I’m going to correct myself a bit. It appears this section of the building existed prior to 1884. It seems to have been remodeled at some point to match the Miller Building, but there are some differences, mainly in the windows and structural ironwork.
The ugly remodels have been removed, although this portion of the building no longer has an entry. It is used as offices.
The building seems to have been originally called the Miller Building, and was constructed sometime between 1897 and 1901. This was the eastern end of the structure. The 1912 map shows this space as vacant, so the theater may have opened earlier, unless of course a business or two came and went prior to 1926.
The portion of the building on the left of the photo was a candy store, and disappeared sometime between 1933 and 1947. Not sure what happened, but it was a vacant lot for some time. The building currently has a tile block storefront with a very strange marquee which may date from the renaming to Dallas, or might have been put up for whatever store took over the place. The building now uses a 1300 address.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
May 10, 2024 at 2:53 pm
Although you can see that the side wall had cracked by 1917.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
May 10, 2024 at 3:42 am
Is it possible the Florence moved to the old opera house? That would make sense of the floor collapse in 1930. I suppose this building might have had some sort of basement into which a floor could collapse, but you’re right that the capacity seems impossible here.
Thanks for confirming the opera house. I’ll list that.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
May 10, 2024 at 3:29 am
This may have been the Florence, or at least the first one. An opening around 1915 makes sense. Going by old postcards, this seems to have been a bank (or something with a clock sign) by about 1940.
This still looked like an old theater in 2009, but has been absolutely butchered, and now sports a trashy sheet metal facade. It’s a phone/cable TV store.
I’m not quite sure what the post above refers to when discussing the location, but the opera house was located about where the Century Link telephone building is today. It appears through 1915 as a large wooden building, not terribly tall, but quite wide.
The address is wrong, and this has been demolished. It was never a True Value. The distinctive Odd Fellows building makes it easy to place. It was at 103 E Main. Judging from the dumpy little building on the corner today, this was probably demolished by the early ‘80s. The building in the photo seems to have replaced a general store on the 1917 map.
There’s far too much speculation here. There definitely was never anything on Jackson. It’s all residential except the water tower. All businesses were on Main, except for a few on Douglas, and some industrial stuff up by the railroad.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
May 2, 2024 at 1:16 pm
One of the other theaters may have been an old wooden GAR hall/Opera House located to the rear of this building, facing 2nd St. Still there in 1917, but long ago demolished. It would have extended under some of the gray metal building on Hemlock.
Sad that this is such a drab mess now compared to the Co-Ed’s gorgeous virtrolite facade. Strangely, this building seems to have been an early theater with a brief run. It was constructed between 1903 and 1912, when the map shows a ‘Cheap Theatre’ here. The 1923 map shows this building as a store with a dance hall on the 2nd floor.
I wonder if this wasn’t the first Coyote? The 2001 NRHP listing shows this theater with an older marquee. Unfortunately the picture is very poorly reproduced, but it appears to be rectangular. If that’s true, this operated since sometime around 1940.
Website is wrong, it refers to the Coyote. Despite the old-fashioned location, the building, which was constructed in 1885, does not seem to have been an early theater. Maps through 1923 show stores here.
Address is wrong. Not sure why there is no information in the listing, but the city hall seems to have been built between 1903 and 1912, replacing an older 3 story version with a smaller footprint. It might have been a remodel of the older structure, which had been built between 1883 and 1892. That also had an opera house. The 1912 map just calls it an opera house, but the 1923 map shows the City Theatre. The 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 775, and calls it the Grand Opera House. It’s not clear if the new building then existed, but 350 seems very low for such a big building.
The proper address is 21 E Main, which is now the site of a nasty ‘70s or '80s bank building.
Judging by the scar left on the building to the south, this was only one story with a false front. It may have been a remodel of a clothing store that’s on the 1917 (not 1916, my goof) map. We know the theater was still open in 1961, because of the photo supplied.
Since this very poor listing only supplied a bad address, all I can add is that this theater was not there on the 1916 map. No later maps available online.
Address is absolutely wrong. There’s almost nothing on Main St. This was at 109 or possibly 111 N 3rd. It’s now a vacant lot south of the newspaper office.
Could be. I suppose you could have stuck a roof over that outside space.
I’m going to correct myself a bit. It appears this section of the building existed prior to 1884. It seems to have been remodeled at some point to match the Miller Building, but there are some differences, mainly in the windows and structural ironwork.
The ugly remodels have been removed, although this portion of the building no longer has an entry. It is used as offices.
The building seems to have been originally called the Miller Building, and was constructed sometime between 1897 and 1901. This was the eastern end of the structure. The 1912 map shows this space as vacant, so the theater may have opened earlier, unless of course a business or two came and went prior to 1926.
That didn’t last long!
The portion of the building on the left of the photo was a candy store, and disappeared sometime between 1933 and 1947. Not sure what happened, but it was a vacant lot for some time. The building currently has a tile block storefront with a very strange marquee which may date from the renaming to Dallas, or might have been put up for whatever store took over the place. The building now uses a 1300 address.
Although you can see that the side wall had cracked by 1917.
Is it possible the Florence moved to the old opera house? That would make sense of the floor collapse in 1930. I suppose this building might have had some sort of basement into which a floor could collapse, but you’re right that the capacity seems impossible here.
Thanks for confirming the opera house. I’ll list that.
This may have been the Florence, or at least the first one. An opening around 1915 makes sense. Going by old postcards, this seems to have been a bank (or something with a clock sign) by about 1940.
I’m not sure where the oldest Princess was. Neither the 1909 nor the March 1915 Sanborns identify anything as a theater, except the Opera House.
This still looked like an old theater in 2009, but has been absolutely butchered, and now sports a trashy sheet metal facade. It’s a phone/cable TV store.
I’m not quite sure what the post above refers to when discussing the location, but the opera house was located about where the Century Link telephone building is today. It appears through 1915 as a large wooden building, not terribly tall, but quite wide.
Looks like a ‘34 DeSoto Airflow on the left, so this can’t have been any earlier than that.
The address is wrong, and this has been demolished. It was never a True Value. The distinctive Odd Fellows building makes it easy to place. It was at 103 E Main. Judging from the dumpy little building on the corner today, this was probably demolished by the early ‘80s. The building in the photo seems to have replaced a general store on the 1917 map.
There’s far too much speculation here. There definitely was never anything on Jackson. It’s all residential except the water tower. All businesses were on Main, except for a few on Douglas, and some industrial stuff up by the railroad.
One of the other theaters may have been an old wooden GAR hall/Opera House located to the rear of this building, facing 2nd St. Still there in 1917, but long ago demolished. It would have extended under some of the gray metal building on Hemlock.
Sad that this is such a drab mess now compared to the Co-Ed’s gorgeous virtrolite facade. Strangely, this building seems to have been an early theater with a brief run. It was constructed between 1903 and 1912, when the map shows a ‘Cheap Theatre’ here. The 1923 map shows this building as a store with a dance hall on the 2nd floor.
This seems to have become a live performance venue in 2023.
I wonder if this wasn’t the first Coyote? The 2001 NRHP listing shows this theater with an older marquee. Unfortunately the picture is very poorly reproduced, but it appears to be rectangular. If that’s true, this operated since sometime around 1940.
Website is wrong, it refers to the Coyote. Despite the old-fashioned location, the building, which was constructed in 1885, does not seem to have been an early theater. Maps through 1923 show stores here.
Address is wrong. Not sure why there is no information in the listing, but the city hall seems to have been built between 1903 and 1912, replacing an older 3 story version with a smaller footprint. It might have been a remodel of the older structure, which had been built between 1883 and 1892. That also had an opera house. The 1912 map just calls it an opera house, but the 1923 map shows the City Theatre. The 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 775, and calls it the Grand Opera House. It’s not clear if the new building then existed, but 350 seems very low for such a big building.
The proper address is 21 E Main, which is now the site of a nasty ‘70s or '80s bank building.
Judging by the scar left on the building to the south, this was only one story with a false front. It may have been a remodel of a clothing store that’s on the 1917 (not 1916, my goof) map. We know the theater was still open in 1961, because of the photo supplied.
Was demolished long ago, it definitely was not there in 2009, or I’d have a picture.
Since this very poor listing only supplied a bad address, all I can add is that this theater was not there on the 1916 map. No later maps available online.
Address is absolutely wrong. There’s almost nothing on Main St. This was at 109 or possibly 111 N 3rd. It’s now a vacant lot south of the newspaper office.