 years old in 1927, I think it’s possible that it was not entirely demolished. It was not unknown for theater buildings to be expanded sideways in those days, and I suspect that it might have happened in this case, although I’ve found no historic documentation that this was done. It was usually more economical to leave at least part of a sound structure standing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if at least the north wall of the Woodstock Theatre turned out to be a remnant of the old Palace.The opening as the Orpheum took place on February 3, 1921. This is an article from the March 1, 1921, issue of The Associated First National Franchise, the house organ of First National Pictures:
The May 8, 1920, issue of The American Contractor said that plans for the rebuilding of the Overholser Opera House in Oklahoma City had been prepared by the St. Louis firm of Kennerly & Steigemeyer. George Hancock Kennerly and Oliver William Steigemeyer were in partnership from 1913 to 1933.The real estate section of the November 15, 1913, issue of The Chicago Tribune had an item saying that the new Kimbark Theatre, opened only a few months previously, had been sold by William and Fred Bartholomae to H. T. Loper, operator of the Lyric Theatre in Springfield, Illinois.
The “Theatre Projects” column of Exhibitors Herald World of August 30, 1930, had this item from Illinois:
The Lyric Theatre in Salem, Illinois, was on a list of theaters that had contracted to run the war documentary Pershing’s Crusaders that was published in the August 17, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World.David: Although the streets in the vintage photo (which is probably from a postcard) are the color of dirt, I suspect that they were paved with granite blocks. This was the most common paving material for important streets in New England towns during that period. Lesser streets got cobbles or brick, or wood blocks treated with creosote.
The colors in old photos can be misleading in any case. There were color printing presses, but no color film, so the black and white photos would be hand tinted, and the person doing the tinting usually couldn’t be sure what the exact original colors in the scene were and would just make their best guess based on a written description. Essex Street might have been paved with a pinkish granite that was quarried around Milford and was quite popular in the late 19th century.
The book Salem: 15 Historic Postcards has a later photo of the Empire Theatre (Google Books preview) which shows considerably more of the building’s detail. The Empire Theatre was on the site of Mechanic Hall, built in 1839 and destroyed by fire in 1905.
I don’t believe that the Patio Theatre has been entirely demolished. The narrow building fronting on Galena Street, which is the right size for a theater entrance and lobby, is attached to a larger building which backs up to Spring Street and has two walls that angle inward, as do the walls either side of a theater’s proscenium. This building is also occupied by the Farm Bureau. There is a vacant area that I suspect held the stage house, which appears to have been the only part of the theater that was demolished. The bulk of the auditorium structure remains, and can be easily seen in Google’s satellite view.
The January 7, 1930, issue of The Freeport Journal Standard said that the Patio Theatre was designed and built by United Studios. That Chicago firm employed various architects at various times, among whom were Fred Jacobs, Ralph Beaudry and Larry P. Larsen, but I don’t know which of them worked on the Patio.
An advertisement in the January 14, 1948, issue of the Freeport Journal-Standard said that the New State Theatre would open the following day.
There’s a very early photo of the Palm Theatre about two thirds of the way down this web page. The caption says that it closed about 1929, so it could have been dark for a couple of years before being renovated and reopened as the State in 1931. The names of the movies can’t be seen in the photo, so I can’t date it by them, but Billie Burke made her movie debut in 1916, so it has to be no earlier than that.
This web page about the Ritz Theatre, says that its architect, George V. Bedell, also designed the Dream Theatre.
This web page about the Ritz Theatre, says that its architect, George V. Bedell, also designed the Tacoma Theatre.
The Tacoma Theatre opened in 1913. The November 29 issue of The Moving Picture World had this item:
This page about the Talbott Theatre from Historic Indianapolis says that i was designed by architect George V. Bedell.
The original Plaza Theatre was built in 1913. The site had previously been occupied by a house called the Witch Theatre which had burned down earlier that year. The Plaza was to have been fireproof, but apparently wasn’t if it burned again in 1917. This is an item from the November 29, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World:
Destruction of the Witch Theatre had been reported in the April 16, 1913, issue of Fire and Water Engineering:A later issue of MPW said that the Plaza Theatre opened on December 31, 1913. I’ve been unable to find anything in the trade publications about the later fire and rebuilding in 1917.An ad in the November 22, 1914, issue of the Lima Daily News said that the Majestic Theatre would open on Thanksgiving Day (November 26.)
A house called the Majestic was one of two theaters listed at Nelsonville in the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory. The other was called the Pearl Theatre. At various times Nelsonville also had theaters called the Pastime and the Orpheum.
Also, Stuart’s Opera House was listed in the 1927 FDY, so it must have been showing movies at that time.
This item is from the October 12, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World:
An item in The American Contractor of November 2, 1918, probably gets the owner’s name right, but mistakenly places the address in Philadelphia:The name I. Ornof also appears in a news item mentioning the project in the September 1, 1918, issue of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.I can’t find any other references to an architect named W. H. Simpson in Norfolk and suspect that MPW and AC both got his first and middle initials switched, and it was actually Norfolk architect H. W. (Herbert Woodley) Simpson who designed the Lincoln Theatre. Simpson had previously practiced in New Bern, North Carolina, where he designed the Athens Theatre. He moved to Norfolk sometime prior to 1915 and was quite successful in his new location.
Although the spelling Sophlet somehow got into the NRHP registration form for one of their buildings, the correct spelling of the architects' surname is Stophlet. That is the only spelling I’ve found in trade journals from the period in which they practiced, but more importantly it is the spelling used in the files of the American Institute of Architects, which includes their membership application forms and other documents.
Is there any word on the fate of the 50-year time capsule I mentioned in this earlier comment? As Boxoffice said it was to be installed on December 16, 1964, it’s now almost time to open it.
The April 3, 1920 issue of Motion Picture News said that the Princess Theatre in Springfield, Illinois (though the headline mistakenly identified the city as Springfield, Massachusetts) was being expanded and remodeled with plans by the architectural firm of Bullard & Bullard. A Web page about the firm reveals that they were also the original architects of the building.
An earlier comment by wcjfrisk says that the Ohio was the only theater designed by the firm of Stophlet & Stophlet, but this is mistaken. The Pantheon Theatre, opened two years earlier, was also their design.
The March 27, 1920, issue of Motion Picture News said that M. M. Stophlet and M. B. Stophlet were the architects of the Pantheon Theatre. Following a precedent set a few years earlier by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane, Stophlet & Stophlet gave the Pantheon Theatre a large section of stadium seating accounting for about half the capacity of the house. They would again use the stadium configuration in Toledo’s Ohio Theatre, opened in 1921.
As in the Ohio, the architects gave the interior of the Pantheon Theatre a very simple, almost austere, style with minimal decoration, and what there was being based mostly on Roman Classical elements. The front, on the other hand, was fairly ornate, with its eclectic details including elements suggestive of both the Italian Renaissance and the Gothic styles, but not exactly replicating either. The contrast between interior and exterior must have been quite startling for the theater’s patrons.
Manfred M. Stophlet appears to have been more frequently the lead architect on the firm’s projects, with the trade journals of the period more often attributing designs to him than to his brother Mark B. Stophlet.
The May 7, 1921, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this article about the Strand Theatre the day it was scheduled to open:
The Capitol Theatre opened on July 14, 1917, as the Allen Theatre. According to Reel Time: Movie Exhibitors and Movie Audiences in Prairie Canada, 1896 to 1986 by Robert Morris Seiler and Tamara Palmer Seiler, the Allen Theatre was designed by architect J. W. Kirkland. Page 153 of the book has photos of the Capitol’s marquee around 1960 and the Allen’s auditorium around 1920 (Google Books preview.)
The Allen Theatre in Brandon is one of three theaters pictured on this page of Motion Picture News for March 27, 1920.
The Colonial Theatre can be seen at upper right of this page from Motion Picture News of March 27, 1920.
As Google Maps provides no street view for this location, here is a bird’s eye view from Bing Maps.
The Auditorium Theatre can be seen at the lower right of this page of Motion Picture News from March 27, 1920.