An item in the “Theatres to be Built” column of the April 1, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper could be about about the Regent, given the fall, 1915 opening of the house. It says that a $50,000 theater was to be built for the Pittsburgh-based Harton Theatre Company at Elmira, New York. Pittsburgh architect Harry S. Bair was drawing the plans.
The “Theatres to be Built” column in the April 1, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper listed a project at Utica for the Alhambra Amusement Company, c/o A. Lux, Alhambra Theatre, Utica. This sounds like it was to be a new building for an existing theater. The architects for the project were E. A. Howard & Son, of Syracuse.
Here is an early postcard photo of Elmira with the Regent Theatre’s vertical sign and entrance in the foreground. The caption says that the Regent opened on October 4, 1915. As the picture is from Cezar Del Valle’s Flickr photostream I’d say that’s probably the right date.
According to his obituary on this web page, Stanislaus Russell was the associate architect of Carlin’s Drive-In. It was his last commission. Half a century earlier he had been involved with the design of two Baltimore Theatres; the Carey Theatre in 1915 and the Little Theatre in 1927.
The Wallace Theatre was in operation at least as early as 1909, when an item in the April 23 issue of the Rochester Sentinel said that Charles Holden, owner of a stock company then playing at the Park Theatre in Indianapolis, had secured a lease on the Wallace Theatre in Peru. Holden already controlled the Eagles Theatre in Wabash, and later that year would take over the Manitou Theatre in Rochester, a vaudeville house which he would convert into a movie theater.
The Manitou Theatre began operating as a movie house in 1909, when the September 24 issue of the Rochester Sentinel said that the Manitou Theatre was to be reopened with Charles A. Holden as the manager. Holden had taken over the Wallace Theatre at Peru, Indiana, earlier that year.
The Manitou had been a vaudeville theater prior to 1909, according to this 2009 article in the Sentinel. The article also notes that Charles Holden, a former stage actor, later had a successful career as a movie actor.
Joseph Shea’s intention to build a movie theater on Broad Street in Valley Falls was announced in the April 10, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper. The plans were by Providence architect John F. O'Malley, who later designed the Leroy Theatre in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The Grand Theatre was on the southeast corner of Center and Philadelphia Streets. When Lincoln Avenue was built, around 1980, it incorporated many parts of Center Street, but not the part where Center crosses Philadelphia. The correct modern address for the Grand Theatre would thus be the same as its historic address, 305 E. Center Street. I’ve set Street View to the parking lot that now occupies the site of the Grand Theatre. The Google Maps pin icon is, for now, still a block north of the Grand’s actual location.
Here is a brief article about the Grand Theatre from the July 1, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“NEW GRAND AT ANAHEIM OPENS.
“Beautiful Theater, Costing $35,000 and Seating 700 Persons, Shows ‘Ramona’ at Initial Performances.
“AT Anaheim the New Grand theater, at East Center and Philadelphia streets, has opened and will give as its first production ‘Ramona,’ produced by the Clune company. The New Grand is one of the most beautiful theaters in Southern California. The building was erected by Mrs. Sadie Froham at a cost of $35,000. Although it contains two storerooms on the ground floor and sixteen office rooms in the second story, these are secondary to the theater and nothing in its construction was sacrificed to them. The room is 62 by 140 feet in dimensions, has a cement sloping floor and will seat 700 persons. The chairs are in circular rows, and are twenty inches wide.
“The house is under the management of Edward Mozart. Mr. Mozart has been in the theater business for more than forty years. He declares the New Grand is going to acquire a reputation for giving nothing but the best films that can be procured for money, and expects to maintain it. He is starting with one of the best presentations in filmdom and one that especially appeals to this region.”
We won’t be able to get a good Google Street View, as it looks like the camera truck didn’t go down South Mill. Bing Maps has a decent Bird’s-eye view.
Alfred B. Mullett died in 1890. The 1911 Opera House was designed by his son, Thomas A. Mullett, though the firm was apparently still called A. B. Mullett & Company.
Here is a PDF of the NRHP nomination form for the Old Opera House. Among it’s interesting bits of information is the fact that an electric machine for popping corn and toasting peanuts was installed in the Opera House in 1916. This is the earliest instance I’ve yet come across of a theater having popcorn.
The web site of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park has some photos of the Wesleyan Chapel. This page includes one photo of the building ca. 1917-1919, when it was the Regent Theatre, and this page includes a photo of the portion of the old roof that has survived, along with some recent photos showing the completed building as of 2010 (current Google Street View dates from 2007.)
The April 4, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Rex Theatre in Valley City had 276 seats. I guess they squeezed in a few more later.
Replacing an earlier comment that suffered linkrot:
A photo of the marquee of the Hastings Drive-In during construction, featured as the frontispiece of the Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice, October 7, 1950. An additional photo of the completed marquee by night appears on another page of the same issue.
Considering the history of this theater given above, I’m a bit puzzled by this item from the April 11, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Remodeling of the Unity Building at the corner of Fifth street and Capitol avenue, to be used as the home of the new Princess Moving Picture Theater, has begun.”
Here is information about the Kozy Theatre from the April 11, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Rodney C. Davis and Rankin Kirkland, of Paducah, are having plans made by A. L. Lassiter & Brothers for a new moving picture house to be known as the Kozy Theater. The new house will he at 417 Broadway. The building will be two stories high, and constructed of white enamel, and ‘Hytex’ brick. The seating capacity will be five hundred. The vestibule, which will be sixteen feet in length, will have a mosaic floor. The auditorium will be 92.6 feet in length, and the flooring will be of concrete, covered with wood and battleship linoleum.”
Architect A. L. Lassiter also designed the Auditorium Theatre at Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
A photo on page 103 of Seneca Falls, by Frances T. Barbieri and Kathy Jans-Duffy, shows this block of Fall Street with the church just down the block from the theater. The caption says the house was originally called the Fisher Theatre. (Google books preview.)
The October 9, 1915, issue of The Auburn Citizen reported that the Fisher Theatre in Seneca Falls had opened the previous night. The Friday opening featured a three-act musical comedy called “Tonight’s the Night”, and a vaudeville show and movies were scheduled for Saturday night.
The December 1, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Strand Theatre in Allentown had opened on October 8th. The Strand was designed by local architects Ruhe & Lange.
Wallace E. Ruhe was the lead architect of this firm, and Robert Lange apparently handled the business end of their projects.
I don’t know why Google Maps has put its pin icon some two miles north of this theater’s actual location. Google Maps fetches the right location for this address at its own web site. I’ve “driven” Street View to the right address, but I can’t fix that map. The Ball Theatre building is on the east side of Main Street between Monroe and Church Streets.
Archiplanet says that the Lyric Theatre dates from 1912, was at 820 Gallia Street, and was listed on the NRHP in 1999 but has since been removed (Presumably due to its demolition.)
A document about the New Castle Historic District prepared for the NRHP says that the Earle Theatre’s address was 2-4 West Fifth Street. The site is now occupied by a 3-story brick condominium.
The caption of a photo in Delaware in Vintage Postcards, by Ellen Rendleand Constance J. Cooper, says that a hotel was moved in the 1930s to clear a site for the Ball Theatre.
According to Baseball Reference, a ballplayer name Walter Betts began operating the Ball Theatre after retiring from baseball. A brief item datelined Millsboro in the July 28, 1938, issue of The Pittsburgh Press says: “Walter (Huck) Betts, former pitcher for Philadelphia and Boston of the National League is the operator of a new theater here.”
Another brief biography of Betts says: “After baseball, he owned and operated the Ball Theatre (a movie theater) in Millsboro, DE, until 1971.”
Page 232 of Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, by Gabrielle M. Lanier and Bernard L. Herman, says that half of the building occupied by Burton Bros. Hardware Store in Seaford housed a theater at one time, but doesn’t give its name (Google Books preview.) There’s a photo of the building on page 233, and the building can be seen in Google Street View by moving a short block west from Market Street. I have no idea if it was the Palace, though.
The April, 1912, issue of Motography said that the Alhambra Theatre in Shelbyville had opened on Monday, January 21. The owner of the house was Frank J. Rembusch.
An item in the “Theatres to be Built” column of the April 1, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper could be about about the Regent, given the fall, 1915 opening of the house. It says that a $50,000 theater was to be built for the Pittsburgh-based Harton Theatre Company at Elmira, New York. Pittsburgh architect Harry S. Bair was drawing the plans.
The “Theatres to be Built” column in the April 1, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper listed a project at Utica for the Alhambra Amusement Company, c/o A. Lux, Alhambra Theatre, Utica. This sounds like it was to be a new building for an existing theater. The architects for the project were E. A. Howard & Son, of Syracuse.
Here is an early postcard photo of Elmira with the Regent Theatre’s vertical sign and entrance in the foreground. The caption says that the Regent opened on October 4, 1915. As the picture is from Cezar Del Valle’s Flickr photostream I’d say that’s probably the right date.
According to his obituary on this web page, Stanislaus Russell was the associate architect of Carlin’s Drive-In. It was his last commission. Half a century earlier he had been involved with the design of two Baltimore Theatres; the Carey Theatre in 1915 and the Little Theatre in 1927.
The Wallace Theatre was in operation at least as early as 1909, when an item in the April 23 issue of the Rochester Sentinel said that Charles Holden, owner of a stock company then playing at the Park Theatre in Indianapolis, had secured a lease on the Wallace Theatre in Peru. Holden already controlled the Eagles Theatre in Wabash, and later that year would take over the Manitou Theatre in Rochester, a vaudeville house which he would convert into a movie theater.
The Manitou Theatre began operating as a movie house in 1909, when the September 24 issue of the Rochester Sentinel said that the Manitou Theatre was to be reopened with Charles A. Holden as the manager. Holden had taken over the Wallace Theatre at Peru, Indiana, earlier that year.
The Manitou had been a vaudeville theater prior to 1909, according to this 2009 article in the Sentinel. The article also notes that Charles Holden, a former stage actor, later had a successful career as a movie actor.
Joseph Shea’s intention to build a movie theater on Broad Street in Valley Falls was announced in the April 10, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper. The plans were by Providence architect John F. O'Malley, who later designed the Leroy Theatre in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The Grand Theatre was on the southeast corner of Center and Philadelphia Streets. When Lincoln Avenue was built, around 1980, it incorporated many parts of Center Street, but not the part where Center crosses Philadelphia. The correct modern address for the Grand Theatre would thus be the same as its historic address, 305 E. Center Street. I’ve set Street View to the parking lot that now occupies the site of the Grand Theatre. The Google Maps pin icon is, for now, still a block north of the Grand’s actual location.
Here is a brief article about the Grand Theatre from the July 1, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:
We won’t be able to get a good Google Street View, as it looks like the camera truck didn’t go down South Mill. Bing Maps has a decent Bird’s-eye view.
Alfred B. Mullett died in 1890. The 1911 Opera House was designed by his son, Thomas A. Mullett, though the firm was apparently still called A. B. Mullett & Company.
Here is a PDF of the NRHP nomination form for the Old Opera House. Among it’s interesting bits of information is the fact that an electric machine for popping corn and toasting peanuts was installed in the Opera House in 1916. This is the earliest instance I’ve yet come across of a theater having popcorn.
A picture of the entrance to the former Seneca Theatre can be seen on this page of the web site of the IDEA Center.
The Real Bedford Falls is the web site of the It’s a Wonderful Life Museum, located in the former Seneca Theatre.
The web site of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park has some photos of the Wesleyan Chapel. This page includes one photo of the building ca. 1917-1919, when it was the Regent Theatre, and this page includes a photo of the portion of the old roof that has survived, along with some recent photos showing the completed building as of 2010 (current Google Street View dates from 2007.)
The April 4, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Rex Theatre in Valley City had 276 seats. I guess they squeezed in a few more later.
Replacing an earlier comment that suffered linkrot:
A photo of the marquee of the Hastings Drive-In during construction, featured as the frontispiece of the Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice, October 7, 1950. An additional photo of the completed marquee by night appears on another page of the same issue.
Considering the history of this theater given above, I’m a bit puzzled by this item from the April 11, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World:
Here is information about the Kozy Theatre from the April 11, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World:
Architect A. L. Lassiter also designed the Auditorium Theatre at Dawson Springs, Kentucky.A photo on page 103 of Seneca Falls, by Frances T. Barbieri and Kathy Jans-Duffy, shows this block of Fall Street with the church just down the block from the theater. The caption says the house was originally called the Fisher Theatre. (Google books preview.)
The October 9, 1915, issue of The Auburn Citizen reported that the Fisher Theatre in Seneca Falls had opened the previous night. The Friday opening featured a three-act musical comedy called “Tonight’s the Night”, and a vaudeville show and movies were scheduled for Saturday night.
The December 1, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Strand Theatre in Allentown had opened on October 8th. The Strand was designed by local architects Ruhe & Lange.
Wallace E. Ruhe was the lead architect of this firm, and Robert Lange apparently handled the business end of their projects.
I don’t know why Google Maps has put its pin icon some two miles north of this theater’s actual location. Google Maps fetches the right location for this address at its own web site. I’ve “driven” Street View to the right address, but I can’t fix that map. The Ball Theatre building is on the east side of Main Street between Monroe and Church Streets.
Archiplanet says that the Lyric Theatre dates from 1912, was at 820 Gallia Street, and was listed on the NRHP in 1999 but has since been removed (Presumably due to its demolition.)
A document about the New Castle Historic District prepared for the NRHP says that the Earle Theatre’s address was 2-4 West Fifth Street. The site is now occupied by a 3-story brick condominium.
The caption of a photo in Delaware in Vintage Postcards, by Ellen Rendleand Constance J. Cooper, says that a hotel was moved in the 1930s to clear a site for the Ball Theatre.
According to Baseball Reference, a ballplayer name Walter Betts began operating the Ball Theatre after retiring from baseball. A brief item datelined Millsboro in the July 28, 1938, issue of The Pittsburgh Press says: “Walter (Huck) Betts, former pitcher for Philadelphia and Boston of the National League is the operator of a new theater here.”
Another brief biography of Betts says: “After baseball, he owned and operated the Ball Theatre (a movie theater) in Millsboro, DE, until 1971.”
Page 232 of Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, by Gabrielle M. Lanier and Bernard L. Herman, says that half of the building occupied by Burton Bros. Hardware Store in Seaford housed a theater at one time, but doesn’t give its name (Google Books preview.) There’s a photo of the building on page 233, and the building can be seen in Google Street View by moving a short block west from Market Street. I have no idea if it was the Palace, though.
The April, 1912, issue of Motography said that the Alhambra Theatre in Shelbyville had opened on Monday, January 21. The owner of the house was Frank J. Rembusch.