Old USGS maps show that the Motor Movies Drive-In occupied an irregular quadrilateral lot of about ten acres along El Dorado Street starting about 300 feet south of Clayton Avenue and extending about 600 feet farther. A narrow additional parcel used as a driveway extended north to Clayton on a line with Mary Avenue, but the main entrance appears to have been on El Dorado.
The screen was at the northwest corner, at the back of what appears to now be a lumber yard. In the satellite view you can see a small, white-roofed building, set at an angle, about where the screen used to be. The rest of the drive-in’s parcel is now occupied by industrial uses and a storage area for big rig trailers.
I don’t know just where the marquee and attraction board were located, so I’ve set Street View to the southeast corner of the parcel, which is where the USGS maps show a driveway entering from El Dorado Street.
Go to Historic Aerials and enter the address 4000 S. El Dorado, Stockton, CA, and then when the aerial has been fetched click on the 1987 topo map link (T) to see the former layout.
It was probably 1934 or 1935 that the Colonial/Durant Theatre was renamed the Roxy. A list of theater projects designed by Flint architect George J. Bachmann, published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog, includes a “Roxie” Theatre in Flint, listed as a 1934 project. Despite the variant spelling, the entry probably does refer to this Roxy Theatre.
A list of theaters designed by Flint architect George J. Bachmann published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog includes the Columbia Theatre at Flint, listed as a 1920 design project. It most likely opened in either 1920 or 1921.
Given the Della Theatre’s early May, 1937, opening, its size, the fact that it was operated by Matt Theatres, and its neighborhood location, it was probably the yet-unnamed theater project reported in the September 12, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
“Ground was broken a few days ago for the theater to be built in Chevrolet Park, Flint, for Lester Matt. House will seat 1,200 and cost $80,000. George Bachman of Flint is the architect.”
“George Bachman” was undoubtedly George J. Bachmann, architect of several other theaters in and around Flint.
A photo of the St. James Picture Theatre illustrates an advertisement for W. J. Furse & Co. on this page of the technical supplement to The Cinema News andProperty Gazette, published October 2, 1924.
Here is an article about the Cabridge Circus Cinema from the March, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette. There are photos of the vestibule and auditorium sporting their original Jacobean decor.
Here is an article about the Scala Theatre from the April, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette, published during the period when the theater was presenting Charles Urban’s Kinemacolor films.
Given its late 1936 reopening, the State might have been the theater that was mentioned in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily that year. The item said that Pioneer Theatres was remodeling the Royal Theatre at Carroll. There would be a new front, boxoffice and marquee, and the interior would be redecorated. The item said that the house would be renamed, but did not say what the new name would be.
In 1936, original architects Shampan & Shampan returned to the Williamsburg Playhouse to design and oversee a $15,000 renovation, reported in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily. The building was extended to increase seating capacity, the auditorium was reseated, new carpets and drapes were installed, the toilets and lounge were updated, as were lighting and mechanical equipment, and the interior was given modern decorative finishes.
A comment on the Lakeview Theatre page at Water Winter Wonderland says that this theater was on Jefferson Avenue at Francis Street. That’s only a few blocks south of 13 Mile Road, so Google Maps has its pin icon almost two miles too far south. That’s probably because the theater needs a five-digit address and we only give it four digits. The right address is most likely 30620 Jefferson, which would put it in the block just north of Francis Street.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lakeview Theatre in St.Clair Shores was underway. Plans were by the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lafayette Theatre in Bay City was one of the projects being carried out by Dearborn architects Bennett & Straight.
In 2009, the Record & Clarion republished this 1935 article about the opening of the rebuilt Star Theatre. A postscript notes that the building is now occupied by the Gladwin County Historical Society.
A recent comment on the Water Winter Wonderland page that lostmemory linked to says that the building now houses the County Historical Museum, and that part of it has been fitted out with some of the Star’s original theater seats and is used for viewing historical videos.
Here is an entry about the Hills Theatre at Remembering Rochester. The house opened in January, 1942, and was designed by Lavern R. Bennett and Eugene D. Straight of the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
A list of houses operated by AIA Theatres in the 1950 Theatre Catalog includes this: “VALLEY, Taylorsville, Ky. (1946).” A 1948 mention in Motion Picture Herald refers to it as the “…new Valley Theatre at Taylorsville….” The rather plain facade definitely looks like a 1940s design.
I’ve found two mentions of theaters at Taylorsville in The Moving Picture World from 1916: The January 15th issue notes that J. H. Johnson had purchased equipment for a 300-seat house to be opened at Taylorsville, and the September 30 issue says that J. H. Johnson was moving his theater in Taylorsville to the ground floor of the Cox Building and would rename it the Music Hall.
My eagle eyes say that the movie on the poster is Three Girls About Town, with Joan Blondell, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair, Robert Benchley, and John Howard. It was released in 1941.
Historical Souvenir of El Dorado County California, published in 1883, (Google Books scan) says that Placerville’s first Empire Theatre was opened after the Placer Theatre, which opened in 1852, and both houses were destroyed by the Placerville fire of 1856. After the fire The Empire Theatre was replaced by the Placerville Theatre. I’ve been unable to trace the later history of the Placerville Theatre, though it was apparently still around in 1883 when the book was published.
The Empire building in the 1849 photo might have been the building that became the Empire Theatre. It was most likely a saloon or dance hall, and saloons and dance halls were sometimes converted into theaters during the gold rush period, as towns grew and became more prosperous and the miners and merchants began seeking more elaborate entertainment.
The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina, published in 1985, says that the Carolina Theatre building was built in the 1920s as a post office. In 1935, the post office moved and the building was remodeled into a theater.
The interior featured some Art Deco detailing which (as of 1985) could still be seen in an area used for storage. The Carolina Theatre closed in 1962, and the building sat vacant until 1981 when it was again remodeled for commercial use.
There’s a small photo of the theater at the bottom of this page of the book.
The Capitol Theatre closed in 1958 and has since been demolished, according to a 1985 book called The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina.
The Film Daily of January 4, 1923, said that J. F. White had opened a theater at Asheboro. No name was given, but it must have been the Capitol. A history of the Sunset Theatre published by Randolph County (PDF here) says that the Capitol opened on December 19, 1922.
A few photos of the restored Missouri Theatre are displayed in the portfolio of Henderson Engineers, one of the companies that has worked on the theater. Click on the Missouri Theatre thumbnail (#3, top row of featured projects) on this page.
Old USGS maps show that the Motor Movies Drive-In occupied an irregular quadrilateral lot of about ten acres along El Dorado Street starting about 300 feet south of Clayton Avenue and extending about 600 feet farther. A narrow additional parcel used as a driveway extended north to Clayton on a line with Mary Avenue, but the main entrance appears to have been on El Dorado.
The screen was at the northwest corner, at the back of what appears to now be a lumber yard. In the satellite view you can see a small, white-roofed building, set at an angle, about where the screen used to be. The rest of the drive-in’s parcel is now occupied by industrial uses and a storage area for big rig trailers.
I don’t know just where the marquee and attraction board were located, so I’ve set Street View to the southeast corner of the parcel, which is where the USGS maps show a driveway entering from El Dorado Street.
Go to Historic Aerials and enter the address 4000 S. El Dorado, Stockton, CA, and then when the aerial has been fetched click on the 1987 topo map link (T) to see the former layout.
It was probably 1934 or 1935 that the Colonial/Durant Theatre was renamed the Roxy. A list of theater projects designed by Flint architect George J. Bachmann, published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog, includes a “Roxie” Theatre in Flint, listed as a 1934 project. Despite the variant spelling, the entry probably does refer to this Roxy Theatre.
A list of theaters designed by Flint architect George J. Bachmann published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog includes the Columbia Theatre at Flint, listed as a 1920 design project. It most likely opened in either 1920 or 1921.
Given the Della Theatre’s early May, 1937, opening, its size, the fact that it was operated by Matt Theatres, and its neighborhood location, it was probably the yet-unnamed theater project reported in the September 12, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
“George Bachman” was undoubtedly George J. Bachmann, architect of several other theaters in and around Flint.The architect’s surname is Lovegrove, not Lovecraft, according to the caption under the drawing and the text on the page Tinseltoes linked to.
A photo of the St. James Picture Theatre illustrates an advertisement for W. J. Furse & Co. on this page of the technical supplement to The Cinema News andProperty Gazette, published October 2, 1924.
Here is an article about the Cabridge Circus Cinema from the March, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette. There are photos of the vestibule and auditorium sporting their original Jacobean decor.
Here is an article about the Scala Theatre from the April, 1912, issue of The Cinema News and Property Gazette, published during the period when the theater was presenting Charles Urban’s Kinemacolor films.
Given its late 1936 reopening, the State might have been the theater that was mentioned in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily that year. The item said that Pioneer Theatres was remodeling the Royal Theatre at Carroll. There would be a new front, boxoffice and marquee, and the interior would be redecorated. The item said that the house would be renamed, but did not say what the new name would be.
In 1936, original architects Shampan & Shampan returned to the Williamsburg Playhouse to design and oversee a $15,000 renovation, reported in the September 12 issue of The Film Daily. The building was extended to increase seating capacity, the auditorium was reseated, new carpets and drapes were installed, the toilets and lounge were updated, as were lighting and mechanical equipment, and the interior was given modern decorative finishes.
A comment on the Lakeview Theatre page at Water Winter Wonderland says that this theater was on Jefferson Avenue at Francis Street. That’s only a few blocks south of 13 Mile Road, so Google Maps has its pin icon almost two miles too far south. That’s probably because the theater needs a five-digit address and we only give it four digits. The right address is most likely 30620 Jefferson, which would put it in the block just north of Francis Street.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lakeview Theatre in St.Clair Shores was underway. Plans were by the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
An item in the January 22, 1935, issue of The Film Daily said that a remodeling of the Lafayette Theatre in Bay City was one of the projects being carried out by Dearborn architects Bennett & Straight.
In 2009, the Record & Clarion republished this 1935 article about the opening of the rebuilt Star Theatre. A postscript notes that the building is now occupied by the Gladwin County Historical Society.
A recent comment on the Water Winter Wonderland page that lostmemory linked to says that the building now houses the County Historical Museum, and that part of it has been fitted out with some of the Star’s original theater seats and is used for viewing historical videos.
Click on the “Slideshow” link on this web page to see one modern and one vintage photo of the Avon Theatre building.
Here is an entry about the Hills Theatre at Remembering Rochester. The house opened in January, 1942, and was designed by Lavern R. Bennett and Eugene D. Straight of the Dearborn architectural firm Bennett & Straight.
A list of houses operated by AIA Theatres in the 1950 Theatre Catalog includes this: “VALLEY, Taylorsville, Ky. (1946).” A 1948 mention in Motion Picture Herald refers to it as the “…new Valley Theatre at Taylorsville….” The rather plain facade definitely looks like a 1940s design.
I’ve found two mentions of theaters at Taylorsville in The Moving Picture World from 1916: The January 15th issue notes that J. H. Johnson had purchased equipment for a 300-seat house to be opened at Taylorsville, and the September 30 issue says that J. H. Johnson was moving his theater in Taylorsville to the ground floor of the Cox Building and would rename it the Music Hall.
The Strand Theatre was listed in the 1922-1923 edition of the Monroe City Directory.
My eagle eyes say that the movie on the poster is Three Girls About Town, with Joan Blondell, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair, Robert Benchley, and John Howard. It was released in 1941.
Historical Souvenir of El Dorado County California, published in 1883, (Google Books scan) says that Placerville’s first Empire Theatre was opened after the Placer Theatre, which opened in 1852, and both houses were destroyed by the Placerville fire of 1856. After the fire The Empire Theatre was replaced by the Placerville Theatre. I’ve been unable to trace the later history of the Placerville Theatre, though it was apparently still around in 1883 when the book was published.
The Empire building in the 1849 photo might have been the building that became the Empire Theatre. It was most likely a saloon or dance hall, and saloons and dance halls were sometimes converted into theaters during the gold rush period, as towns grew and became more prosperous and the miners and merchants began seeking more elaborate entertainment.
The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina, published in 1985, says that the Carolina Theatre building was built in the 1920s as a post office. In 1935, the post office moved and the building was remodeled into a theater.
The interior featured some Art Deco detailing which (as of 1985) could still be seen in an area used for storage. The Carolina Theatre closed in 1962, and the building sat vacant until 1981 when it was again remodeled for commercial use.
There’s a small photo of the theater at the bottom of this page of the book.
The Capitol Theatre closed in 1958 and has since been demolished, according to a 1985 book called The Architectural History of Randolph County North Carolina.
The Film Daily of January 4, 1923, said that J. F. White had opened a theater at Asheboro. No name was given, but it must have been the Capitol. A history of the Sunset Theatre published by Randolph County (PDF here) says that the Capitol opened on December 19, 1922.
The DeMarce Theater has a web site.
A few photos of the restored Missouri Theatre are displayed in the portfolio of Henderson Engineers, one of the companies that has worked on the theater. Click on the Missouri Theatre thumbnail (#3, top row of featured projects) on this page.