Comments from SethG

Showing 101 - 125 of 1,737 comments

SethG
SethG commented about Lyric Theatre on Nov 4, 2024 at 9:46 am

Thanks for the ID!

SethG
SethG commented about McLuen Theatre on Nov 4, 2024 at 9:45 am

I’ll add the Motz, which looks much better than when I saw it in 2010.

SethG
SethG commented about Eagle Theatre on Oct 30, 2024 at 6:48 pm

Address would have been something like 209 Main St E. This was demolished long ago, along with the entire rest of the block. The building was constructed sometime before 1896, and was the post office on the 1909 map.

SethG
SethG commented about Theatre on Oct 30, 2024 at 11:41 am

I agree that the opera house is not a good candidate.

SethG
SethG commented about Ritz Theatre on Oct 30, 2024 at 9:20 am

Almost certainly on Garfield St. This has been demolished. Downtown is an ugly collection of metal sheds and empty lots. Was once two solid blocks of fine one and two story brick buildings.

SethG
SethG commented about Theatre on Oct 30, 2024 at 4:53 am

Thanks for the information! I will add the opera house. I have a picture of that. It’s a little frustrating that there are no maps prior to 1916. The only other map is from 1930, and is not online.

SethG
SethG commented about Theatre on Oct 29, 2024 at 7:08 am

There was also an opera house in a big three story Odd Fellows Hall on the corner of E Main and S Illinois. Only a tiny portion, one story tall, remains today. That could have been the Grand?

SethG
SethG commented about Iowa Theatre on Oct 24, 2024 at 3:19 pm

I think the Star might need its own listing. The 1919 map shows it as a very narrow one story building. It appears that it was on the north side of the site, and a 2-story pool room was on the south half. I expect both were demolished to allow the construction of the larger theater.

SethG
SethG commented about Star Theatre on Oct 24, 2024 at 10:49 am

But you’re still confident that it was earlier the Bijou and likely the Star? This theater could definitely have been open up until the Earle killed it off, so it may also have been the Strand.

That does seem to be an awful lot of names for one place, especially when the Royal and Earle each had only one name change, and the Opera House may not have had any, unless one of these names was a later name for that.

SethG
SethG commented about Carroll Opera House on Oct 24, 2024 at 10:44 am

That’s probably from about the first year they could have been showing movies, right? Sounds like they maybe had it set up on the floor or balcony, rather than in a booth.

SethG
SethG commented about 1967 photo courtesy of Ian Whitaker Granstra‎. on Oct 24, 2024 at 5:47 am

The building on the left is the old Carroll Opera House, which showed movies from at least 1914-15 until it closed, likely in the late ‘20s after this opened.

SethG
SethG commented about Carroll Theatre on Oct 24, 2024 at 5:14 am

Chuck strikes again.

SethG
SethG commented about Star Theatre on Oct 24, 2024 at 5:13 am

Thanks for the ID, and for confirming the Opera House, I’ll add that.

SethG
SethG commented about Carroll 5 Theatre on Oct 23, 2024 at 3:49 pm

Better website: https://www.fridleytheatres.com/movie-theater/carroll-carroll5/

SethG
SethG commented about State Theatre on Oct 23, 2024 at 3:41 pm

This was located in a large commercial building constructed sometime between 1888 and 1893. The 1909 map shows a general store here. This entire block was destroyed in the demented urban renewal craze, and replaced by some incredibly depressing one story structures.

The ugly ‘new’ Carroll is not across the street, but at the other end of the block.

SethG
SethG commented about Carroll Theatre on Oct 23, 2024 at 3:24 pm

The address is wrong. This was at 104-106. That block no longer exists due to the destruction of urban ‘renewal’. It would have been under the eastern half of the appallingly ugly Bill Farmer Building.

It appears that the structure was a remodel of an armory constructed between 1909 and 1915, which was used as a store by 1923.

SethG
SethG commented about Germania Hall on Oct 23, 2024 at 10:22 am

By the way, if you can find a movie date at the Germania from 1908 or before, I will create a listing for the first location.

SethG
SethG commented about Germania Hall on Oct 23, 2024 at 10:20 am

It certainly could be the same building. I think the facade is new. I’m not even sure it’s possible to plaster over metal. Sometimes local knowledge is spot-on, sometimes it’s bunk. It would make sense that they moved it, although the appearance of the building on the 1913 map is different.

SethG
SethG commented about Opera House on Oct 22, 2024 at 8:51 pm

I’m having the same problem with the Cahn Guide, although this town is so tiny it almost certainly wouldn’t be listed anyway.

SethG
SethG commented about Clune's Theater on Oct 22, 2024 at 7:50 am

This is an absolutely awful and useless listing.

SethG
SethG commented about Theatre on Oct 22, 2024 at 5:11 am

Thanks. I felt pretty certain this was the Majestic. Less certain that it later became the Royal.

SethG
SethG commented about Majestic Theatre on Oct 22, 2024 at 5:10 am

Thanks for the ID! It’s odd that the ‘new’ Germania wasn’t listed, since that opened in 1914.

SethG
SethG commented about Opera House on Oct 20, 2024 at 2:56 pm

Thanks to Ken Roe for some dates on this one!

SethG
SethG commented about Majestic Theatre on Oct 20, 2024 at 2:51 pm

Note that the historical address was 124 E Broadway, near the corner with N Sweet. The streets were later renamed to the most boring system possible.

SethG
SethG commented about Germania Hall on Oct 20, 2024 at 2:49 pm

Note that the historical address was 112-114 E Tremont, before the streets were renamed to a boring numbered grid.