What is sad is the fact that the Warners also were the last owners of the Dome Theatre yet there is nothing remaining of that theatre in the way of its projection equipment. The Dome showed The Jazz Singer on first run, and it would be great if DeYor/Powers would have a film festival featuring Warner’s greatest movies. I wish that some Angels could come forward with the funds to sponsor a Warner’s Film Festival.
If you will go yo the Youngstown page, you will find that there were movie theaters here as early as 1906, and as was stated earlier, the Warner brothers were involved in at least the first two to show movies, one of which was the Grand Opera House hardly a store front movie. they were also involved financially in at least three other downtown theaters before building the Warner Theater.
Now I do not wish to come off as a snob, or throw cold water on the people of New Castle, but facts are facts … the Warner family was from Youngstown … the family owned businesses in Youngstown … and the brothers were deeply involved in Youngstown’s theater live long before they opened their little theater in New Castle.
If it was just outside the Youngstown City Limits on Route 62 that would have either placed it in Hubbard city, or Hubbard Township, in Trumbull County.
Powers has gathered together memorabilia from its Warner Theater days including one of the first projectors, ushers uniforms and other material that will go on display in the Grand Lobby for a week, and then turned over to the Mahoning Valley Historical Society for preservation, and the event will be open to the public free of charge during regular business hours. (SEE AD IN THE PHOTO SECTION FOR THIS THEATER.)
Joe: I just came across a Vindicator display ad that did use “Wilson Avenue Theatre”, but in other ads it uses other varient names. It’s the same theater regardless of the name since there were no commercial buildings across the street, and the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show only the one theater.
Joe, the Youngstown Ice Company started out as an ice dealer, but later became a building supply company that was involved in supplying building material for many of our early buildings. Why they continued to call themself Youngstown Ice Company is anyone’s guess. In my library of historic Youngstown, I have a photo of this business but since it would be off topic here I won’t post it.
As to the Wilson ever being called the Wilson Avenue Theater, none of its newspaper ads had that name. Only the Wilsonian and Wilson Theatre applied.
Saddly, most of the local theaters did not do regular advertizing on a regular basis, and some didn’t run newspaper ads at all, so that we are left with little to go on concerning the early theaters.
I rely on our public library to get information about these early houses, and they do the best they can to help me, but with so little to go on, we’re at a real loss.
Youngstown before about 1935 had two daily newspapers, The Youngstown Vindicator and the Youngstown Telegram, but Google only digitized the Vindicator so we can’t have a second source to rely on when researching local theaters.
The theater at the Idora Park amusement park went by two different names during it’s years of operation. The first was Casino Theater and the second was the Idora Theatre. It was both a movie; vaudeville and legitamate theater. Because of all the changes that the amusement park underwent over the years, little is known about this theater other than what we learn through newspaper ads.
On January 20, 1907 there was a major fire that destroyed the building that this theater was located so we would have to figure that it was in operation prior to 1/1/1907. The newspaper article doesn’t mention the theater, but then the bigger news was that two major department stores were destroyed.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Powers who saved the Warner Theater from the wrecking ball.
What is sad is the fact that the Warners also were the last owners of the Dome Theatre yet there is nothing remaining of that theatre in the way of its projection equipment. The Dome showed The Jazz Singer on first run, and it would be great if DeYor/Powers would have a film festival featuring Warner’s greatest movies. I wish that some Angels could come forward with the funds to sponsor a Warner’s Film Festival.
I went to the web site www.warnerfilmcenter.org and it has absolutely nothing to do with the Cascade Picture Palace or even movies.
If you will go yo the Youngstown page, you will find that there were movie theaters here as early as 1906, and as was stated earlier, the Warner brothers were involved in at least the first two to show movies, one of which was the Grand Opera House hardly a store front movie. they were also involved financially in at least three other downtown theaters before building the Warner Theater. Now I do not wish to come off as a snob, or throw cold water on the people of New Castle, but facts are facts … the Warner family was from Youngstown … the family owned businesses in Youngstown … and the brothers were deeply involved in Youngstown’s theater live long before they opened their little theater in New Castle.
The Spanish Room off the Grand Lobby.
Grand Lobby
Powers Auditorium
Powers Auditorium
Ford Recital Hall
Ford Recital Hall
If it was just outside the Youngstown City Limits on Route 62 that would have either placed it in Hubbard city, or Hubbard Township, in Trumbull County.
To be very honest, I didn’t even know about it until I stumbled over it while looking for another theater.
Powers has gathered together memorabilia from its Warner Theater days including one of the first projectors, ushers uniforms and other material that will go on display in the Grand Lobby for a week, and then turned over to the Mahoning Valley Historical Society for preservation, and the event will be open to the public free of charge during regular business hours. (SEE AD IN THE PHOTO SECTION FOR THIS THEATER.)
Lady’s Lounge
Men’s Lounge
Youngstown Symphony Orchestra
Looking out from center stage.
This stairway leads to the upper balcony.
Joe: I just came across a Vindicator display ad that did use “Wilson Avenue Theatre”, but in other ads it uses other varient names. It’s the same theater regardless of the name since there were no commercial buildings across the street, and the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show only the one theater.
Joe, the Youngstown Ice Company started out as an ice dealer, but later became a building supply company that was involved in supplying building material for many of our early buildings. Why they continued to call themself Youngstown Ice Company is anyone’s guess. In my library of historic Youngstown, I have a photo of this business but since it would be off topic here I won’t post it.
As to the Wilson ever being called the Wilson Avenue Theater, none of its newspaper ads had that name. Only the Wilsonian and Wilson Theatre applied.
Saddly, most of the local theaters did not do regular advertizing on a regular basis, and some didn’t run newspaper ads at all, so that we are left with little to go on concerning the early theaters.
I rely on our public library to get information about these early houses, and they do the best they can to help me, but with so little to go on, we’re at a real loss.
Youngstown before about 1935 had two daily newspapers, The Youngstown Vindicator and the Youngstown Telegram, but Google only digitized the Vindicator so we can’t have a second source to rely on when researching local theaters.
I just received material from the Public Library and they were not able to provide much more into than is already here.
In one of their newspaper ads the theater was reported to be part of the Paramount-Publix chain of theaters.
The theater at the Idora Park amusement park went by two different names during it’s years of operation. The first was Casino Theater and the second was the Idora Theatre. It was both a movie; vaudeville and legitamate theater. Because of all the changes that the amusement park underwent over the years, little is known about this theater other than what we learn through newspaper ads.
The Alvin Theatre was the sister theater of the Lyric. In today’s world, the new wing of DeYor Center For The Performing Arts sits there.
On January 20, 1907 there was a major fire that destroyed the building that this theater was located so we would have to figure that it was in operation prior to 1/1/1907. The newspaper article doesn’t mention the theater, but then the bigger news was that two major department stores were destroyed.