Landmarks of Wayne county and Detroit, by Robert Budd Ross and George Byron Catlin, published in 1898, had this to say about Campbell’s Empire Theater:
“The Empire Theatre, on the south side of Lafayette avenue, between Griswold and Shelby streets, was built by Dr. M. Campbell and opened on Christmas day, 1893. "The Kentucky Girl,” with Sadie Harrison in the principal role, was the first performance. When the Detroit Opera House burned on October 7, 1897, it was leased by Brady & Stair, and the high priced companies who formerly played at the Detroit Opera House were transferred there until the latter house was rebuilt.“
I noticed that in the photo CSWalczak linked to, the upper wall has the year 1887 carved into it. I don’t know how that can be reconciled with the claim in the book I linked to that it opened in 1893, unless it took Dr. Campbell six years to get the building built.
Internet says that Henkels & McCoy is a Pennsylvania-based engineering and construction firm specializing in projects for the energy, water, and communications industries. There’s no indication of what they are using the Main Theatre building for. It might be anything from branch offices to an equipment storage facility.
A thesis by Lisa Kalhar Melton identifies the Columbia Theatre as the work of architect Herman Preusse. As the theater was built in 1906, it falls into the period when Preusse was working in partnership with architect Julius Zittel.
Working on his own, Preusse also designed the Auditorium, Spokane’s first large theater, built in 1890. That same year he designed the Woodward Building, which, from 1911 to 1914, housed on its ground floor an early movie house called the Isis Theatre.
Potlatch, Idaho, was founded in 1905 by the Potlatch Corporation, a large lumber company. As a company town, Potlatch was fitted out with an array of public facilities, including an opera house. The opera house burned in 1917, according to one source, and was replaced by a house called the People’s Theatre. It’s possible that the People’s Theatre was the same house that became the Potlatch Theatre, but I’ve been unable to confirm this. I’m inclined to think that it was, though, as Potlatch was never very large, and its population has been diminishing for several decades. It’s unlikely that a new theater would have been built in the post-war period.
The original opera house had been designed by a Spokane architect named C. Ferris White, who designed virtually all of the early buildings in the city, but I’ve been unable to discover if he was still the company’s architect in the late 1910s, when the new theater would have been built. White practiced in Spokane as late as 1922, so it is possible that he designed the People’s Theatre.
Downtown Newport News, by William A. Fox (Google Books preview), gives a brief history of this house. It was in operation as the Olympic Theatre prior to 1931, when it was taken over by Publix, remodeled, and renamed the James Theatre. Publix operated the house only until 1934, when it was taken over by the local chain Dominion Theatres. At some point it was renamed the Downtown Theatre. In its last days it showed adult movies, and was closed in 1978. The roof of the theater collapsed on January 12, 1983, leading to its demolition.
The caption of this historic photo from the Newport News Public Library says that the Olympic Theatre was built in 1911. I found a period source indicating that the house was in operation by December of that year.
The Library of Virginia’s weblog, Out of the Box, has an interesting item about a performance that took place at the Olympic Theatre in 1912, leading to the arrest of the theater manager and a dance troupe. That younger generation! What was the world coming to?
Theater operator James Marlow is the subject of this article from the Murphysboro American of July 25, 2011. The article says that the Hippodrome/Marlow’s Theatre operated from 1919 until 1968.
An item in the October 23, 1973, issue of the Southern Illinoisan newspaper says that Marlow’s Theatre was demolished in 1969 to make way for a bank’s parking lot.
The photos in the weblog post I linked to in me previous comment show that Street View on this page is currently set to the wrong building. The theater was in the building down the block to the left which has a sign reading “Alamo Shooters” on what remains of the marquee. The building has the addresses 108 and 110 E. San Antonio Avenue.
The Wigwam Theater was in operation by 1914, when it was one of five El Paso movie houses that shared a full-page ad in the August 29 issue of the El Paso Herald.
This post from weblog Deep Inside El Paso has a couple of photos of the Wigwam/State Theatre building (way down the page) and cites historian Cynthia Farah Haines as saying that the Wigwam Theatre was renamed the Rialto in 1921, then went back to Wigwam in 1922, and became the State in 1949. Haines also said that the Wigwam Theatre was designed by architect Henry Trost. The State began showing X-rated movies in 1981, but closed later that year.
The Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, by K. Edward Lay, says that the Lafayette Theatre was built in 1921, specifically as a movie house. The book gives no details about it.
An article about the Jefferson Theatre mentioned that the Lafayette Theatre was on the site now occupied by a shopping arcade called York Place, which is at 112 W. Main Street, so that was probably the theater’s address as well.
Judging from the second photo on this page of Charlottesville, by Eryn S. Brennan and Margaret Maliszewski, the Lafayette Theatre must have been in the 100 block of West Main Street, on the south side. The Paramount’s vertical sign can be seen down the street, on the north side of the 200 East block.
The Sierra Vista 16 was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show includes two photos of the Sierra Vista 16 captioned Clovis Cinema 16.
The restoration of the original Alameda Theatre to a single screen and the addition of seven additional screens was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show includes four photos of the Alameda Cinema.
The Livermore 13 Cinemas was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show features three photos of the Livermore 13.
The Palladio 16 Cinemas was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show features a rendering of the theater entrance.
Two photos and a rendering of the Plaza 14 Cinemas in Oxnard’s Centennial Plaza appear in the cinema projects slide show at the web site of the Seattle firm that designed the project, The Henry Architects.
As finally designed, the Lodi Stadium 12 Cinemas was the work of the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show features a rendering of the theater entrance and a photo of the lobby.
The address currently listed is obsolete. At some point, Chino has adopted the county-wide numbering system, and the theater’s former site is in what is now the 13100 block. If 328 6th was on the east side of the street, it even looks like odd and even numbers have switched sides, with even numbers now being on the west side of the street.
It also looks like almost the entire neighborhood has been redeveloped for residential use within the last couple of decades. The whole east side of the block between C and D Streets is lined with small apartment buildings. The Woods Theatre must have been demolished.
Landmarks of Wayne county and Detroit, by Robert Budd Ross and George Byron Catlin, published in 1898, had this to say about Campbell’s Empire Theater:
I noticed that in the photo CSWalczak linked to, the upper wall has the year 1887 carved into it. I don’t know how that can be reconciled with the claim in the book I linked to that it opened in 1893, unless it took Dr. Campbell six years to get the building built.The historic photos from the Dayton library that were linked in earlier comments have all been moved to new URLs.
Here is the original Turner’s Opera House of 1864.
Here is the photo of the ruins of the Opera House after the 1869 fire.
Here is the pre-1918 fire photo of the Music Hall.
Here is the Victory Theatre after it was rebuilt in 1919.
The URL of the photo lostmemory linked to in the previous comment has been changed. The photo is now at this link.
Internet says that Henkels & McCoy is a Pennsylvania-based engineering and construction firm specializing in projects for the energy, water, and communications industries. There’s no indication of what they are using the Main Theatre building for. It might be anything from branch offices to an equipment storage facility.
Here is an interior photo showing the Andria Theatre’s main auditorium.
A thesis by Lisa Kalhar Melton identifies the Columbia Theatre as the work of architect Herman Preusse. As the theater was built in 1906, it falls into the period when Preusse was working in partnership with architect Julius Zittel.
Working on his own, Preusse also designed the Auditorium, Spokane’s first large theater, built in 1890. That same year he designed the Woodward Building, which, from 1911 to 1914, housed on its ground floor an early movie house called the Isis Theatre.
Potlatch, Idaho, was founded in 1905 by the Potlatch Corporation, a large lumber company. As a company town, Potlatch was fitted out with an array of public facilities, including an opera house. The opera house burned in 1917, according to one source, and was replaced by a house called the People’s Theatre. It’s possible that the People’s Theatre was the same house that became the Potlatch Theatre, but I’ve been unable to confirm this. I’m inclined to think that it was, though, as Potlatch was never very large, and its population has been diminishing for several decades. It’s unlikely that a new theater would have been built in the post-war period.
The original opera house had been designed by a Spokane architect named C. Ferris White, who designed virtually all of the early buildings in the city, but I’ve been unable to discover if he was still the company’s architect in the late 1910s, when the new theater would have been built. White practiced in Spokane as late as 1922, so it is possible that he designed the People’s Theatre.
Downtown Newport News, by William A. Fox (Google Books preview), gives a brief history of this house. It was in operation as the Olympic Theatre prior to 1931, when it was taken over by Publix, remodeled, and renamed the James Theatre. Publix operated the house only until 1934, when it was taken over by the local chain Dominion Theatres. At some point it was renamed the Downtown Theatre. In its last days it showed adult movies, and was closed in 1978. The roof of the theater collapsed on January 12, 1983, leading to its demolition.
The caption of this historic photo from the Newport News Public Library says that the Olympic Theatre was built in 1911. I found a period source indicating that the house was in operation by December of that year.
The Library of Virginia’s weblog, Out of the Box, has an interesting item about a performance that took place at the Olympic Theatre in 1912, leading to the arrest of the theater manager and a dance troupe. That younger generation! What was the world coming to?
Theater operator James Marlow is the subject of this article from the Murphysboro American of July 25, 2011. The article says that the Hippodrome/Marlow’s Theatre operated from 1919 until 1968.
An item in the October 23, 1973, issue of the Southern Illinoisan newspaper says that Marlow’s Theatre was demolished in 1969 to make way for a bank’s parking lot.
The photos in the weblog post I linked to in me previous comment show that Street View on this page is currently set to the wrong building. The theater was in the building down the block to the left which has a sign reading “Alamo Shooters” on what remains of the marquee. The building has the addresses 108 and 110 E. San Antonio Avenue.
The Wigwam Theater was in operation by 1914, when it was one of five El Paso movie houses that shared a full-page ad in the August 29 issue of the El Paso Herald.
This post from weblog Deep Inside El Paso has a couple of photos of the Wigwam/State Theatre building (way down the page) and cites historian Cynthia Farah Haines as saying that the Wigwam Theatre was renamed the Rialto in 1921, then went back to Wigwam in 1922, and became the State in 1949. Haines also said that the Wigwam Theatre was designed by architect Henry Trost. The State began showing X-rated movies in 1981, but closed later that year.
The Center Theatre can be seen in its original, single-screen configuration in four photos in Boxoffice, May 17, 1965.
The Center was originally operated by Lockwood and Gordon Enterprises, who also operated the Cinerama Theatre on University Avenue.
Given the 1931 opening, it is likely that the Eaton Theatre is the proposed house mentioned in the June 1, 1930, issue of The film Daily:
Given the Art Deco touches on the facade, this theater is probably the planned house mentioned in the June 1, 1930, issue of The Film Daily
The Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, by K. Edward Lay, says that the Lafayette Theatre was built in 1921, specifically as a movie house. The book gives no details about it.
An article about the Jefferson Theatre mentioned that the Lafayette Theatre was on the site now occupied by a shopping arcade called York Place, which is at 112 W. Main Street, so that was probably the theater’s address as well.
A slightly better view of the Lafayette Theatre can be seen in this 1952 photo from The Charlottesville Dogwood Festival, by Elizabeth D. Wood Smith.
Judging from the second photo on this page of Charlottesville, by Eryn S. Brennan and Margaret Maliszewski, the Lafayette Theatre must have been in the 100 block of West Main Street, on the south side. The Paramount’s vertical sign can be seen down the street, on the north side of the 200 East block.
The Sierra Vista 16 was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show includes two photos of the Sierra Vista 16 captioned Clovis Cinema 16.
The restoration of the original Alameda Theatre to a single screen and the addition of seven additional screens was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show includes four photos of the Alameda Cinema.
The Livermore 13 Cinemas was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show features three photos of the Livermore 13.
The Palladio 16 Cinemas was designed by the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show features a rendering of the theater entrance.
Two photos and a rendering of the Plaza 14 Cinemas in Oxnard’s Centennial Plaza appear in the cinema projects slide show at the web site of the Seattle firm that designed the project, The Henry Architects.
As finally designed, the Lodi Stadium 12 Cinemas was the work of the Seattle firm The Henry Architects. Their cinema projects slide show features a rendering of the theater entrance and a photo of the lobby.
The address currently listed is obsolete. At some point, Chino has adopted the county-wide numbering system, and the theater’s former site is in what is now the 13100 block. If 328 6th was on the east side of the street, it even looks like odd and even numbers have switched sides, with even numbers now being on the west side of the street.
It also looks like almost the entire neighborhood has been redeveloped for residential use within the last couple of decades. The whole east side of the block between C and D Streets is lined with small apartment buildings. The Woods Theatre must have been demolished.