The new Illiopolis Theatre opened in 1951 was designed by the Decatur firm Burgener-Chastain & Associates (Harry J. Burgener and Homer L. Chastain) as noted in the August 6, 1951 issue of The Decatur Daily Review.
From 1945 until closing in 1963, the Illiopolis Theatre was operated by Ed and Louella Griesheim, who from 1959 on also operated a drive-in restaurant in Illiopolis, according to an article in the August 23, 1982 issue of the Decatur Herald and Review. The theater building was later converted into medical offices, but I’ve been unable to discover if it is still standing or, if so, what it now is used for.
The Opera House at Hopkinsville was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, with the cryptic notation “Box 280.” A mailing address, perhaps?
According to a history of Kentucky published in 1922, R. H. Holland retired in 1916 and ceased renting the Opera House for performances. It doesn’t say why. He still owned the place in 1922.
I don’t know if this link will work or not, due to the grotesque way Facebook is set up, but this Facebook post makes a pretty good argument that the Star Theatre was in a building at 104 W. Washington Street. There are some vintage photos. Real estate web sites say that the building there now was built in 1949. With this address Google street view defaults to the building around the corner on Lee Street, but that’s better than the default we’ve got now, which is Harrington Road out in the boondocks between Rockingham and Ellerbe.
This page at Sandusky History says that the original Star Theatre on Market Street opened in 1907. The two Stars were apparently under the same management.
The October 16, 1909 issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Sandusky Theatre:
“The Sandusky Theater, with a seating capacity of 1,300, was reopened for the season of 1909-10 on September 20 with high class vaudeville, consisting of eight acts weekly, and three reels of motion pictures.”
As the Columbus Avenue Star opened in 1914, the item in the May 8, 1909 issue of The Moving Picture World must pertain to the Market Street Star, which the item said had recently shown three reels of “The Great Wolf Hunt” for an admission of five cents. The July 10 issue of MPW says “[t]he Star Theater, Sandusky, Ohio, under management of Bumgartner & Franklin, has been closed for the Summer months.” The Star and other Sandusky movie houses are mentioned frequently in the MPW in 1909.
There was an earlier Gem in Oxford, per this item from the June 3, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World which says “Oxford, Neb. — J. B. Reed has purchased the Gem theater.”
The Bethel Theatre was listed in the 1951 FDY with 360 seats. A house called the Bethel Theatre is listed in the 1928 and 1929 FDYs, but no seating capacity is given. The house at 7406 Main might or might not have been the same theater updated and reopened. The south side wall of this building as seen in this photo has been painted, but is clearly old brick and looks like it was extended upward from a common wall it once shared with an adjacent building which has since been demolished. Evidence of a similar common wall can be seen at the front of the building on the north end. This building could well have housed the Bethel Theatre of 1829-29.
Here is a possible aka for the Marshall Theatre, from an item in the May 4, 1935 issue of Motion Picture Herald which says “FRANK MORGAN has been recently appointed skipper or the Mecca Theatre at Marshall, Oklahoma.” Marshall was an extraordinarily tiny town to have a movie theater at all (population 400 in 1928) so it’s very unlikely there was a second house there. The only movie house listed at Marshall in the 1928 FDY was called the Lyric Theatre (250 seats) which is another possible aka. The Marshall Theatre is listed in the 1951 FDY with 230 seats. The town then had a population of 382.
The December 11, 1936 issue of Film Daily had this item:
“Malco Makes Changes
“Little Rock, Ark.— M. S. McCord, secretary-treasurer of the Malco Theaters, Inc., North Little Rock, has announced that the Dunlap Theater at Clarksville is undergoing extensive remodeling and when completed the name will be changed to the Strand Theater.”
As noted in my earlier comment, the Dunlap Theater was listed in Cahn guides at least as early as 1906.
The March 8, 1916 issue of The American Contractor said that the new Town Hall at Pataskala had been designed by the Columbus architectural firm Rusk & Sheets (F. S. Rusk and Cree Sheets.) Photos of the Town Hall show a handsome Colonial Revival exterior. The official web site of the Sterling Theater gives the current seating capacity as 300.
This item appeared in the October 10, 1941 issue of Film Daily:
“The old Riddell Theater, Clarksville, Ark., has been shuttered for extensive remodeling. According to Manager Jack Thomas, it will reopen shortly as the Elberta Theater in honor of that sector’s chief crop, Elberta peaches.”
I’ve been unable to find any other mentions of the Elberta Theatre in the trade journals, but it is listed in FDY’s from 1943 through 1947. The 1948 FDY doesn’t list individual theaters, only circuits, and I can’t find the Elberta there. It does not appear in the individual theater listings in the 1949 Yearbook, which lists only the Strand for Clarksville. Oddly, the 1942 Yearbook lists a house called the “Riddle” which was probably a typo for the Riddell. Most likely the name change to Elberta wasn’t submitted to the FDY in time for inclusion in the 1942 edition.
The tall structure in the background of the photo robboehm uploaded is a grain elevator still standing on Railroad Street. The view is south along Main Street, and the Aladdin theatre was at the northeast corner of Third Street. It has been demolished. Current Google street view.
The Monarch Theatre building is at 605 Cliff Avenue. Seating capacity was 375. It opened in 1949 and had closed by 1962, the year the building was converted into a bowling alley. It now houses a retail casual clothing store, Tony O’s Outfitters.
I noticed that the draft itself is dated 5/12/21, so is quite new. If it hasn’t been submitted to the NRHP yet, the authors would probably appreciate knowing that this building housed the Levon Theatre, since they appear to be unaware of that.
The draft of the NRHP application for the Enfield Historic District (PDF here) dates the building at 200 Whitfield Street to 1949, the year it appears in County tax records, and says that it was probably built as a movie theater, though it doesn’t mention the theater name. Interestingly, the document says that the Levon Theatre was in a building at 114 Whitfield Street which had been occupied by the Randolph Store in the 1930s and became the location of a law firm in 1948. The Levon must have moved to 200 Whitfield in 1948, and then the law firm took over the newly vacant space at 114.
This PDF of the draft of the NRHP application for the Enfield Historic District says that the Masonic Lodge building was erected in 1924-1925 and was designed by the Wilson, NC architectural firm Benton & Benton (Charles Collins Benton and Frank Whitaker Benton.) The style is Classic Revival, not Art Deco. I’ve been unable to find the name under which this theater operated, but it might be in a Film Daily Yearbook or two.
Several web sites say that the theater has been dark since shortly before WWII. This raises the question: When did it have two screens?
The draft of the Enfield Historic District application form for the NRHP lists the extant building at 111-113 Whitfield Street as the Grand Theatre and describes it thus: “Constructed between 1915 and 1921, this two-story brick commercial building initially housed a moving picture theatre (later known as the Grand Theater) and a barber shop.” I’ve been unable to discover the opening name of this theater, but at some point it became the new location of the Grand, which was originally located in the former Opera House.
A PDF of the draft NRHP application can be downloaded from this link.
The hisotry page of the Tabor Opera House’s official web site says that the theater became the Weston Opera House in 1893 and operated under that name until 1901. It was then purchased by the local Elks lodge and was renamed Elks Opera House. A major rebuilding was undertaken in 1902.
Originally located upstairs, the auditorium was moved to the ground floor, allowing a larger stage to be built. Upper floors were reconfigured for use by the lodge. Later Cahn guides list the Elks Opera House as a ground floor theater with 939 seats, 410 on the main floor, 195 in the balcony, 300 in the gallery and 34 in boxes. The architect for the rebuilding was A. G. Higgins. The rebuilt Opera House opened on December 11, 1902.
In 1954, the building was sold by the Elks to Evelyn Furman, who ran the theater until 1984, when operation was turned over to her daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and Bill Bland. The Blands sold the house to the City of Leadville in 2016. In 2017 the City granted a 50-year lease and a renewable 10-year operating agreement to the Tabor Opera House Preservation Foundation, who have begun presenting live events and are undertaking a multi-year renovation project.
The Grand Theatre is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The 1913-1914 Cahn guide lists the Grand Opera House as an upstairs theater with 500 seats. Issues of the local newspaper, The Progress, from around 1908-1910 call it Stallings' Opera House.
The new Illiopolis Theatre opened in 1951 was designed by the Decatur firm Burgener-Chastain & Associates (Harry J. Burgener and Homer L. Chastain) as noted in the August 6, 1951 issue of The Decatur Daily Review.
From 1945 until closing in 1963, the Illiopolis Theatre was operated by Ed and Louella Griesheim, who from 1959 on also operated a drive-in restaurant in Illiopolis, according to an article in the August 23, 1982 issue of the Decatur Herald and Review. The theater building was later converted into medical offices, but I’ve been unable to discover if it is still standing or, if so, what it now is used for.
The Opera House at Hopkinsville was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, with the cryptic notation “Box 280.” A mailing address, perhaps?
According to a history of Kentucky published in 1922, R. H. Holland retired in 1916 and ceased renting the Opera House for performances. It doesn’t say why. He still owned the place in 1922.
I don’t know if this link will work or not, due to the grotesque way Facebook is set up, but this Facebook post makes a pretty good argument that the Star Theatre was in a building at 104 W. Washington Street. There are some vintage photos. Real estate web sites say that the building there now was built in 1949. With this address Google street view defaults to the building around the corner on Lee Street, but that’s better than the default we’ve got now, which is Harrington Road out in the boondocks between Rockingham and Ellerbe.
A timeline of events in Tishomingo says that the rebuilt Thompson Theatre opened on July 20, 1939.
Boxoffice of September 18, 1978 said that Joe, Midge, and Jim King had sold their King Theatre in Tishomingo to Gary Gill.
The Westend Theatre was at 3312 W. Broadway.
This page at Sandusky History says that the original Star Theatre on Market Street opened in 1907. The two Stars were apparently under the same management.
This page at Sandusky History says that the second Star Theatre closed at the end of the silent movie era.
The October 16, 1909 issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Sandusky Theatre:
As the Columbus Avenue Star opened in 1914, the item in the May 8, 1909 issue of The Moving Picture World must pertain to the Market Street Star, which the item said had recently shown three reels of “The Great Wolf Hunt” for an admission of five cents. The July 10 issue of MPW says “[t]he Star Theater, Sandusky, Ohio, under management of Bumgartner & Franklin, has been closed for the Summer months.” The Star and other Sandusky movie houses are mentioned frequently in the MPW in 1909.
There is no Pine Street on the map of Oxford.
There was an earlier Gem in Oxford, per this item from the June 3, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World which says “Oxford, Neb. — J. B. Reed has purchased the Gem theater.”
The Bethel Theatre was listed in the 1951 FDY with 360 seats. A house called the Bethel Theatre is listed in the 1928 and 1929 FDYs, but no seating capacity is given. The house at 7406 Main might or might not have been the same theater updated and reopened. The south side wall of this building as seen in this photo has been painted, but is clearly old brick and looks like it was extended upward from a common wall it once shared with an adjacent building which has since been demolished. Evidence of a similar common wall can be seen at the front of the building on the north end. This building could well have housed the Bethel Theatre of 1829-29.
Here is a possible aka for the Marshall Theatre, from an item in the May 4, 1935 issue of Motion Picture Herald which says “FRANK MORGAN has been recently appointed skipper or the Mecca Theatre at Marshall, Oklahoma.” Marshall was an extraordinarily tiny town to have a movie theater at all (population 400 in 1928) so it’s very unlikely there was a second house there. The only movie house listed at Marshall in the 1928 FDY was called the Lyric Theatre (250 seats) which is another possible aka. The Marshall Theatre is listed in the 1951 FDY with 230 seats. The town then had a population of 382.
The October 27, 1917 issue of Motography said that the Electric Theatre in Falls City had reopened following remodeling.
The December 11, 1936 issue of Film Daily had this item:
As noted in my earlier comment, the Dunlap Theater was listed in Cahn guides at least as early as 1906.The March 8, 1916 issue of The American Contractor said that the new Town Hall at Pataskala had been designed by the Columbus architectural firm Rusk & Sheets (F. S. Rusk and Cree Sheets.) Photos of the Town Hall show a handsome Colonial Revival exterior. The official web site of the Sterling Theater gives the current seating capacity as 300.
This item appeared in the October 10, 1941 issue of Film Daily:
I’ve been unable to find any other mentions of the Elberta Theatre in the trade journals, but it is listed in FDY’s from 1943 through 1947. The 1948 FDY doesn’t list individual theaters, only circuits, and I can’t find the Elberta there. It does not appear in the individual theater listings in the 1949 Yearbook, which lists only the Strand for Clarksville. Oddly, the 1942 Yearbook lists a house called the “Riddle” which was probably a typo for the Riddell. Most likely the name change to Elberta wasn’t submitted to the FDY in time for inclusion in the 1942 edition.The tall structure in the background of the photo robboehm uploaded is a grain elevator still standing on Railroad Street. The view is south along Main Street, and the Aladdin theatre was at the northeast corner of Third Street. It has been demolished. Current Google street view.
The Monarch Theatre building is at 605 Cliff Avenue. Seating capacity was 375. It opened in 1949 and had closed by 1962, the year the building was converted into a bowling alley. It now houses a retail casual clothing store, Tony O’s Outfitters.
I noticed that the draft itself is dated 5/12/21, so is quite new. If it hasn’t been submitted to the NRHP yet, the authors would probably appreciate knowing that this building housed the Levon Theatre, since they appear to be unaware of that.
The draft of the NRHP application for the Enfield Historic District (PDF here) dates the building at 200 Whitfield Street to 1949, the year it appears in County tax records, and says that it was probably built as a movie theater, though it doesn’t mention the theater name. Interestingly, the document says that the Levon Theatre was in a building at 114 Whitfield Street which had been occupied by the Randolph Store in the 1930s and became the location of a law firm in 1948. The Levon must have moved to 200 Whitfield in 1948, and then the law firm took over the newly vacant space at 114.
This PDF of the draft of the NRHP application for the Enfield Historic District says that the Masonic Lodge building was erected in 1924-1925 and was designed by the Wilson, NC architectural firm Benton & Benton (Charles Collins Benton and Frank Whitaker Benton.) The style is Classic Revival, not Art Deco. I’ve been unable to find the name under which this theater operated, but it might be in a Film Daily Yearbook or two.
Several web sites say that the theater has been dark since shortly before WWII. This raises the question: When did it have two screens?
It appears that the Grand Theatre name was moved to a building at 111 Whitfield Street at some point. See my comment on this page.
The draft of the Enfield Historic District application form for the NRHP lists the extant building at 111-113 Whitfield Street as the Grand Theatre and describes it thus: “Constructed between 1915 and 1921, this two-story brick commercial building initially housed a moving picture theatre (later known as the Grand Theater) and a barber shop.” I’ve been unable to discover the opening name of this theater, but at some point it became the new location of the Grand, which was originally located in the former Opera House.
A PDF of the draft NRHP application can be downloaded from this link.
The hisotry page of the Tabor Opera House’s official web site says that the theater became the Weston Opera House in 1893 and operated under that name until 1901. It was then purchased by the local Elks lodge and was renamed Elks Opera House. A major rebuilding was undertaken in 1902.
Originally located upstairs, the auditorium was moved to the ground floor, allowing a larger stage to be built. Upper floors were reconfigured for use by the lodge. Later Cahn guides list the Elks Opera House as a ground floor theater with 939 seats, 410 on the main floor, 195 in the balcony, 300 in the gallery and 34 in boxes. The architect for the rebuilding was A. G. Higgins. The rebuilt Opera House opened on December 11, 1902.
In 1954, the building was sold by the Elks to Evelyn Furman, who ran the theater until 1984, when operation was turned over to her daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and Bill Bland. The Blands sold the house to the City of Leadville in 2016. In 2017 the City granted a 50-year lease and a renewable 10-year operating agreement to the Tabor Opera House Preservation Foundation, who have begun presenting live events and are undertaking a multi-year renovation project.
The Grand Theatre is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The 1913-1914 Cahn guide lists the Grand Opera House as an upstairs theater with 500 seats. Issues of the local newspaper, The Progress, from around 1908-1910 call it Stallings' Opera House.