Prior to taking over the Princess Theatre in 1925, Oliver Kihchel operated a theater in Jeannette called the Eagle, opened in December, 1910.
The Princess Theatre was in operation at least as early as 1916, when it was mentioned in The Moving Picture World. It’s possible that the Princess was built to replace an opera house that burned in 1910.
There is an early postcard photo of the Princess on page 16 of Jeannette, by Terry Perich and Kathleen Perich.
CSWalczak: The Rapps of Rapp & Rapp were not related to the Rapps of Rapp, Zettle & Rapp (except perhaps through some distant common ancestor in Sweden), and I’ve never found any connection between the firms.
Rapp, Zettle & Rapp was a Cincinnati firm consisting of George W. Rapp, his son Walter Rapp, and partner John Zettle. George W. Rapp retired from the firm about the time the Woodward Theatre was built, and died in 1918 (obituary in The Western Architect, February, 1918.) The successor firm Zettel & Rapp was active into the early 1930s.
The theater architects, based in Chicago, were Cornelius W. Rapp and George Leslie Rapp. An older brother, Isaac Hamilton Rapp, practiced architecture in Trinidad, Colorado, beginning around 1890, and was later joined by another brother, William M. Rapp, to form the Trinidad firm of I. H. & W. M. Rapp. To add a bit of confusion, some sources also refer to this firm as Rapp and Rapp. The Colorado Rapps eventually established an office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well, and were pioneers of the Pueblo Revival style.
Biographies of both the Chicago and Cincinnati Rapps can be found on this page of the Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Architects.
Information about I. H. and W. M. Rapp can be found in a biographical sketch of Isaac H. Rapp on this Google Documents page or in PDF format at this link.
I. H. and W. M. Rapp were the architects of the 1908 West Theatre in Trinidad. I’ve been unable to discover if they designed any other theaters.
By early 1916, a movie house called the Orpheum was operating on Jefferson Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. It had cost only $30,000 to build, so it was probably not a very big theater.
A 1917 article about Orpheum said that the Princess Amusement Company operated it, and the two other theaters in the area around 4th and Jefferson as well. The other theaters were called the Casino and the Columbia. No theater of these names are currently listed at Cinema Treasures, but any of them might have been the house that became the Rodeo.
Here is the 1917 article, which has two photos. Perhaps someone will recognize the building, though it was probably remodeled in later years.
A list of theaters in the Orpheum vaudeville circuit published in 1917 included the Mary Anderson Theatre, with the note that the house was also affiliated with the B.F. Keith circuit.
An item in the November 24, 1917, issue of the Chicago business journal The Economist confirms that the theater at 16 E. Mifflin Street was designed by Rapp & Rapp. The contract for concrete work on the project had just been awarded to William Oakley of Madison.
This article in the December, 1910, issue of the trade journal The Nickelodeon says that the Star Theatre opened on November 1, 1907. The auditorium originally seated 453, and boasted an early example of indirect lighting.
An article about the history of movie exhibition in Vancouver appeared in the July 15, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World. This page includes a few lines about the Rex, and small photo of it. It says that the Rex opened in the fall of 1913 and was built at a cost of $130,000.
Keith McKellar’s Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Café and Street says that the Army & Navy store took over the Rex Theatre’s space in 1959.
There is an early photo of the Majestic Theatre in the left column of this page of The Moving Picture World, July 1, 1916. The right column features a photo of Paxton’s other movie house, the Crystal Theatre.
An advertisement for the Philip Carey Roofing Company of Cincinnati appearing in the December, 1921, issue of the Journal of the American Institute of Architects featured a photo of the Hippodrome Theatre in Murphysboro. The caption credited the design of the house to the Murphysboro architectural firm Gill & Fath.
The Royal Theatre dates from around 1910. The June 21, 1917, issue of Engineering News-Record said that the Royal Theatre was to be rebuilt at a cost of about $150,000. Plans for the rebuilding were being prepared by local architect T.M. Sanders.
In 1909, the theater at 608 Washington Avenue was called the Bijou Dream. Trade Journal The Nickelodeon gave its seating capacity as 700. The house was at that time equipped to show Cameraphone sound films as well as regular silent movies.
Tinseltoes: I’ve found that the Lyric Theatre was an earlier name for the house listed at Cinema Treasures as the Ranger Theatre. I’ve reported the missing AKA in a comment on the Ranger’s page.
This comment by Bill Dakota on a retailing history web site says that the Ranger Theatre had once been called the Lyric Theatre. The house was located on Main Street between High and North Streets.
The October, 1915, issue of house organ Bell Telephone News mentions a Lyric Theatre in Lima. I’ve found the house mentioned in connection with George Settos in 1922 and in 1929. In the 1930s, the Lyric was the site of several professional boxing matches which are noted at the web site BoxRec.
I found a single reference to a stage production being mounted at the Lyric in 1946, so the name change took place between then and 1950, when the ad for the Ranger that kencmcintyre linked to earlier was published.
It looks like the Miners' Temple was even older than I thought. The Annual Report on Labour Organization in Canada published in 1921 said that the Miners' Temple in Bellaire, Ohio, was dedicated on October 30, 1920.
Although a timeline of Bellaire history at the Bellaire Public Library' web site says that the Miners' Temple was built in 1926, the web page lostmemory linked to earlier, which is also from the library’s web site, says that the building first appeared on Sanborn insurance maps in 1924.
I have found a reference to the Miners' Temple in the January 15, 1923, issue of the trade union publication Cigar Makers' Official Journal, the phrasing of which suggests that the building was already occupied at that time. It’s possible that the Miners' Temple was completed in late 1922, and this might have been too late for it to be included in the 1923 edition of the Sanborn maps.
The Capitol Theatre opened on January 3, 1925, according to the caption of a photo on page 53 of Bellaire, by Holly Bruno and Andrew Ehritz (Google Books preview).) An item in the December 1, 1928, issue of Motion Picture News ran this item about the house:
“The Capitol Theatre, Bellaire, Ohio, owned by A. G. Constant and associates, has reopened after being dark several months to permit extensive remodeling.”
Google Books also lists a small book titled The Capitol Movie Theatre, Bellaire, Ohio, which was published in 1930, but Google has no views of it available. The book has apparently been digitized by the State Library of Ohio and should be available as an e-book which can be checked out by card holders of many public libraries in the state (here’s a list.) Maybe a Cinema Treasures user with a card from one of those libraries can take a look at it and add more information here.
This house opened around 1915 as the Majestic Theatre, according to the caption of photos on page 51 of Bellaire, by Holly Bruno and Andrew Ehritz (Google Books Preview.)
A major remodeling of the Strand Theatre was carried out in 1951, according to Kendallville Heritage Association’s Historic Places tour (PDF file here.) The remodeling was designed by the A.M. Strauss architectural firm of Fort Wayne (Alvin M. Strauss, a Kendallville native.)
Three vintage photos of the Harris-Manos Theatre can be seen on this page of the weblog The Haunted Lamp.
Prior to taking over the Princess Theatre in 1925, Oliver Kihchel operated a theater in Jeannette called the Eagle, opened in December, 1910.
The Princess Theatre was in operation at least as early as 1916, when it was mentioned in The Moving Picture World. It’s possible that the Princess was built to replace an opera house that burned in 1910.
There is an early postcard photo of the Princess on page 16 of Jeannette, by Terry Perich and Kathleen Perich.
CSWalczak: The Rapps of Rapp & Rapp were not related to the Rapps of Rapp, Zettle & Rapp (except perhaps through some distant common ancestor in Sweden), and I’ve never found any connection between the firms.
Rapp, Zettle & Rapp was a Cincinnati firm consisting of George W. Rapp, his son Walter Rapp, and partner John Zettle. George W. Rapp retired from the firm about the time the Woodward Theatre was built, and died in 1918 (obituary in The Western Architect, February, 1918.) The successor firm Zettel & Rapp was active into the early 1930s.
The theater architects, based in Chicago, were Cornelius W. Rapp and George Leslie Rapp. An older brother, Isaac Hamilton Rapp, practiced architecture in Trinidad, Colorado, beginning around 1890, and was later joined by another brother, William M. Rapp, to form the Trinidad firm of I. H. & W. M. Rapp. To add a bit of confusion, some sources also refer to this firm as Rapp and Rapp. The Colorado Rapps eventually established an office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well, and were pioneers of the Pueblo Revival style.
Biographies of both the Chicago and Cincinnati Rapps can be found on this page of the Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Architects.
Information about I. H. and W. M. Rapp can be found in a biographical sketch of Isaac H. Rapp on this Google Documents page or in PDF format at this link.
I. H. and W. M. Rapp were the architects of the 1908 West Theatre in Trinidad. I’ve been unable to discover if they designed any other theaters.
Here is an article about the Crystal Theatre in the December 15, 1910, issue of the Chicago-based trade journal The Nickelodeon.
By early 1916, a movie house called the Orpheum was operating on Jefferson Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. It had cost only $30,000 to build, so it was probably not a very big theater.
A 1917 article about Orpheum said that the Princess Amusement Company operated it, and the two other theaters in the area around 4th and Jefferson as well. The other theaters were called the Casino and the Columbia. No theater of these names are currently listed at Cinema Treasures, but any of them might have been the house that became the Rodeo.
Here is the 1917 article, which has two photos. Perhaps someone will recognize the building, though it was probably remodeled in later years.
A 1906 publication lists the Mary Anderson Theatre as being operated by the Shuberts, so it was probably a legitimate house at that time.
A list of theaters in the Orpheum vaudeville circuit published in 1917 included the Mary Anderson Theatre, with the note that the house was also affiliated with the B.F. Keith circuit.
An item in the November 24, 1917, issue of the Chicago business journal The Economist confirms that the theater at 16 E. Mifflin Street was designed by Rapp & Rapp. The contract for concrete work on the project had just been awarded to William Oakley of Madison.
This article in the December, 1910, issue of the trade journal The Nickelodeon says that the Star Theatre opened on November 1, 1907. The auditorium originally seated 453, and boasted an early example of indirect lighting.
Here is an article about the Cinema House in the November 1, 1910, issue of the Chicago-based trade journal The Nickelodeon.
An article about the history of movie exhibition in Vancouver appeared in the July 15, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World. This page includes a few lines about the Rex, and small photo of it. It says that the Rex opened in the fall of 1913 and was built at a cost of $130,000.
Keith McKellar’s Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Café and Street says that the Army & Navy store took over the Rex Theatre’s space in 1959.
There is an early photo of the Majestic Theatre in the left column of this page of The Moving Picture World, July 1, 1916. The right column features a photo of Paxton’s other movie house, the Crystal Theatre.
The May, 1915, issue of The Western Architect said that the Calhoun Theatre had been designed by architect Clifford T. McElroy.
An advertisement for the Philip Carey Roofing Company of Cincinnati appearing in the December, 1921, issue of the Journal of the American Institute of Architects featured a photo of the Hippodrome Theatre in Murphysboro. The caption credited the design of the house to the Murphysboro architectural firm Gill & Fath.
The Royal Theatre dates from around 1910. The June 21, 1917, issue of Engineering News-Record said that the Royal Theatre was to be rebuilt at a cost of about $150,000. Plans for the rebuilding were being prepared by local architect T.M. Sanders.
In 1909, the theater at 608 Washington Avenue was called the Bijou Dream. Trade Journal The Nickelodeon gave its seating capacity as 700. The house was at that time equipped to show Cameraphone sound films as well as regular silent movies.
The Orpheum Theatre at Lima, Ohio, was being mentioned in The Billboard and Variety in 1908.
Note the address of 118 W. Market Street given in kencmcintyre’s earlier comment, as well as the missing AKA.
Tinseltoes: I’ve found that the Lyric Theatre was an earlier name for the house listed at Cinema Treasures as the Ranger Theatre. I’ve reported the missing AKA in a comment on the Ranger’s page.
This comment by Bill Dakota on a retailing history web site says that the Ranger Theatre had once been called the Lyric Theatre. The house was located on Main Street between High and North Streets.
The October, 1915, issue of house organ Bell Telephone News mentions a Lyric Theatre in Lima. I’ve found the house mentioned in connection with George Settos in 1922 and in 1929. In the 1930s, the Lyric was the site of several professional boxing matches which are noted at the web site BoxRec.
I found a single reference to a stage production being mounted at the Lyric in 1946, so the name change took place between then and 1950, when the ad for the Ranger that kencmcintyre linked to earlier was published.
It looks like the Miners' Temple was even older than I thought. The Annual Report on Labour Organization in Canada published in 1921 said that the Miners' Temple in Bellaire, Ohio, was dedicated on October 30, 1920.
Although a timeline of Bellaire history at the Bellaire Public Library' web site says that the Miners' Temple was built in 1926, the web page lostmemory linked to earlier, which is also from the library’s web site, says that the building first appeared on Sanborn insurance maps in 1924.
I have found a reference to the Miners' Temple in the January 15, 1923, issue of the trade union publication Cigar Makers' Official Journal, the phrasing of which suggests that the building was already occupied at that time. It’s possible that the Miners' Temple was completed in late 1922, and this might have been too late for it to be included in the 1923 edition of the Sanborn maps.
The Capitol Theatre opened on January 3, 1925, according to the caption of a photo on page 53 of Bellaire, by Holly Bruno and Andrew Ehritz (Google Books preview).) An item in the December 1, 1928, issue of Motion Picture News ran this item about the house:
Google Books also lists a small book titled The Capitol Movie Theatre, Bellaire, Ohio, which was published in 1930, but Google has no views of it available. The book has apparently been digitized by the State Library of Ohio and should be available as an e-book which can be checked out by card holders of many public libraries in the state (here’s a list.) Maybe a Cinema Treasures user with a card from one of those libraries can take a look at it and add more information here.This house opened around 1915 as the Majestic Theatre, according to the caption of photos on page 51 of Bellaire, by Holly Bruno and Andrew Ehritz (Google Books Preview.)
A major remodeling of the Strand Theatre was carried out in 1951, according to Kendallville Heritage Association’s Historic Places tour (PDF file here.) The remodeling was designed by the A.M. Strauss architectural firm of Fort Wayne (Alvin M. Strauss, a Kendallville native.)
Error in the architect field: There should be no “s” in the architect’s first name. It’s Edward Bates Franzheim.