“The Bio theater, at Fifth avenue, between Sixth and Seventh streets, Moline, has opened,” was the brief notice in the January 4, 1913, issue of Motography, which means the event probably took place in late 1912.
In 1919, the Bio Theatre had a two manual, 27 register Möller organ, Opus 2792. Its fate is unknown.
There might have been a theater on the site of the Illini even before the bank that was later converted into the Illini was built in 1920. This item comes from the October 26, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Moline, Ill — A contract has been let for the erection of a new theater for Rufus Walker. Location 1611 Fifth Avenue. Cost $12,000.”
I don’t know if Mr. Walker’s theater got built or not, but if it was it must have been demolished eight years later to make way for the bank building that became the Illini Theatre in 1941, or perhaps part of it was incorporated into the new building.
I think the correct address for the Bio Theatre is most likely 1615 Fifth Avenue, which would be in downtown Moline, rather than 1615 Fifth Street, which is in an old residential district. There is also this item from the August 26, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World which, though it doesn’t give a street number, does say that the Bio was then on Fifth Avenue:
“Moline, Ill. — The site of the Bio theater on Fifth avenue, has been sold to R. S. Woodburn, a local real estate dealer. It is given out that for a while at least the Bio, operated by A. C. Woodyatt, will continue.”
It’s possible that Mr. Woodburn later decided to kick the theater out, but more likely that he would have decided to keep it as a tenant. The building now on the site houses the Moline Community Center, but it is a low, wide structure that occupies at least three lots from 1613 (next door to the Illini Theatre building) to 1617, and it looks too modern to have been the building the theater was in. I’d surmise that it dates from the 1950s at the earliest, and probably housed a chain store or small local department store.
A Mrs. A. B. Woodyatt of the Bio Theatre, Moline, sent reviews of recent movies to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World in the spring of 1928. An A. C. Woodyatt was operating the Lyric Theatre on 6th Avenue in 1911, so the Woodyatt family was involved in film exhibition at Moline for quite a while. Albert C. Woodyatt also operated a piano shop in Moline.
The Illini Theatre has not been demolished. It is listed as a contributing property in Moline’s Downtown Commercial Historic District. The structure was built in 1920 as a bank and converted into a theater in 1941. After closing as a theater it was converted into a Walgreen’s drug store. In the current Google street view the building is vacant.
Yes, the address is for the architect. Building trade journals usually gave the addresses of architects, builders, and sometimes even subcontractors, but only occasionally gave the addresses of the projects themselves. Theater trade journals such as Film Daily were more likely to give the addresses of the theaters, though they sometimes gave the address of the person or company having the theater built, which was often another theater that was already in operation.
The Lyric was probably in operation by 1921, as it is advertised in the January 12, 1922 issue of the Whitesville News.
A comment on this Facebook page says that the Lyric Theatre had been in the building that,in 1960, became a combination cattle auction/restaurant called the Cow Palace. The building had originally been the Chase Garage, seen in a photo on this web page. The photo must date from before the theater opened. It was a large structure, and the theater probably only occupied part of it.
After the Cow Palace closed, the building was demolished. It is now the site of a facility occupied by the Independence Emergency Squad, an ambulance service, at 508 Main Street. That might not have been the theater’s exact address, but it was probably close to it.
CinemaTour says that the Times Theatre was designed by local architect Raymond G. Johnson.
The May 15, 1953, issue of the Jacksonville Daily Journal reported that Fox Midwest has sold the Times and several other theaters in the region to a local company called El Fran Theatres. Houses in Centralia, Mt. Vernon, Benton, West Frankfort and Marion were part of the deal.
By 1964, the Times was being operated by the Frisina Amusement Company, who still controlled the house at least as late as 1976.
This item in the July 13, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World mentions the Grand Theatre:
“SOME BIG PIECE OF GLASS.
“The Mirror Picture Screen Company has installed one of its screens in the Grand Theatre, Rochester, N. Y. This particular screen is 14 feet high, but our informant does not state the width. Presumably it is 18 or 20 feet in width. Another order is being filled for a theater at Rockaway Beach, N. Y., which will belong to the record breaking class.”
An editor of the magazine later visited the Grand Theatre and wrote about it in the August 31 issue:
“The reason for this excursion was a desire to examine the mirror screen in the Grand Theater of Rochester, which screen has a new finish. The mirror screen people claim this finish does away with the out-of-focus effect when sitting to one side of the screen.”
“…I went up and called on the management of the Grand Theater, Messrs. Thompson and Tyler, who have recently installed a mirror screen, said to be made from the largest piece of plate glass in the world. This was the screen I had come to look at and it was worth the trip. The house is quite wide and quite long, incidentally very tastefully and beautifully designed and decorated. I tested this screen from all parts of the house and find that the results are excellent. From the rear of the house the picture was certainly a marvel of beauty, clear, brilliant and as sharp as a knife. Down close to the screen the picture was still good, though of course a little of its sharpness was lost, as would be the case with any screen. Off to one side, at a very sharp angle, the picture was still fairly clear, and here was where a queer effect occurred. Those who have wide houses and an ordinary screen, know that when the picture is viewed at a sharp angle, the figures of actors appear to be abnormally tall and very thin. This seemed to be entirely absent with this screen, but there was a slight out-of-focus effect, though not enough , to present serious objection. I figured that the loss of the elongation fully balances any out-of-focus effect present, and I feel that I can say that the mirror screen with the rough finish, such as Messrs. Tyler and Thompson have, can be successfully used in any house, regardless of its width.
“Messrs. Thompson and Tyler are experienced show-
men, particularly Mr. Thompson, and the result of their experiences shows in the excellence of their projection, as well as in the beauty of their house; also in the fact that they do a land-office business, with automobiles lined up in front of the house every night.”
An article in the March 21, 1925, issue of the Oswego Daily Times listed the Grand Theatre in Rochester as one of 38 theaters owned or controlled by the Schine circuit, in which Universal Pictures had just bought an interest.
The May 11, 1924, issue of The Film Daily announced the end of the Rialto Theatre:
“Rochester Rialto Closes
“(Special to THE FILM DAILY)
“Rochester. N. Y.— The Rialto, owned by Albert A. Fenyvessy has closed its doors and the building will be torn down to make way for a new clothing structure. It is supposed to be the oldest theater building in Rochester.”
An article about A. N. Wolf, owner of the house in 1913 when it was called the Colonial Theatre can be seen on this page of the October 18, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World.
“On Labor Day the Majestic, a brand
new house at East St. Louis, opens with bookings through the Western Vaudeville Association of Chicago. Three shows daily will be given.”
If it was brand new it must have been the Majestic at 242-244 Collinsville.
The April 8, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World had an article about the recently opened Strand Theatre in Brandon, Manitoba. The Canadian Amusement Company operated the house under lease from owner J. H. Hughes. The manager was George Semper.
The Capitol Theatre in Brandon was mentioned in the July 15, 1926, issue of The Film Daily. J. B. Reisman had just been named manager of the Famous Players house. The November 15 issue of the same publication said that Famous Players controlled both of the theaters then operating in Brandon. The theaters were not mentioned by name, but the other house must have been the Strand, which had opened in 1917.
An article about the Beacon Theatre in the June 9, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Beacon had recently reopened after a fifteen-day shutdown for a $75,000 renovation. The project included both refurbishing the house and mechanical improvements such as a new ventilation system. The Beacon Theatre had originally cost $100,000 to build, and had opened on February 17, 1910.
Our page for the other Orpheum at 301 Collinsville says that it was originally called the Lyric and was renamed the Orpheum in 1929 and closed in 1936. This theater’s description says that it was called the Lyric in 1924 and renamed the New Orpheum in 1929. They can’t both have been called the Lyric at the same time and then renamed the Orpheum at the same time. Something is wrong in one or both descriptions, but I can’t figure out exactly what.
The 1912 City Directory has the Lyric Theatre at 301-303 Collinsville and the Majestic at 242 Collinsville. I haven’t found any later city directories for East St. Louis.
It can be tricky calculating the locations of Atlanta’s theaters from their old addresses. The part of Whitehall Street on which the Alamo Theatre was located was renamed to be part of Peachtree Street at some point.
A 1911 Sanborn Map shows the building at 71 Whitehall Street was an ordinary commercial structure on the west side of the street three doors south of Hunter Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.) The Alamo Theatre was probably a storefront nickelodeon installed in the space sometime after that year. I believe the building might still be standing at modern address 101 Peachtree Street SW, which is occupied by the Blend Master Barber Shop in the current Google street view, but I’m not positive that it wasn’t under the footprint of the modern brick building extending south from the corner of MLK Drive.
It can be tricky calculating the locations of Atlanta’s theaters from their old addresses. The part of Whitehall Street on which the Alpha Theatre was located was renamed to be part of Peachtree Street at some point.
A 1911 Sanborn map has 148 Whitehall on the east side of the street just south of Trinity Street, and the lot 144-148 was then occupied by a large house with a big yard, so the theater hadn’t been built yet, but it had been by February, 1916 (advertisement cited by kencmcintyre.) The modern address would be approximately 182 Peachtree Street SW. There is now a parking lot extending from Trinity Street to the building at modern 196 Peachtree.
Some early Sanborn maps of Georgia cities are online at this link.
An item in the April 18, 1914, issue of The American Contractor also concerns the Empress Theatre, and gives the address of the site as 410 Jackson Street. Because the addresses are so close, and could easily have been shifted, I’m wondering if the Empress was the same house as the Hollywood Theatre, which we have listed at 420 Jackson Street.
This item from the April 18, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World was probably about the Empress Theatre:
“Sioux City, Ia. — Sealed proposals have been invited by John Biegger, care
Colonial Theater, for the erection of the New Empress Theater and office building. Joseph Schwarz is the architect.”
The magazine was a bit late with its announcement. The March 30 issue of the Sioux City Journal had said that ground had been broken for the theater the previous day. It was to be a Sullivan & Considine vaudeville house, and Mr. Biegger expected to convert his Colonial Theatre into a movie house when the Empress opened.
There was a house called the Central Theatre operating in Danville at least as early as 1914, when it was mentioned in the May 23 issue of The Moving Picture World:
“I. C. Davidson, owner of the Central Theater, Danville, was also seen during the Springfield convention. He informed me that the present capacity of the Central is 580, and that he is putting in a balcony that will seat 400 more. He reported excellent business, and expressed great faith in the future of the moving picture.”
A paper about theaters on North Avenue (PDF here) says that the Aurora Theatre was opened by the Paradise Amusement Company in the fall of 1910. That means it must be the house referred to by this item from The Moving Picture World of April 2, 1910:
“Baltimore, Md. — Architect Francis E. Tormey has completed plans for a moving picture theater to be erected on the south side of North avenue, near Charles street, by the Paradise Amusement Co.”
Tormey designed a number of churches during his career, and now two of his theaters- this house and the New Horn Theatre- have also become churches.
The Grand Theatre at 400 E. Baltimore was opened around 1908 by Pearce & Schenck. Three theaters of the same name all operating at the same time could have been rather confusing, but they probably each drew their patrons primarily from nearby neighborhoods.
A permit to convert the ground floor of the building at 509-513 S. Broadway into a movie and vaudeville theater was granted to the Broadway Theatre Company on October 16, 1913. According to Robert Kirk Headley’s Motion Picture Exhibition in Baltimore: An Illustrated History and Directory of Theaters, 1895-2004, the architect for the conversion was Alfred Lowther Forrest.
“The Bio theater, at Fifth avenue, between Sixth and Seventh streets, Moline, has opened,” was the brief notice in the January 4, 1913, issue of Motography, which means the event probably took place in late 1912.
In 1919, the Bio Theatre had a two manual, 27 register Möller organ, Opus 2792. Its fate is unknown.
There might have been a theater on the site of the Illini even before the bank that was later converted into the Illini was built in 1920. This item comes from the October 26, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World:
I don’t know if Mr. Walker’s theater got built or not, but if it was it must have been demolished eight years later to make way for the bank building that became the Illini Theatre in 1941, or perhaps part of it was incorporated into the new building.I think the correct address for the Bio Theatre is most likely 1615 Fifth Avenue, which would be in downtown Moline, rather than 1615 Fifth Street, which is in an old residential district. There is also this item from the August 26, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World which, though it doesn’t give a street number, does say that the Bio was then on Fifth Avenue:
It’s possible that Mr. Woodburn later decided to kick the theater out, but more likely that he would have decided to keep it as a tenant. The building now on the site houses the Moline Community Center, but it is a low, wide structure that occupies at least three lots from 1613 (next door to the Illini Theatre building) to 1617, and it looks too modern to have been the building the theater was in. I’d surmise that it dates from the 1950s at the earliest, and probably housed a chain store or small local department store.A Mrs. A. B. Woodyatt of the Bio Theatre, Moline, sent reviews of recent movies to Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World in the spring of 1928. An A. C. Woodyatt was operating the Lyric Theatre on 6th Avenue in 1911, so the Woodyatt family was involved in film exhibition at Moline for quite a while. Albert C. Woodyatt also operated a piano shop in Moline.
The Illini Theatre has not been demolished. It is listed as a contributing property in Moline’s Downtown Commercial Historic District. The structure was built in 1920 as a bank and converted into a theater in 1941. After closing as a theater it was converted into a Walgreen’s drug store. In the current Google street view the building is vacant.
Yes, the address is for the architect. Building trade journals usually gave the addresses of architects, builders, and sometimes even subcontractors, but only occasionally gave the addresses of the projects themselves. Theater trade journals such as Film Daily were more likely to give the addresses of the theaters, though they sometimes gave the address of the person or company having the theater built, which was often another theater that was already in operation.
The Lyric was probably in operation by 1921, as it is advertised in the January 12, 1922 issue of the Whitesville News.
A comment on this Facebook page says that the Lyric Theatre had been in the building that,in 1960, became a combination cattle auction/restaurant called the Cow Palace. The building had originally been the Chase Garage, seen in a photo on this web page. The photo must date from before the theater opened. It was a large structure, and the theater probably only occupied part of it.
After the Cow Palace closed, the building was demolished. It is now the site of a facility occupied by the Independence Emergency Squad, an ambulance service, at 508 Main Street. That might not have been the theater’s exact address, but it was probably close to it.
CinemaTour says that the Times Theatre was designed by local architect Raymond G. Johnson.
The May 15, 1953, issue of the Jacksonville Daily Journal reported that Fox Midwest has sold the Times and several other theaters in the region to a local company called El Fran Theatres. Houses in Centralia, Mt. Vernon, Benton, West Frankfort and Marion were part of the deal.
By 1964, the Times was being operated by the Frisina Amusement Company, who still controlled the house at least as late as 1976.
This item in the July 13, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World mentions the Grand Theatre:
An editor of the magazine later visited the Grand Theatre and wrote about it in the August 31 issue:An article in the March 21, 1925, issue of the Oswego Daily Times listed the Grand Theatre in Rochester as one of 38 theaters owned or controlled by the Schine circuit, in which Universal Pictures had just bought an interest.The May 11, 1924, issue of The Film Daily announced the end of the Rialto Theatre:
An article about A. N. Wolf, owner of the house in 1913 when it was called the Colonial Theatre can be seen on this page of the October 18, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World.This item appeared in Variety in September, 1909:
If it was brand new it must have been the Majestic at 242-244 Collinsville.The April 8, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World had an article about the recently opened Strand Theatre in Brandon, Manitoba. The Canadian Amusement Company operated the house under lease from owner J. H. Hughes. The manager was George Semper.
The Capitol Theatre in Brandon was mentioned in the July 15, 1926, issue of The Film Daily. J. B. Reisman had just been named manager of the Famous Players house. The November 15 issue of the same publication said that Famous Players controlled both of the theaters then operating in Brandon. The theaters were not mentioned by name, but the other house must have been the Strand, which had opened in 1917.
An article about the Beacon Theatre in the June 9, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Beacon had recently reopened after a fifteen-day shutdown for a $75,000 renovation. The project included both refurbishing the house and mechanical improvements such as a new ventilation system. The Beacon Theatre had originally cost $100,000 to build, and had opened on February 17, 1910.
Our page for the other Orpheum at 301 Collinsville says that it was originally called the Lyric and was renamed the Orpheum in 1929 and closed in 1936. This theater’s description says that it was called the Lyric in 1924 and renamed the New Orpheum in 1929. They can’t both have been called the Lyric at the same time and then renamed the Orpheum at the same time. Something is wrong in one or both descriptions, but I can’t figure out exactly what.
The 1912 City Directory has the Lyric Theatre at 301-303 Collinsville and the Majestic at 242 Collinsville. I haven’t found any later city directories for East St. Louis.
The 1912 East St. Louis City Directory has a theater listing for a Home Circle Airdome, but it is at 940 Trendley Avenue.
The Avenue Theatre was listed at 219 Collinsville Avenue in the 1912 East St. Louis City Directory.
It can be tricky calculating the locations of Atlanta’s theaters from their old addresses. The part of Whitehall Street on which the Alamo Theatre was located was renamed to be part of Peachtree Street at some point.
A 1911 Sanborn Map shows the building at 71 Whitehall Street was an ordinary commercial structure on the west side of the street three doors south of Hunter Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.) The Alamo Theatre was probably a storefront nickelodeon installed in the space sometime after that year. I believe the building might still be standing at modern address 101 Peachtree Street SW, which is occupied by the Blend Master Barber Shop in the current Google street view, but I’m not positive that it wasn’t under the footprint of the modern brick building extending south from the corner of MLK Drive.
It can be tricky calculating the locations of Atlanta’s theaters from their old addresses. The part of Whitehall Street on which the Alpha Theatre was located was renamed to be part of Peachtree Street at some point.
A 1911 Sanborn map has 148 Whitehall on the east side of the street just south of Trinity Street, and the lot 144-148 was then occupied by a large house with a big yard, so the theater hadn’t been built yet, but it had been by February, 1916 (advertisement cited by kencmcintyre.) The modern address would be approximately 182 Peachtree Street SW. There is now a parking lot extending from Trinity Street to the building at modern 196 Peachtree.
Some early Sanborn maps of Georgia cities are online at this link.
An item in the April 18, 1914, issue of The American Contractor also concerns the Empress Theatre, and gives the address of the site as 410 Jackson Street. Because the addresses are so close, and could easily have been shifted, I’m wondering if the Empress was the same house as the Hollywood Theatre, which we have listed at 420 Jackson Street.
This item from the April 18, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World was probably about the Empress Theatre:
The magazine was a bit late with its announcement. The March 30 issue of the Sioux City Journal had said that ground had been broken for the theater the previous day. It was to be a Sullivan & Considine vaudeville house, and Mr. Biegger expected to convert his Colonial Theatre into a movie house when the Empress opened.There was a house called the Central Theatre operating in Danville at least as early as 1914, when it was mentioned in the May 23 issue of The Moving Picture World:
A paper about theaters on North Avenue (PDF here) says that the Aurora Theatre was opened by the Paradise Amusement Company in the fall of 1910. That means it must be the house referred to by this item from The Moving Picture World of April 2, 1910:
Tormey designed a number of churches during his career, and now two of his theaters- this house and the New Horn Theatre- have also become churches.The Grand Theatre at 400 E. Baltimore was opened around 1908 by Pearce & Schenck. Three theaters of the same name all operating at the same time could have been rather confusing, but they probably each drew their patrons primarily from nearby neighborhoods.
A permit to convert the ground floor of the building at 509-513 S. Broadway into a movie and vaudeville theater was granted to the Broadway Theatre Company on October 16, 1913. According to Robert Kirk Headley’s Motion Picture Exhibition in Baltimore: An Illustrated History and Directory of Theaters, 1895-2004, the architect for the conversion was Alfred Lowther Forrest.