If this really was on Main, then known as Elkhorn, then this has almost certainly been demolished, along with about 90% of downtown. It was likely a conversion of an existing building, as the 1923 map shows a fairly solid strip of 2 and 3 story brick buildings north of what was then Bridge St, and now seems to be CB Moore St. There were also several buildings to the south, the large car dealership is the last of these.
There are 1928 and 1936 maps of Northfork, but the LoC hasn’t scanned theirs. If anyone has a Big 10 login, there are apparently b/w versions online there.
The NRHP listing for downtown calls this the Ames building, which may have been the name of the theater, or the name of the owner in 1992. The older listings are generally pretty vague on details.
This has been demolished. Address is not Welch, but Kimball. Maitland and Superior are to the west before you get to Welch. The site is now a housing complex. The address used is 600 W Main St, although it’s really more the 26600 or 26700 block of Coal Heritage Rd (US 52).
Not sure why the map marker is so far off. The address seems right. It may have been 25, since 23 is now the second floor of the building to the south of where the theater was. The blurry version of the 1946 photo should be deleted.
Street is Main Ave. This has been demolished. Downtown is incredibly unattractive, and I’m having trouble placing this, but it must have been on the north side of the street.
Definitely not open in 1922. There are 1930 and 1948 maps, but neither are available online. If the address is right, this was not on a corner, but in the middle of the block north of the funeral home. This was gone by 1993, since it’s not in the NRHP listing.
Address must have been something like 122. The dealership to the south, which is also gone now, was 120. The 1922 map shows the original structure to have been slightly shorter with a tall stage tower at the rear.
Appears on the July 1907 map, but not on the 1902 map. ‘Moving Pictures’ note appears on the 1913 map, but of course that doesn’t mean they weren’t shown earlier.
According to some history on the Webster’s site, this opened June 10, 1907. It was not a nickelodeon. Shows were 10 cents, and included some live acts. During January of 1909, there was an experiment where three days of the week were movies only, known as the Nickel Theatre. This was abandoned by the end of the month, as audiences preferred the 10 cent shows on the other four days of the week.
Overcorrection on this entry. The opening date in 1911 for the Isis was correct. There were two separate operations. Right now this incorrectly indicates that it was the Family up until 1927.
According to the Webster’s site, which has excellent capsule histories of all live and movie theaters which operated in Webster City, this was originally the Family Theatre. It seems to have operated from about 1907 until 1910. It may originally have been vaudeville only, but by 1909, they were showing movies.
The building was constructed between 1900 and 1907, and is a bakery on the 1907 map. I’m not sure how serious the fire was. The building is the same height on all the maps, but the facade does look like it might be later.
This theater appears on the 1913 map, but the building is not on the 1908 map. Pastime (not Past Time) should be added to the AKA.
Sorry, not sure why the ‘Ltd.’ was added to G.C. Murphy. It was always G.C. Murphy Co. I’m unaware of any UK operations.
Thanks for naming this one, and providing some background.
If this really was on Main, then known as Elkhorn, then this has almost certainly been demolished, along with about 90% of downtown. It was likely a conversion of an existing building, as the 1923 map shows a fairly solid strip of 2 and 3 story brick buildings north of what was then Bridge St, and now seems to be CB Moore St. There were also several buildings to the south, the large car dealership is the last of these.
There are 1928 and 1936 maps of Northfork, but the LoC hasn’t scanned theirs. If anyone has a Big 10 login, there are apparently b/w versions online there.
Thanks for the ID!
The NRHP listing for downtown calls this the Ames building, which may have been the name of the theater, or the name of the owner in 1992. The older listings are generally pretty vague on details.
The map marker for this one is at least a hundred miles too far east.
This has been demolished. Address is not Welch, but Kimball. Maitland and Superior are to the west before you get to Welch. The site is now a housing complex. The address used is 600 W Main St, although it’s really more the 26600 or 26700 block of Coal Heritage Rd (US 52).
For Norman, the building we thought might be the theater was a Montgomery Ward.
Not sure why the map marker is so far off. The address seems right. It may have been 25, since 23 is now the second floor of the building to the south of where the theater was. The blurry version of the 1946 photo should be deleted.
Street is Main Ave. This has been demolished. Downtown is incredibly unattractive, and I’m having trouble placing this, but it must have been on the north side of the street.
Definitely not open in 1922. There are 1930 and 1948 maps, but neither are available online. If the address is right, this was not on a corner, but in the middle of the block north of the funeral home. This was gone by 1993, since it’s not in the NRHP listing.
Address must have been something like 122. The dealership to the south, which is also gone now, was 120. The 1922 map shows the original structure to have been slightly shorter with a tall stage tower at the rear.
The historical address seems to have been on 7th or Dickey, which were previous names for this street.
The Hippodrome, or at least the 1913 iteration, was a different building on this same site.
Appears on the July 1907 map, but not on the 1902 map. ‘Moving Pictures’ note appears on the 1913 map, but of course that doesn’t mean they weren’t shown earlier.
Joe’s last photo must be from the at least the mid ‘70s, judging by the cars.
The 1920 Sanborn shows the capacity as 610, and the address as 212-214. The bank then was 218. 240 is probably the best current address.
I’m sure you’re right. I don’t know how this ended up with the wrong name, since the Princess is a completely different building.
There was a fairly serious fire in the vacant building on Nov. 29, 2023. Structure looks okay-ish, but it’s unclear what will happen to it.
To be clear, the fire was next door. The original Orpheum was the building that burned. Lots of water and smoke damage to the theater.
According to some history on the Webster’s site, this opened June 10, 1907. It was not a nickelodeon. Shows were 10 cents, and included some live acts. During January of 1909, there was an experiment where three days of the week were movies only, known as the Nickel Theatre. This was abandoned by the end of the month, as audiences preferred the 10 cent shows on the other four days of the week.
Overcorrection on this entry. The opening date in 1911 for the Isis was correct. There were two separate operations. Right now this incorrectly indicates that it was the Family up until 1927.
Much of the information here comes from the Webster’s website.
According to the Webster’s site, which has excellent capsule histories of all live and movie theaters which operated in Webster City, this was originally the Family Theatre. It seems to have operated from about 1907 until 1910. It may originally have been vaudeville only, but by 1909, they were showing movies.
The building was constructed between 1900 and 1907, and is a bakery on the 1907 map. I’m not sure how serious the fire was. The building is the same height on all the maps, but the facade does look like it might be later.