The Capitol Theatre did suffer damage from a fire on January 4, 1940, and was the second out of two fires that occur in downtown Andover in the past two days, with the other being the J. Edward Armstrong Machine Shop.
The Bays Theatre was renamed the Plaza Theatre on January 4, 1930, reopening as Blackwell’s second talkie theater with Richard Dix in “The Love Doctor” along with a unnamed comedy (listed as Talkomedy) and a serial episode of “The Pirate of Panama”. The Plaza Theatre closed in 1934 and the theater was abandoned for almost three years.
After extensive remodeling, it reopened back as the Bays Theatre on February 19, 1937.
This started life as the New Criterion Theatre for only a single week, opening on January 5, 1935 with Dick Powell in “Happiness Ahead” along with the technicolor Merrie Melodies cartoon “Mr. and Mrs. Is The Name” starring Buddy and Cookie, the Laurel & Hardy comedy “Peach Of A Pair”, and Paramount News. It was first owned by W.H. Williams who also operated the nearby Rialto, and featured sound installations of Western Electric.
The theater was renamed the Ray Theatre on January 31, 1935 exactly two weeks after a theater-naming contest as part of its Amateur Night hosted by Williams himself.
The Criterion Theatre launched on April 9, 1923 with Douglas McLean in “Bell Boy 13” and a live comedy of Mr. Frank Norton in “The Marriage Of Elizabeth” with music by the theater’s orchestra (simply named “Jazz Orchestra”).
A fifth screen was added in June 1990 and was renamed “Linden Fiveplex Cinemas”. The theater closed for the final time on December 31, 1999, and was notable for being the last movie theater in America to close in the 20th century.
The Beckley Open Air Theatre was renamed the Raleigh Drive-In on April 12, 1968, and was still open as late as 1977. The drive-in was gone in the 1980s.
The Blue Moon Theater opened its doors on October 19, 1934 with “The Case Of The Howling Dog” and “Come On, Tarzan” along with an unnamed technicolor cartoon.
The Midwest Theatre opened its doors on Thanksgiving Day 1931 with James Cagney in “Blond Crazy” and an unnamed Laurel & Hardy comedy, featuring sound installations of RCA.
On December 12, 1944, the Midwest Theatre began screening first-run A-films following the fire and explosion at the Tower Theatre, the previous day. The Midwest Theatre went back to B-films following the reopening of the Tower Theatre in June 1946.
The Midwest Theatre closed for the final time on May 30, 1951 with the Zane Grey double feature “To The Last Man” and “Heritage Desert” along with the Dingbat Terrytoon “Sour Grapes” (listed as a Heckle & Jeckle cartoon for unknown reasons but its truly just a plain Dingbat cartoon) and a newsreel.
The Circle A Theatre launched on November 21, 1937 with Cary Grant in “The Awful Truth” along with an unnamed cartoon and a MGM News Of The Day newsreel.
On July 27, 1948, the Circle A Theatre almost suffered destruction from a fire after a trailer reel caught fire from a projection jam. This happened during intermission before Dick Powell’s “To The Ends Of The Earth” along with the Noveltoon “The Bored Cuckoo” and a newsreel.
The East 6 Drive-In opened around 1966 as a 475-car drive-in. The reason why I said 1966 is because it doesn’t appear in the 1964 aerial view but it does in the 1968 topo.
The Aztec Theatre was renamed the Royal Theatre during its final years of operation until the theater’s destruction from the December 9, 1956 fire.
The fire was first witnessed by Howard Moore who was walking on the streets of Van Alstyne exactly an hour after midnight. He rushed to the telephone booth and called the only operator online, Mrs. Janice Overstreet. She sounded the siren from the fire department but was either broken or malfunctioned, so she ended up calling one of the firemen. Alongside Van Alstyne comes neighboring fire departments from Anna, Sherman, and McKinney who raced on-scene to fight the blaze. The fire melted the only telephone cable in the alley as well as the rear of the theater building and damage being reported by some of the T&PL Co. electric lines, causing 3/4th of the town’s phones being disconnected and dead. Only those east of the Southern Pacific railroad line were unaffected. The fire left Van Alstyne without a movie theater for the rest of time, leaving residents to watch movies either in McKinney or Sherman.
The Cimarron Theatre opened its doors on Pearl Harbor Day, or December 7, 1941, with Cary Grant in “Gunga Din” (unknown if any extras added). The Cimarron Theatre closed in 1954 and was converted into a gift shop which opened the following year.
This started life as the Mission Theatre in either late-October or early-November 1911 by Mr. James Wickeser, and was renamed the Roxy Theatre on November 15, 1931.
The Airline Drive-In opened its gates on July 3, 1953 with Edmond O'Brien in “Silver City” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks show was displayed after the movie) and was first managed by Don R. Hall.
The original screen didn’t last long. The screen itself was destroyed by destructive 75 MPH winds during a severe weather outbreak on August 27, 1954. The extensive of the tower was leveled and fragments of the screen and timber were hurled across the highway and scattered over a pasture 100ft away. Scrambled mounds of debris were littered all around the highway until theater employees were managed to clean it up. The screen was eventually replaced by a super-steel CinemaScope tower at the start of the 1955 season.
The Poncan Theatre opened its doors on September 20, 1927 with Richard Dix in “Shanghai Bound” along with a variety of stuff, including the Our Gang comedy “Yale Vs. Harvard”, a few local novelty units, a couple of newsreels, a dancing presentation of Mack & Long (either live or a merchant reel), a performance of three girls named Barnett, Edmunds, and Clark as well as a piano player, a performance by the Poncan Orchestra (or “Earl Moon And His Stars”), and Vera Byerhoff playing several songs on his Mighty Wurlizer (the same-modeled organ that was used at various large movie theaters around the country from New York to Chicago to St. Louis).
The actual Melba Theatre opening date is May 7, 1929 with Willard Mack in “The Voice Of The City” along with several Vitaphone acts, featuring sound installations of Vitaphone and Movietone.
Opened in 1954.
The Capitol Theatre did suffer damage from a fire on January 4, 1940, and was the second out of two fires that occur in downtown Andover in the past two days, with the other being the J. Edward Armstrong Machine Shop.
The Capitol Theatre was still open in 1969.
The Palace Theatre opened as early as 1923 and was remodeled on March 23, 1928.
The Bays Theatre was renamed the Plaza Theatre on January 4, 1930, reopening as Blackwell’s second talkie theater with Richard Dix in “The Love Doctor” along with a unnamed comedy (listed as Talkomedy) and a serial episode of “The Pirate of Panama”. The Plaza Theatre closed in 1934 and the theater was abandoned for almost three years.
After extensive remodeling, it reopened back as the Bays Theatre on February 19, 1937.
This started life as the New Criterion Theatre for only a single week, opening on January 5, 1935 with Dick Powell in “Happiness Ahead” along with the technicolor Merrie Melodies cartoon “Mr. and Mrs. Is The Name” starring Buddy and Cookie, the Laurel & Hardy comedy “Peach Of A Pair”, and Paramount News. It was first owned by W.H. Williams who also operated the nearby Rialto, and featured sound installations of Western Electric.
The theater was renamed the Ray Theatre on January 31, 1935 exactly two weeks after a theater-naming contest as part of its Amateur Night hosted by Williams himself.
The Criterion Theatre launched on April 9, 1923 with Douglas McLean in “Bell Boy 13” and a live comedy of Mr. Frank Norton in “The Marriage Of Elizabeth” with music by the theater’s orchestra (simply named “Jazz Orchestra”).
The Gem opened as early as 1919.
The Ozaukee Theatre closed in 1958 due to the retirement of its manager.
A fifth screen was added in June 1990 and was renamed “Linden Fiveplex Cinemas”. The theater closed for the final time on December 31, 1999, and was notable for being the last movie theater in America to close in the 20th century.
The Beckley Open Air Theatre was renamed the Raleigh Drive-In on April 12, 1968, and was still open as late as 1977. The drive-in was gone in the 1980s.
Closed in the 1960s.
The Blue Moon Theater opened its doors on October 19, 1934 with “The Case Of The Howling Dog” and “Come On, Tarzan” along with an unnamed technicolor cartoon.
Opened on October 15, 1947 with Wayne Morris in “Deep Valley” (unknown if any extras added).
The Midwest Theatre opened its doors on Thanksgiving Day 1931 with James Cagney in “Blond Crazy” and an unnamed Laurel & Hardy comedy, featuring sound installations of RCA.
On December 12, 1944, the Midwest Theatre began screening first-run A-films following the fire and explosion at the Tower Theatre, the previous day. The Midwest Theatre went back to B-films following the reopening of the Tower Theatre in June 1946.
The Midwest Theatre closed for the final time on May 30, 1951 with the Zane Grey double feature “To The Last Man” and “Heritage Desert” along with the Dingbat Terrytoon “Sour Grapes” (listed as a Heckle & Jeckle cartoon for unknown reasons but its truly just a plain Dingbat cartoon) and a newsreel.
The Circle A Theatre launched on November 21, 1937 with Cary Grant in “The Awful Truth” along with an unnamed cartoon and a MGM News Of The Day newsreel.
On July 27, 1948, the Circle A Theatre almost suffered destruction from a fire after a trailer reel caught fire from a projection jam. This happened during intermission before Dick Powell’s “To The Ends Of The Earth” along with the Noveltoon “The Bored Cuckoo” and a newsreel.
Kerasotes was the last operator.
The East 6 Drive-In opened around 1966 as a 475-car drive-in. The reason why I said 1966 is because it doesn’t appear in the 1964 aerial view but it does in the 1968 topo.
The Aztec Theatre was renamed the Royal Theatre during its final years of operation until the theater’s destruction from the December 9, 1956 fire.
The fire was first witnessed by Howard Moore who was walking on the streets of Van Alstyne exactly an hour after midnight. He rushed to the telephone booth and called the only operator online, Mrs. Janice Overstreet. She sounded the siren from the fire department but was either broken or malfunctioned, so she ended up calling one of the firemen. Alongside Van Alstyne comes neighboring fire departments from Anna, Sherman, and McKinney who raced on-scene to fight the blaze. The fire melted the only telephone cable in the alley as well as the rear of the theater building and damage being reported by some of the T&PL Co. electric lines, causing 3/4th of the town’s phones being disconnected and dead. Only those east of the Southern Pacific railroad line were unaffected. The fire left Van Alstyne without a movie theater for the rest of time, leaving residents to watch movies either in McKinney or Sherman.
Opened with Joel McCrea in “Ramrod” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks display was presented after the movie).
The Cimarron Theatre opened its doors on Pearl Harbor Day, or December 7, 1941, with Cary Grant in “Gunga Din” (unknown if any extras added). The Cimarron Theatre closed in 1954 and was converted into a gift shop which opened the following year.
This started life as the Mission Theatre in either late-October or early-November 1911 by Mr. James Wickeser, and was renamed the Roxy Theatre on November 15, 1931.
The Airline Drive-In opened its gates on July 3, 1953 with Edmond O'Brien in “Silver City” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks show was displayed after the movie) and was first managed by Don R. Hall.
The original screen didn’t last long. The screen itself was destroyed by destructive 75 MPH winds during a severe weather outbreak on August 27, 1954. The extensive of the tower was leveled and fragments of the screen and timber were hurled across the highway and scattered over a pasture 100ft away. Scrambled mounds of debris were littered all around the highway until theater employees were managed to clean it up. The screen was eventually replaced by a super-steel CinemaScope tower at the start of the 1955 season.
The Poncan Theatre opened its doors on September 20, 1927 with Richard Dix in “Shanghai Bound” along with a variety of stuff, including the Our Gang comedy “Yale Vs. Harvard”, a few local novelty units, a couple of newsreels, a dancing presentation of Mack & Long (either live or a merchant reel), a performance of three girls named Barnett, Edmunds, and Clark as well as a piano player, a performance by the Poncan Orchestra (or “Earl Moon And His Stars”), and Vera Byerhoff playing several songs on his Mighty Wurlizer (the same-modeled organ that was used at various large movie theaters around the country from New York to Chicago to St. Louis).
The actual opening date is September 18, 1899. This was Guthrie’s second or third opera house.
The actual Melba Theatre opening date is May 7, 1929 with Willard Mack in “The Voice Of The City” along with several Vitaphone acts, featuring sound installations of Vitaphone and Movietone.