Several sources indicate that the Time Theatre was not on the site of the K Theatre, but on the site of the Grand Theatre, which was built at 1416 Broadway in 1911. The fifth entry from the bottom on this page from a Mattoon history web site says that the Grand Theatre burned in 1938 and the Time was built on its site by Clarke, Frisina & Bianchi that year.
An earlier entry says that the K Theatre, which opened in the 1700 block of Broadway in 1913, burned in 1937 and was not replaced.
The Clarke Theatre appears to have been new construction in 1936, though it’s possible that the side walls were common walls shared with the adjacent buildings (often the case in old business districts of small towns) and thus would have belonged to both the Bijou and the Clarke. Everything else was probably new, though. Here’s an item from the May 2, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
“St. Louis — Bids will be taken May 8 by the Mattoon Theater Co., Mattoon, Ill., for the 800-seat theater to be built there, and on May 15 bids will be taken for the house to be erected by Lyric Theater Co., Salem, Mo. Bruce F. Barnes, St. Louis architect, figured in the plans for both houses.”
A timeline of Mattoon’s theaters on this web page says that the second Bijou Theatre opened in 1910. The first Bijou operated from 1905 to 1908. I’ve been unable to discover if the first and second Bijous were on the same or different sites.
Two different houses called the Mattoon Theatre are conflated in the current description for this theater. The 1920s section of a time line of Mattoon History has this item: “1921 – George Kizer builds Mattoon Theater for motion pictures at 1421 Broadway.”
The 1910s section of the same time line says that the original Mattoon Theatre, which was at 20th and Prairie, was destroyed by a fire in 1916. That house at 2000 Prairie was the one built in 1896 and designed by Charles Mitchell.
There might have been two houses called the Baden Theatre. The September 19. 1925, issue of The Reel Journal had an item about a proposed theater on North Broadway in St. Louis:
“Steve Kaiman, owner of the O'Fallon and Baden theatres in North St. Louis plans to build a new theatre at 8200 North Broadway, a block from the Baden. The new house will cost about $75,000 and seat 800 persons. The plans call for a two-story building, 60 by 130 feet. Contractors will be asked to submit bids on the construction work this week. Theodore Steinmeyer, International Life building, is the architect.”
Darren Snow’s CinemaTour page about the Baden Theatre says that the house opened in 1927, and was built on the site of a theater called the Baden Airdome, which had been in operation at 8201 Broadway since at least 1920. The magazine article gives the address of the proposed house as 8200 Broadway, which would be across the street from the actual location of the Baden, but that might have simply been an error.
Also interesting is the statement that the new theater’s site was “…a block from the Baden.” Perhaps that house a block away was the theater that opened in 1916, or perhaps it was the Airdome that opened in 1916. Either way, it seems likely that the existing Baden Theatre building was built in the mid-1920s, not 1916, though judging from the architectural style it could have been built in either year.
The October 17, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal said that contracts had been let for T. W. Sharp’s new theater to be built at 620 N. Beech Street, Little Rock. The two-story building, 44x140 feet, was expected to cost $50,000.
The item does give the location as Little Rock, not North Little Rock (see wjerdean’s comment previous to mine.) The reason Google Maps can’t find 620 N. Beech Street in Little Rock is because the street is now called Beechwood Street. Kavanaugh Boulevard, just north of the theater’s site, was once called Prospect Avenue. The correct zip code is 72205.
I found a web page saying that the fire that destroyed the theater building took place in 1957, but I’ve lost track of the link.
This item from the May 30, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal might have been about the Strand Theatre:
“$100,000 JONESBORO THEATRE.
“D. J. Wolpert, architect. Jonesboro, Ark., has finished plans for the new house for the Jonesboro Amusement Company, of which E. Y. Collins is manager The structure will cost $100,000 and will be two stories high. It will contain a parquet, balcony and gallery. There will also be a full sized stage, ten dressing rooms, two restrooms and two offices. It will be Spanish in type and be of re-inforced concrete brick and terra cotta construction.”
This theater might have been a bit older, and a bit larger, than we thought, perhaps opening in 1925 as the El Ray (or El Rey) and seating over 1000. There was certainly the intention to build a theater on this site in 1925. Here is part of an item from the March 7, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal:
“Kansas City apparently has fallen into her stride in keeping pace with other cities in the country in theatre expansion with the announcement this week of a plan for building a 1,500 seat theatre at 2611-19 Independence Boulevard by Dr, M. A. Dickey, who recently bought the 100-foot ground frontage. The new house would be the largest theatre in that district.
“The owner plans to add shops and apartment suites to the building which is to be an imposing structure interpreting Spanish architecture. There will be five ground floor store rooms and a lobby on the boulevard frontage.
“Construction will begin as soon as Victor J. De Foe, architect, has completed drawings.
“James Watson, owner of the Benton Theatre, Northeast’s leading theatre, has purchased this new property. Mr. Watson has named the new theatre the El Ray.”
The photo of the Vista does show it to have about the 100-foot frontage of the proposed house in the article, and the style of the facade was certainly Spanish Colonial Revival. A city directory or newspaper article or ads from the period 1925-1932 could reveal if there was an El Ray or El Rey Theatre at this location.
The Reading Drive-In was built by Philadelphia theater owners Jay Emanuel and Frank L. McNamee in partnership with the Fabian circuit, according to an item about the groundbreaking in the June 18, 1949, issue of The Billboard.
According to an item in the July 15, 1922, issue of The American Contractor, the theater to be built in Mt. Carmel that W. H. Lee was designing for Chamberlain Amusement Enterprises was to be sited on a 100x150-foot lot at 3rd and Maple Streets. Lee designed a number of theaters for Chamberlain Amusement during this period, but no others in Mt. Carmel, so the item must give the location of the Victoria.
When Lawrence J. Chamberlain died in 1949, a brief obituary appeared in the March 12 issue of The Billboard, mentioning that he was president of Amusements, Inc., with theaters at Allentown and Williamsport, as well as general manager of Victoria Amusement Enterprises, with theaters at Mt. Carmel, Shamokin, Mahanoy City, and Tamaqua.
As can be seen in satellite view, this theater building is almost four times as long as it is wide. It fits the description of a proposed house at Old Forge, Pennsylvania, which was mentioned in the July 15, 1922, issue of The American Contractor:
“Theater (moving picture) & Offices & Stores (2): $50,000. 1 & 2 sty. 50x180. Old Forge. Archt. Leon Lempert, Cutler bldg., Rochester, N. Y. Owner withheld. Brk. & hollow tile. Drawing plans.”
The Holland Theatre looks like a smaller and simpler version of the Capitol Theatre at Rome, New York, which Leon Lempert designed a few years later. The item almost certainly refers to the Holland Theatre.
I just noticed kerfr1’s comment of November 15, 2009, saying that the State had once been the Carlton Theatre. I’ve found many references in The Billboard about a Karlton Theatre in Williamsport during the 1930s and 1940s. It appears to have been primarily a legitimate house, with some live music events.
This recent article from the Sun-Gazette indicates that the Karlton was the former Majestic Theatre, and was at the southwest corner of Pine and West Church Streets, so kerfl1 must have conflated the Karlton with the State.
This extract from a book about Lycoming County says that the Majestic/Carlton was built in 1907 as the Family Theatre, became the Majestic in 1917, the Karlton in the 1930s, and was demolished in 1952, but I’ve found some conflicting information I’ll have to check out. The house might have shown some movies in its early years, though.
The same book says that the State Theatre was demolished in 1978.
According to a book about Independence which I cited on the Electric Theatre page, the Electric Theatre was at 215 N. Main Street from the 1910s into the 1940s. I’ve been unable to discover any definite AKAs for the Plaza, but if Electric was already in use for the house on Main Street, that wouldn’t have been one of them.
If the two items I cited in my April 4, 2012, comment on this page are indeed about the Plaza, then this house might have been known as the New Elliot Theatre when it opened. A. E. Elliot built the original Elliot Theatre in 1912, and rebuilt the house after it was destroyed by a fire in 1916. I’ve found references to a house called the New Elliot Theatre in the trade journals beginning in the mid-1920s. It seems very likely that the New Elliot became the Plaza. I’ve been unable to discover either the location or the fate of the theater Elliot built in 1916.
The May 28, 1924, issue of The Film Daily had this item datelined Williamsport, PA: “The Rialto, which was recently destroyed by fire has been rebuilt and re-opened.”
The building does look like it could be older than the 1929 date currently given for the opening. I’d say the facade might even predate the 1924 fire.
I’ve now found the Electric Theatre mentioned in a few trade journal items from the 1920s. A 1926 item in The Reel Journal mentioned the Electric as one of three Independence houses being operated by Glen W. Dickinson Enterprises. The others were the Lewis Theatre and the Elliot Theatre.
There was a Capitol (or Capital) Theatre in Utica prior to 1936, which was to be replaced that year, but I’ve been unable to discover if the plans were carried out. The September 26, 1936, issue of The Film Daily had an item about current projects of the architectural firm Bennett & Straight, part of which read:
“Other jobs in progress include: Remodeling of a building at Utica, Mich., to be named the Capitol when converted from a store building into a theater. F. R. Spangle, who now operates the old Capitol Theater at Utica, will be the owner.”
If the project was carried out, then it must have been this building at 45136 Cass Avenue, but if the project was abandoned, then this building could be the location of the older Capitol Theatre, which was in operation by 1930.
This house might also have been one of the rare theaters that used the name Capital instead of Capitol. The book What Made Pistachio Nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic, by Henry Jenkins, cites a September 6, 1930, item from Motion Picture Herald which was apparently quoting a movie review by theater manager K. M. Wickware, and it uses the spelling Capital Theater. The architectural firm now in the building, the Cummins Group, also uses the spelling Capital Theater on its web site.
The March 4, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World has an item about the Strand:
“Jack Nash of Trinidad has taken over the Bio theater there and will remodel it and operate it under the name of the Strand.”
I have also found two references to Jack Nash as operator of the Isis Theatre, in 1913 and 1915. The fact that no theaters are listed at the Strand’s address in the 1915-1916 city directory (probably published in late 1914 or early 1915) increases the likelihood that the Bio/Strand was the theater under construction in August, 1915, as noted in my earlier comment on this theater, November 11, 2010.
Chuck: Aside from that photo that shows up on Flickr and other sites, there’s very little about the Isis on the Internet. The 1910-1911 Polk City Directory for Trinidad lists it at 307 N. Commercial Street. In the 1915-1916 directory it is listed at 243 N. Commercial Street (CinemaTour lists it at 114 W.Main Street, but doesn’t cite a source or give a year.) Unless Trinidad renumbered, the Isis must have changed locations between 1910 and 1915, and I don’t know which location the 1913 photo depicts.
Michael G. Ankerich’s Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Silent Film Stars says that about 1914 the owners of the Isis, Leon and Edyth Osborn, sold the theater and moved to California to work in the movie business. Their adopted daughter had a brief acting career during the silent era as Baby Marie Osborne. Here is her obituary. It doesn’t mention the Isis, but is worth reading.
The 1940s section of a timeline of Mattoon history says that the Skyway Drive-In opened in 1947.
The 1980s section of the timeline says that the Skyway closed in 1984.
Several sources indicate that the Time Theatre was not on the site of the K Theatre, but on the site of the Grand Theatre, which was built at 1416 Broadway in 1911. The fifth entry from the bottom on this page from a Mattoon history web site says that the Grand Theatre burned in 1938 and the Time was built on its site by Clarke, Frisina & Bianchi that year.
An earlier entry says that the K Theatre, which opened in the 1700 block of Broadway in 1913, burned in 1937 and was not replaced.
The Clarke Theatre appears to have been new construction in 1936, though it’s possible that the side walls were common walls shared with the adjacent buildings (often the case in old business districts of small towns) and thus would have belonged to both the Bijou and the Clarke. Everything else was probably new, though. Here’s an item from the May 2, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
A timeline of Mattoon’s theaters on this web page says that the second Bijou Theatre opened in 1910. The first Bijou operated from 1905 to 1908. I’ve been unable to discover if the first and second Bijous were on the same or different sites.Two different houses called the Mattoon Theatre are conflated in the current description for this theater. The 1920s section of a time line of Mattoon History has this item: “1921 – George Kizer builds Mattoon Theater for motion pictures at 1421 Broadway.”
The 1910s section of the same time line says that the original Mattoon Theatre, which was at 20th and Prairie, was destroyed by a fire in 1916. That house at 2000 Prairie was the one built in 1896 and designed by Charles Mitchell.
The Time Theatre is currently listed for sale at $124,500.
The May 23, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal said that the new Lincoln Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska, had been opened on May 18, 1925.
There might have been two houses called the Baden Theatre. The September 19. 1925, issue of The Reel Journal had an item about a proposed theater on North Broadway in St. Louis:
Darren Snow’s CinemaTour page about the Baden Theatre says that the house opened in 1927, and was built on the site of a theater called the Baden Airdome, which had been in operation at 8201 Broadway since at least 1920. The magazine article gives the address of the proposed house as 8200 Broadway, which would be across the street from the actual location of the Baden, but that might have simply been an error.Also interesting is the statement that the new theater’s site was “…a block from the Baden.” Perhaps that house a block away was the theater that opened in 1916, or perhaps it was the Airdome that opened in 1916. Either way, it seems likely that the existing Baden Theatre building was built in the mid-1920s, not 1916, though judging from the architectural style it could have been built in either year.
The October 17, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal said that contracts had been let for T. W. Sharp’s new theater to be built at 620 N. Beech Street, Little Rock. The two-story building, 44x140 feet, was expected to cost $50,000.
The item does give the location as Little Rock, not North Little Rock (see wjerdean’s comment previous to mine.) The reason Google Maps can’t find 620 N. Beech Street in Little Rock is because the street is now called Beechwood Street. Kavanaugh Boulevard, just north of the theater’s site, was once called Prospect Avenue. The correct zip code is 72205.
I found a web page saying that the fire that destroyed the theater building took place in 1957, but I’ve lost track of the link.
The current official web site is at this link.
This item from the May 30, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal might have been about the Strand Theatre:
This theater might have been a bit older, and a bit larger, than we thought, perhaps opening in 1925 as the El Ray (or El Rey) and seating over 1000. There was certainly the intention to build a theater on this site in 1925. Here is part of an item from the March 7, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal:
The photo of the Vista does show it to have about the 100-foot frontage of the proposed house in the article, and the style of the facade was certainly Spanish Colonial Revival. A city directory or newspaper article or ads from the period 1925-1932 could reveal if there was an El Ray or El Rey Theatre at this location.The Reading Drive-In was built by Philadelphia theater owners Jay Emanuel and Frank L. McNamee in partnership with the Fabian circuit, according to an item about the groundbreaking in the June 18, 1949, issue of The Billboard.
According to an item in the July 15, 1922, issue of The American Contractor, the theater to be built in Mt. Carmel that W. H. Lee was designing for Chamberlain Amusement Enterprises was to be sited on a 100x150-foot lot at 3rd and Maple Streets. Lee designed a number of theaters for Chamberlain Amusement during this period, but no others in Mt. Carmel, so the item must give the location of the Victoria.
When Lawrence J. Chamberlain died in 1949, a brief obituary appeared in the March 12 issue of The Billboard, mentioning that he was president of Amusements, Inc., with theaters at Allentown and Williamsport, as well as general manager of Victoria Amusement Enterprises, with theaters at Mt. Carmel, Shamokin, Mahanoy City, and Tamaqua.
As can be seen in satellite view, this theater building is almost four times as long as it is wide. It fits the description of a proposed house at Old Forge, Pennsylvania, which was mentioned in the July 15, 1922, issue of The American Contractor:
The Holland Theatre looks like a smaller and simpler version of the Capitol Theatre at Rome, New York, which Leon Lempert designed a few years later. The item almost certainly refers to the Holland Theatre.Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History, by Paulette J. Weise, gives the operating years of the State Theatre as c. 1937-1976.
Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History, by Paulette J. Weise, says that the Harris Theatre opened in 1906 as the Majestic Theatre.
I just noticed kerfr1’s comment of November 15, 2009, saying that the State had once been the Carlton Theatre. I’ve found many references in The Billboard about a Karlton Theatre in Williamsport during the 1930s and 1940s. It appears to have been primarily a legitimate house, with some live music events.
This recent article from the Sun-Gazette indicates that the Karlton was the former Majestic Theatre, and was at the southwest corner of Pine and West Church Streets, so kerfl1 must have conflated the Karlton with the State.
This extract from a book about Lycoming County says that the Majestic/Carlton was built in 1907 as the Family Theatre, became the Majestic in 1917, the Karlton in the 1930s, and was demolished in 1952, but I’ve found some conflicting information I’ll have to check out. The house might have shown some movies in its early years, though.
The same book says that the State Theatre was demolished in 1978.
That would certainly make mores sense, Roger, but Boxoffice said it was the Bristol (item two, left hand column under heading “New Britain”) and said the same a second time (first item, right had column) and then a third time (right hand column, second item from bottom). I’ve been unable to find the item from May, 1978. The magazine might have garbled the information, of course.
Here is a bigger version of the photo of Keith’s and the adjacent Strand that Bill linked to on March 15, 2011.
This photo, dated May 16, 1913, shows a Gayety Theatre in Cincinnati, but it doesn’t have any resemblance to the Strand in the other photo.
Did Cincinnati have more than one Gayety Theatre in 1913? Was the front entirely rebuilt when it became the Strand in 1914? Does anybody know?
According to a book about Independence which I cited on the Electric Theatre page, the Electric Theatre was at 215 N. Main Street from the 1910s into the 1940s. I’ve been unable to discover any definite AKAs for the Plaza, but if Electric was already in use for the house on Main Street, that wouldn’t have been one of them.
If the two items I cited in my April 4, 2012, comment on this page are indeed about the Plaza, then this house might have been known as the New Elliot Theatre when it opened. A. E. Elliot built the original Elliot Theatre in 1912, and rebuilt the house after it was destroyed by a fire in 1916. I’ve found references to a house called the New Elliot Theatre in the trade journals beginning in the mid-1920s. It seems very likely that the New Elliot became the Plaza. I’ve been unable to discover either the location or the fate of the theater Elliot built in 1916.
The May 28, 1924, issue of The Film Daily had this item datelined Williamsport, PA: “The Rialto, which was recently destroyed by fire has been rebuilt and re-opened.”
The building does look like it could be older than the 1929 date currently given for the opening. I’d say the facade might even predate the 1924 fire.
I’ve now found the Electric Theatre mentioned in a few trade journal items from the 1920s. A 1926 item in The Reel Journal mentioned the Electric as one of three Independence houses being operated by Glen W. Dickinson Enterprises. The others were the Lewis Theatre and the Elliot Theatre.
There was a Capitol (or Capital) Theatre in Utica prior to 1936, which was to be replaced that year, but I’ve been unable to discover if the plans were carried out. The September 26, 1936, issue of The Film Daily had an item about current projects of the architectural firm Bennett & Straight, part of which read:
If the project was carried out, then it must have been this building at 45136 Cass Avenue, but if the project was abandoned, then this building could be the location of the older Capitol Theatre, which was in operation by 1930.This house might also have been one of the rare theaters that used the name Capital instead of Capitol. The book What Made Pistachio Nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic, by Henry Jenkins, cites a September 6, 1930, item from Motion Picture Herald which was apparently quoting a movie review by theater manager K. M. Wickware, and it uses the spelling Capital Theater. The architectural firm now in the building, the Cummins Group, also uses the spelling Capital Theater on its web site.
The March 4, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World has an item about the Strand:
I have also found two references to Jack Nash as operator of the Isis Theatre, in 1913 and 1915. The fact that no theaters are listed at the Strand’s address in the 1915-1916 city directory (probably published in late 1914 or early 1915) increases the likelihood that the Bio/Strand was the theater under construction in August, 1915, as noted in my earlier comment on this theater, November 11, 2010.Chuck: Aside from that photo that shows up on Flickr and other sites, there’s very little about the Isis on the Internet. The 1910-1911 Polk City Directory for Trinidad lists it at 307 N. Commercial Street. In the 1915-1916 directory it is listed at 243 N. Commercial Street (CinemaTour lists it at 114 W.Main Street, but doesn’t cite a source or give a year.) Unless Trinidad renumbered, the Isis must have changed locations between 1910 and 1915, and I don’t know which location the 1913 photo depicts.
Michael G. Ankerich’s Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Silent Film Stars says that about 1914 the owners of the Isis, Leon and Edyth Osborn, sold the theater and moved to California to work in the movie business. Their adopted daughter had a brief acting career during the silent era as Baby Marie Osborne. Here is her obituary. It doesn’t mention the Isis, but is worth reading.