Address is wrong. The street is Seltzer St, and the intersection with Scott makes it somewhere in the 200 block. It’s been demolished. Was probably where the ugly new bank is now, or maybe a block south.
The much older building (at dating to at least 1912, and probably earlier) across the intersection also has a G. Carpentier nameplate. It was a saloon on the side with the corner entrance, a store on the other, and apartments upstairs.
Building may still exist, partially. The eastern half is now a very sad and ugly little ‘park’, but the western half is still there, with a really ugly ‘modern’ facade. The remodeled building is shown as two stores on the 1950 map. It’s much deeper than the old theater, but the same height. Could be the dairy, or maybe a replacement?
Building was constructed sometime before 1886. It was originally a smaller wood frame structure, but was extended to the rear by 1898, that portion being brick. 1906 map shows it as a printer’s. By 1950, it had either been heavily remodeled or replaced by a similar structure, which is now gone. Location would have been just to the north of the building on the corner.
Nameplate on the facade is G. Carpentier. The first owner, or just a speculator who built it? By the way, there are some much better pictures than the blurry low quality shot currently used.
Well, maybe one more note? The address for this theater was 916-918. Not sure which was used by the second floor. The 920 address did not exist, as late as 1957.
I’ve created a listing for the older Majestic, and the photo should be moved there. It’s unfortunate that there only seem to be 1912, 1950, and 1957 maps for East Moline, it leaves a lot of gaps.
The 1950 map shows that the second floor was a dance hall. Not sure if that left room for a balcony. The stage at rear was only one story. By the way, the streetview car went down the back alley, so you can get a good look at this. The 1957 map shows the ground floor split into two storefronts, but there is a marquee (not shown on the 1950 map, possibly just an omission) still present. Second floor was still a hall of some sort.
Demolition of the front revealed an amusing note from management on the door to the projection booth (which is now high up on the wall of the remaining structure):
The entry does look right for about 1950, but the construction looks pretty old-fashioned, with the big auditorium at the back, and a tin clad projection booth stuck onto the wall. The Arcade name is also old-fashioned. The 1923 map shows this corner occupied by several public school buildings. The front was still there in 2014.
This is a really poor listing. No address, and closed 40 years as of when? The correct address is 155 E Church St. The entire front has been torn down, as well as the projection booth. There is a new door stuck into the wall of the auditorium, so someone must still be using it for something.
Opening date is wrong. There is no building on this lot on the December 1923 Sanborn. The style of the facade looks more like something from the ‘30s. If there was an earlier Pastime, it was somewhere else.
There’s nothing at 225. I assume you mean 221, which is just your standard old commercial building. The three story thing had an Odd Fellows lodge on the third floor.
This theater may appear in a photo on the Illinois HARGIS site, for listing number 118663. The site is pretty hard to use, but some clicking will get you to a photo, likely from the early ‘70s, before this corner became so depressingly ugly. The building on the far right is either the theater, or it’s the ice cream parlor, and the theater is just out of frame. At any rate, this building was lost much later, during Kewanee’s sharp decline postwar.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Aug 23, 2021 at 7:50 pm
Photos from the ‘70s show this already used as the VFW, but the original brick front wall of the old structure hadn’t been covered in siding.
Not sure how the MLS came up with that wacky date. Even a glance at the building makes it obvious it can’t be postwar.
The building at 517 clearly has a ‘1925’ (or perhaps 1923?) at the top.
Address is wrong. The street is Seltzer St, and the intersection with Scott makes it somewhere in the 200 block. It’s been demolished. Was probably where the ugly new bank is now, or maybe a block south.
Address on the 1957 map is 1719. 1717 is the barbershop to the west.
Of course the Majestic was also operating, and that’s missing, too.
Looks like we have a few photos of the first Majestic which need to be moved to the other listing.
This certainly could be the one. I think the first Majestic was a conversion. This block had lots of empty space on the 1912 map.
The much older building (at dating to at least 1912, and probably earlier) across the intersection also has a G. Carpentier nameplate. It was a saloon on the side with the corner entrance, a store on the other, and apartments upstairs.
Building may still exist, partially. The eastern half is now a very sad and ugly little ‘park’, but the western half is still there, with a really ugly ‘modern’ facade. The remodeled building is shown as two stores on the 1950 map. It’s much deeper than the old theater, but the same height. Could be the dairy, or maybe a replacement?
Building was constructed sometime before 1886. It was originally a smaller wood frame structure, but was extended to the rear by 1898, that portion being brick. 1906 map shows it as a printer’s. By 1950, it had either been heavily remodeled or replaced by a similar structure, which is now gone. Location would have been just to the north of the building on the corner.
Nameplate on the facade is G. Carpentier. The first owner, or just a speculator who built it? By the way, there are some much better pictures than the blurry low quality shot currently used.
Well, maybe one more note? The address for this theater was 916-918. Not sure which was used by the second floor. The 920 address did not exist, as late as 1957.
One last note, which may help any confusion for other researchers: 15th Ave was called 1st Ave until sometime between 1912 and 1950.
I’ve created a listing for the older Majestic, and the photo should be moved there. It’s unfortunate that there only seem to be 1912, 1950, and 1957 maps for East Moline, it leaves a lot of gaps.
The 1950 map shows that the second floor was a dance hall. Not sure if that left room for a balcony. The stage at rear was only one story. By the way, the streetview car went down the back alley, so you can get a good look at this. The 1957 map shows the ground floor split into two storefronts, but there is a marquee (not shown on the 1950 map, possibly just an omission) still present. Second floor was still a hall of some sort.
That makes sense. I couldn’t find any others on either the 1908, 1913 or 1923 maps.
Demolition of the front revealed an amusing note from management on the door to the projection booth (which is now high up on the wall of the remaining structure):
‘A PROJECTIONIST’S PLACE
IS IN THE BOOTH
DURING THE SHOWTIME
SO UNTIL IT’S GO TIME
DON’T LEAVE NO TIME’
The entry does look right for about 1950, but the construction looks pretty old-fashioned, with the big auditorium at the back, and a tin clad projection booth stuck onto the wall. The Arcade name is also old-fashioned. The 1923 map shows this corner occupied by several public school buildings. The front was still there in 2014.
This is a really poor listing. No address, and closed 40 years as of when? The correct address is 155 E Church St. The entire front has been torn down, as well as the projection booth. There is a new door stuck into the wall of the auditorium, so someone must still be using it for something.
Opening date is wrong. There is no building on this lot on the December 1923 Sanborn. The style of the facade looks more like something from the ‘30s. If there was an earlier Pastime, it was somewhere else.
Jeeze, far left I mean. I swear I do know the difference.
There’s nothing at 225. I assume you mean 221, which is just your standard old commercial building. The three story thing had an Odd Fellows lodge on the third floor.
Address is approximate.
The armory was constructed in 1908. Pictures from the early-mid ‘70s show it was used as the Turpin Dodge dealership.
This theater may appear in a photo on the Illinois HARGIS site, for listing number 118663. The site is pretty hard to use, but some clicking will get you to a photo, likely from the early ‘70s, before this corner became so depressingly ugly. The building on the far right is either the theater, or it’s the ice cream parlor, and the theater is just out of frame. At any rate, this building was lost much later, during Kewanee’s sharp decline postwar.
Photos from the ‘70s show this already used as the VFW, but the original brick front wall of the old structure hadn’t been covered in siding.