The first State Theatre might have been renamed the Alpine Theatre after being taken over by the Alpine Circuit in 1936. The Alpine Theatre at Point Pleasant was mentioned in the February 17, 1937, issue of The Film Daily.
The 1921 Film Daily item I cited did say that the Stadium’s site was 50x185 feet, and considering that the stadium-seated section was over the lobby then the original auditorium could have been more than three times as deep as it was wide and still leave plenty of room for projection booth and a stage.
There is a newer Google Street View of 119th Street now, so the side view of the old building is gone. I wish I’d saved a screen cap of it.
Does anyone know the name of the theater next door to the Michigan Furniture Company in the 1905 photo at iatse311’s link? A banner over the door says “Moving Pictures” so it should probably be listed at Cinema Treasures. It looks like it was down the block a few doors from the site of the Stadium, probably at 2172 Third Avenue.
The Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to says that the 1949 remodeling of the Palace Theatre was designed by Des Moines architects Wetherill & Harrison.
The Alpine Theatre at Terra Alta is mentioned in two 1933 issues of The Film Daily On January 30, an item noted that Wilbur Morford had reopened the Alpine Theatre at Terra Alta. The September 2 issue said that the Alpine had been transferred from W. Murford to W. A. Brooks.
It sounds as though this house was called the Alpine before it was owned by the Alpine Circuit, which as near as I can figure was formed in either 1934 or 1935. It’s likely that this theater gave its name to the circuit, rather than the other way around.
The Pocahontas Times had listings for the Alpine Theatre as late as April, 1963. The last movies I found listed are Blue Hawaii and The Castaways, showing on April 11, but the next issue available is April 18, so the house might have closed any day during that week.
The Alpine Theatre was one of several buildings destroyed in a fire that struck Marlinton’s downtown in January, 1968. GenDisasters has a page with two very small, blurry photos here. I can’t tell if the photos show the theater or some other building.
In 1933 and 1936 there was a house called the Seneca Theatre operating in Marlinton. As the Alpine circuit grew primarily by taking over existing theaters, frequently renaming them, it’s possible that Seneca is an aka for this Alpine.
Two old references to theaters in Lebanon might or might not refer to the Princess. One is from The Moving Picture World of May 3, 1913:
“Lebanon, Tenn. — W. B. Scales, of Shelbyville, who has recently moved his family here, opened his new theater at this place. This makes the second moving picture and vaudeville house for Lebanon. The other one ‘The New Lyric’ is owned by E. E. Adams and is leased by L. B. Long, formerly of Cookeville.”
The other item is from the December 23, 1922, issue of The American Contractor:
The New Lyric Theatre mentioned in the first item was a 662-seat house that was listed in the 1913-1914 Cahn-Leighton guide, but it was mentioned in Variety at least as early as 1908. Any of these three theaters (assuming the Crescent project of 1922 was carried to completion) could have been the house that became the Princess.
As this house was called the Capri Theatre for more than a decade, from 1960 until its closing in the 1970s, isn’t that how it should be listed? Almost nobody under 60 is likely to remember it as the Melba.
The Seeley Theatre was designed by Seattle architect E. W. Houghton, according to data compiled for the NRHP nomination for the Downtown Pomeroy Historic District.
Until the late 19th-early 20th century, theaters were more likely to be built on the second floor of a building than the ground floor. The owners of the buildings wanted to keep the street floor for retail shops and other daytime uses. The change to ground floor theaters was partly the result of increasingly strict fire laws, but the growing popularity of movies probably helped accelerate the transition. Live theaters typically had matinees only one or two days a week, but movie theaters could afford to open by noon and run far into the evening, keeping the valuable street-floor space busy most of the day.
Clickable version of joelmoses' link. The article says that the Capitol Theatre originally opened on December 9, 1941, and closed in 1980. It was renovated by new owner Bob Black beginning in 2009, and reopened in the early summer of 2013.
Here is the official web site, the History page of which notes that the Capitol was originally owned by the Crescent Amusement Company, but was taken over by Martin Theatres in 1961.
Attica’s Family Theatre was advertised in the December 13, 1921, issue of the Batavia Daily News. The operator was James Martina. Donovan A. Shilling’s book Rochester’s Movie Mania says that what was to become the Martina Circuit began with a theater in Attica in the 1920s, so it must have been this one.
The February 19, 1920, issue of The Attica News ran a brief item about “…F.W. Hark, former proprietor of the Bijou, now the Family Theatre….”
The January 15, 1914, issue of the Silver Springs Signal said: “Frank W. Hark of Fillmore has bought the Bijou Theatre in Attica.”
The Bijou Theatre was advertised in the August 31, 1911, issue of The Attica News. There are probably earlier mentions of the Bijou, but I haven’t been able to track them down yet.
In 1935, Terra Alta was the location of the Alpine Theatre Circuit’s main office, but by 1936 it had been moved to Kingwood, where it remained as late as 1958.
The Alpine Theatre Circuit declined rapidly in the mid-1950s. In 1953 it still had 27 houses, but by 1956 it had only nine (probably reflecting the high cost of converting theaters for CinemaScope.) In 1958 the chain was down to six houses, and by 1960 it was no longer listed in the FDY.
Here is an article about the Alpine Theatre in Hundred, dated February 16, 2011. The house had reopened following repairs occasioned by a fire two years earlier. There are photos of the interior.
This house might have been called the Victoria Theatre from the time of its opening in 1909. It is listed under that name in the 1912-1913 Cahn-Leighton guide. It was a ground floor house with 474 orchestra seats, 230 seats in the balcony, a gallery with 84 seats, and boxes seating 16. The stage was 50 feet between side walls and 41 feet front to back. The proscenium was 28x22 feet. The Hansford Opera House was not listed in the 1912 guide.
The NRHP Registration Form for the Parsons Depot has this information: “Two opera houses were built, the first in 1904 and the second in 1909. The latter became the Victoria Theatre, a movie theater.”
The only opera house at Parsons that is listed in the Cahn guide, The Hansford Opera House, appears in both the 1906 and 1909 editions, so it must have been the one built in 1904. I’ve found no clues to the name of the 1909 opera house that became the Victoria Theatre. A local source will probably have to be found.
The April 1, 1927, issue of Motion Picture News said that the new Lincoln Theatre in Cheyenne had opened the previous week. The house was owned by the Plains Theatre Corporation.
The January 22, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the new Eagle Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire, had opened the previous week. Reports of the Secretary of State of New Hampshire for the year 1915 had this item about the Eagle Theatre Company:
“‘Eagle Theatre Company,’ Manchester. Capital stock, $4,500;. par value, $100. Object: To operate theatres and deal in real estate. Incorporators: P. K. Brown, S. H. Brown, Hertel Pariseau, Tancride Pariseau, and J. E. Charbonneau, all of Manchester. Date of record, January 22, 1915. Capital stock increased $3,000. Date of record, March 16, 1915. Further increased $7,500 July 19, 1915.”
The March 24, 1915, issue of Engineering and Contracting said that contracts for the construction of the Eagle Theatre would be let on April 3. The building was designed by local architect Wilfrid E. Provost.
When Google’s camera car last went by in June, 2011, the Albany Theatre building was occupied by the Figure 10 Restaurant and Jazz Lounge. As I said in my earlier comment, it now houses the Buddha Tea House.
Although the Rittner blog cited in my second comment says that Proctor’s Annex opened in 1904, I’ve found and item in the September 26, 1908, issue of The Billboard which says that F. F. Proctor had leased the building at 65 N.Pearl Street formerly occupied by the Theatre Comique (a 1907 directory of Albany lists a Comique Theatre at 69 N.Pearl Street, so Billboard got the address wrong) and would open a moving picture theater to be managed by Guy Graves. Guy Graves was noted in trade publications as manager of Proctor’s Annex for the next several years.
This web page about Proctor’s Theatre in Troy has a timeline of his theaters, and lists Proctor’s Albany Theatre opening in 1899, Proctor’s Annex Theatre (which must be this house) opening in 1904, and Proctor’s Grand Theatre, Albany, opening in 1913.
The first State Theatre might have been renamed the Alpine Theatre after being taken over by the Alpine Circuit in 1936. The Alpine Theatre at Point Pleasant was mentioned in the February 17, 1937, issue of The Film Daily.
Looking back over the old comments, maybe the unknown theater was the Globe, which AlAlvarez asked about in this comment?
The 1921 Film Daily item I cited did say that the Stadium’s site was 50x185 feet, and considering that the stadium-seated section was over the lobby then the original auditorium could have been more than three times as deep as it was wide and still leave plenty of room for projection booth and a stage.
There is a newer Google Street View of 119th Street now, so the side view of the old building is gone. I wish I’d saved a screen cap of it.
Does anyone know the name of the theater next door to the Michigan Furniture Company in the 1905 photo at iatse311’s link? A banner over the door says “Moving Pictures” so it should probably be listed at Cinema Treasures. It looks like it was down the block a few doors from the site of the Stadium, probably at 2172 Third Avenue.
The Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to says that the 1949 remodeling of the Palace Theatre was designed by Des Moines architects Wetherill & Harrison.
Thanks, dallasmovietheaters. I’m glad we’ve finally gotten that confusion cleared up. Now we need a page for the Telenews/Dallas Theatre.
The Alpine Theatre at Terra Alta is mentioned in two 1933 issues of The Film Daily On January 30, an item noted that Wilbur Morford had reopened the Alpine Theatre at Terra Alta. The September 2 issue said that the Alpine had been transferred from W. Murford to W. A. Brooks.
It sounds as though this house was called the Alpine before it was owned by the Alpine Circuit, which as near as I can figure was formed in either 1934 or 1935. It’s likely that this theater gave its name to the circuit, rather than the other way around.
The Pocahontas Times had listings for the Alpine Theatre as late as April, 1963. The last movies I found listed are Blue Hawaii and The Castaways, showing on April 11, but the next issue available is April 18, so the house might have closed any day during that week.
The Alpine Theatre was one of several buildings destroyed in a fire that struck Marlinton’s downtown in January, 1968. GenDisasters has a page with two very small, blurry photos here. I can’t tell if the photos show the theater or some other building.
In 1933 and 1936 there was a house called the Seneca Theatre operating in Marlinton. As the Alpine circuit grew primarily by taking over existing theaters, frequently renaming them, it’s possible that Seneca is an aka for this Alpine.
Two old references to theaters in Lebanon might or might not refer to the Princess. One is from The Moving Picture World of May 3, 1913:
The other item is from the December 23, 1922, issue of The American Contractor:The New Lyric Theatre mentioned in the first item was a 662-seat house that was listed in the 1913-1914 Cahn-Leighton guide, but it was mentioned in Variety at least as early as 1908. Any of these three theaters (assuming the Crescent project of 1922 was carried to completion) could have been the house that became the Princess.As this house was called the Capri Theatre for more than a decade, from 1960 until its closing in the 1970s, isn’t that how it should be listed? Almost nobody under 60 is likely to remember it as the Melba.
The Seeley Theatre was designed by Seattle architect E. W. Houghton, according to data compiled for the NRHP nomination for the Downtown Pomeroy Historic District.
Until the late 19th-early 20th century, theaters were more likely to be built on the second floor of a building than the ground floor. The owners of the buildings wanted to keep the street floor for retail shops and other daytime uses. The change to ground floor theaters was partly the result of increasingly strict fire laws, but the growing popularity of movies probably helped accelerate the transition. Live theaters typically had matinees only one or two days a week, but movie theaters could afford to open by noon and run far into the evening, keeping the valuable street-floor space busy most of the day.
Clickable version of joelmoses' link. The article says that the Capitol Theatre originally opened on December 9, 1941, and closed in 1980. It was renovated by new owner Bob Black beginning in 2009, and reopened in the early summer of 2013.
Here is the official web site, the History page of which notes that the Capitol was originally owned by the Crescent Amusement Company, but was taken over by Martin Theatres in 1961.
Attica’s Family Theatre was advertised in the December 13, 1921, issue of the Batavia Daily News. The operator was James Martina. Donovan A. Shilling’s book Rochester’s Movie Mania says that what was to become the Martina Circuit began with a theater in Attica in the 1920s, so it must have been this one.
The February 19, 1920, issue of The Attica News ran a brief item about “…F.W. Hark, former proprietor of the Bijou, now the Family Theatre….”
The January 15, 1914, issue of the Silver Springs Signal said: “Frank W. Hark of Fillmore has bought the Bijou Theatre in Attica.”
The Bijou Theatre was advertised in the August 31, 1911, issue of The Attica News. There are probably earlier mentions of the Bijou, but I haven’t been able to track them down yet.
In 1935, Terra Alta was the location of the Alpine Theatre Circuit’s main office, but by 1936 it had been moved to Kingwood, where it remained as late as 1958.
The Alpine Theatre Circuit declined rapidly in the mid-1950s. In 1953 it still had 27 houses, but by 1956 it had only nine (probably reflecting the high cost of converting theaters for CinemaScope.) In 1958 the chain was down to six houses, and by 1960 it was no longer listed in the FDY.
Here is an article about the Alpine Theatre in Hundred, dated February 16, 2011. The house had reopened following repairs occasioned by a fire two years earlier. There are photos of the interior.
This house might have been called the Victoria Theatre from the time of its opening in 1909. It is listed under that name in the 1912-1913 Cahn-Leighton guide. It was a ground floor house with 474 orchestra seats, 230 seats in the balcony, a gallery with 84 seats, and boxes seating 16. The stage was 50 feet between side walls and 41 feet front to back. The proscenium was 28x22 feet. The Hansford Opera House was not listed in the 1912 guide.
The NRHP Registration Form for the Parsons Depot has this information: “Two opera houses were built, the first in 1904 and the second in 1909. The latter became the Victoria Theatre, a movie theater.”
The only opera house at Parsons that is listed in the Cahn guide, The Hansford Opera House, appears in both the 1906 and 1909 editions, so it must have been the one built in 1904. I’ve found no clues to the name of the 1909 opera house that became the Victoria Theatre. A local source will probably have to be found.
The Wyoming Theatre in Torrington opened on March 25, 1927, according the April 1 issue of Motion Picture News.
The April 1, 1927, issue of Motion Picture News said that the new Lincoln Theatre in Cheyenne had opened the previous week. The house was owned by the Plains Theatre Corporation.
George Miller’s A Delaware Album says that the Garrick Theatre was leased to Warner Brothers from 1921 until closing in 1930.
Zip code is 44052.
The January 22, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the new Eagle Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire, had opened the previous week. Reports of the Secretary of State of New Hampshire for the year 1915 had this item about the Eagle Theatre Company:
The March 24, 1915, issue of Engineering and Contracting said that contracts for the construction of the Eagle Theatre would be let on April 3. The building was designed by local architect Wilfrid E. Provost.When Google’s camera car last went by in June, 2011, the Albany Theatre building was occupied by the Figure 10 Restaurant and Jazz Lounge. As I said in my earlier comment, it now houses the Buddha Tea House.
Although the Rittner blog cited in my second comment says that Proctor’s Annex opened in 1904, I’ve found and item in the September 26, 1908, issue of The Billboard which says that F. F. Proctor had leased the building at 65 N.Pearl Street formerly occupied by the Theatre Comique (a 1907 directory of Albany lists a Comique Theatre at 69 N.Pearl Street, so Billboard got the address wrong) and would open a moving picture theater to be managed by Guy Graves. Guy Graves was noted in trade publications as manager of Proctor’s Annex for the next several years.
Rats. That’s what happens when I have too many tabs open at once.
Proctor’s Theatre cross section from Boxoffice.
This web page about Proctor’s Theatre in Troy has a timeline of his theaters, and lists Proctor’s Albany Theatre opening in 1899, Proctor’s Annex Theatre (which must be this house) opening in 1904, and Proctor’s Grand Theatre, Albany, opening in 1913.