This was operated by Mid-State Theatres. I saw ‘March of the Penguins’ here, which must have been just before it closed. They were not very friendly, and wouldn’t let me bring my camera in. I had to run back and lock it in the trunk, and missed getting the marquee lit up. The theater had several ‘loveseat’ double seats. As of a year or so ago, it was still in pretty good shape. It looked like they’d tried running a snack bar out of the lobby for a while.
I didn’t expect to find a Sanborn for such a dinky town, but there were several. I am almost positive this was at about 2986 Main, which is now a parking lot for the fire station. The odd thing is that this building, which definitely matches the plan of the Liberty from the photo, is not shown as a theater on the 1923 map. There is a theater in a one story building to the east.
The address would have been something between 745 and 769. 751 might work. I’m not sure why the numbers jump up so much. It’s the vacant lot between the post office and the bar. I’ve added an old photo and the Sanborn view.
The Sherkel Opera House appears on the 1924 map. It does not appear on the previous map from 1910. I’ve added an old photo (with the name spelled wrong in the caption), and the map view. Correct address was 812. 810 and 814 were storefronts in the building. This was demolished many years ago, and there’s now a crummy little office building on the site. It uses an 808 address.
This has definitely been demolished, likely many years ago. Most of downtown is gone. It’s hard to say where it was. I found an old photo that looks like it might have been across from a gas station. The name had changed from Liberty to Madera by the early ‘40s. It was run by Mid-State Theatres.
The 1924 map shows the theater as a very basic wooden box that is flush with the house to the left. According to the website, there was a fire in the ‘30s, and it was remodeled, which seems to have drawn the front of the building back from the street. Sounds like it may have closed in the late '70s, and then become a live theater.
Not showing movies, but it is still open. Repainted with darker trim. The website is: https://www.startheatrepa.com/ The 1904 date is incorrect, as this theater does not show up on the 1905 or 1910 map. 1911 makes sense, and is the date given on the website. The theater does appear on the 1924 map.
Thanks for the info. Since it got removed when the entry was edited, this building was constructed sometime after 1903. It seems that it was not built to be a theater, since the Theatorium moved into it.
I think we can call this demolished. It appears that some of the outer walls on the ground floor survived, but the facade is new. It was just an ugly flat fronted box with fake colonial touches. The oil company has been gone for many years, and the front has been remodeled again. The word ‘street’ is misspelled in the address.
This was a very old building. It appears on the first map of town, from 1887. It was originally known as Clark’s Hall, and has that name through the 1903 map. The 1905 Cahn guide calls it the Emporium Opera House, and gives a capacity of 800. It appears as an opera house up to the 1925 map. It’s not clear when movies began to be shown.
The February 1938 map shows it as a movie theater, and shows that the entire rear portion, which held the stage and scenery, has been removed. Before the new front was added, this was a very basic one story wooden box. It must have been fairly tall, since it had a balcony, but no height is shown on any map.
I would bet that the airdome was the nicer of the two unidentified ones. That crummy little place in the alley doesn’t seem like a professional operation.
That certainly fits with the dates of the maps. Could have begun as the Ozark, and become the Gem. As we know, there are often a lot of name changes. I didn’t have any information, but Ken often helps with an ID when I find one of these.
If it were possible, we should find every ‘contribution’ by this user and trash them. They are the worst. Every entry has made up streets, the wrong building, bad dates, etc.
I suppose this could have later become the Lyric, but there are other candidates. It would be nice if the 1923 map was available online. Should be by now, but the LoC hasn’t scanned it.
Address is wrong, there is no 160. Correct address is 128, although historically the address was 126, with 124 and 128 being small stores beside the entry.
Now a Mexican restaurant, with a tacky fake antique dryvit facade. The building is very old, appearing on the first map of town, from 1886. Still a restaurant on the 1940 map.
This may have been damaged by a tornado in May of ‘24. If anyone can confirm the building is still standing, it would be appreciated.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Sep 6, 2024 at 5:24 am
I do not think this was the opera house. There was one on the second floor of a building in downtown, and still operating on the 1914 map. I will add that.
This was operated by Mid-State Theatres. I saw ‘March of the Penguins’ here, which must have been just before it closed. They were not very friendly, and wouldn’t let me bring my camera in. I had to run back and lock it in the trunk, and missed getting the marquee lit up. The theater had several ‘loveseat’ double seats. As of a year or so ago, it was still in pretty good shape. It looked like they’d tried running a snack bar out of the lobby for a while.
Note that it was apparently operated by Mid-State Theatres in 1944.
I didn’t expect to find a Sanborn for such a dinky town, but there were several. I am almost positive this was at about 2986 Main, which is now a parking lot for the fire station. The odd thing is that this building, which definitely matches the plan of the Liberty from the photo, is not shown as a theater on the 1923 map. There is a theater in a one story building to the east.
Sorry, the picture is most likely from 1944.
This was operated by Mid-State Theatres in the 1940s, at least.
The address would have been something between 745 and 769. 751 might work. I’m not sure why the numbers jump up so much. It’s the vacant lot between the post office and the bar. I’ve added an old photo and the Sanborn view.
The Sherkel Opera House appears on the 1924 map. It does not appear on the previous map from 1910. I’ve added an old photo (with the name spelled wrong in the caption), and the map view. Correct address was 812. 810 and 814 were storefronts in the building. This was demolished many years ago, and there’s now a crummy little office building on the site. It uses an 808 address.
From the ads, this definitely stayed longer than 30 years. I’ve added a small photo of the theater.
This has definitely been demolished, likely many years ago. Most of downtown is gone. It’s hard to say where it was. I found an old photo that looks like it might have been across from a gas station. The name had changed from Liberty to Madera by the early ‘40s. It was run by Mid-State Theatres.
The 1924 map shows the theater as a very basic wooden box that is flush with the house to the left. According to the website, there was a fire in the ‘30s, and it was remodeled, which seems to have drawn the front of the building back from the street. Sounds like it may have closed in the late '70s, and then become a live theater.
Not showing movies, but it is still open. Repainted with darker trim. The website is: https://www.startheatrepa.com/ The 1904 date is incorrect, as this theater does not show up on the 1905 or 1910 map. 1911 makes sense, and is the date given on the website. The theater does appear on the 1924 map.
Thanks for the info. Since it got removed when the entry was edited, this building was constructed sometime after 1903. It seems that it was not built to be a theater, since the Theatorium moved into it.
This needs to be listed as demolished. The building on this site is a replacement from the late ‘30s or early '40s.
I think we can call this demolished. It appears that some of the outer walls on the ground floor survived, but the facade is new. It was just an ugly flat fronted box with fake colonial touches. The oil company has been gone for many years, and the front has been remodeled again. The word ‘street’ is misspelled in the address.
This was a very old building. It appears on the first map of town, from 1887. It was originally known as Clark’s Hall, and has that name through the 1903 map. The 1905 Cahn guide calls it the Emporium Opera House, and gives a capacity of 800. It appears as an opera house up to the 1925 map. It’s not clear when movies began to be shown.
The February 1938 map shows it as a movie theater, and shows that the entire rear portion, which held the stage and scenery, has been removed. Before the new front was added, this was a very basic one story wooden box. It must have been fairly tall, since it had a balcony, but no height is shown on any map.
I would bet that the airdome was the nicer of the two unidentified ones. That crummy little place in the alley doesn’t seem like a professional operation.
That certainly fits with the dates of the maps. Could have begun as the Ozark, and become the Gem. As we know, there are often a lot of name changes. I didn’t have any information, but Ken often helps with an ID when I find one of these.
If it were possible, we should find every ‘contribution’ by this user and trash them. They are the worst. Every entry has made up streets, the wrong building, bad dates, etc.
I suppose this could have later become the Lyric, but there are other candidates. It would be nice if the 1923 map was available online. Should be by now, but the LoC hasn’t scanned it.
That repulsive wood siding was removed around 2018, and a tile front was either revealed or applied.
Address is wrong, there is no 160. Correct address is 128, although historically the address was 126, with 124 and 128 being small stores beside the entry.
Now a Mexican restaurant, with a tacky fake antique dryvit facade. The building is very old, appearing on the first map of town, from 1886. Still a restaurant on the 1940 map.
I’ve added a photo from my visit years ago.
This may have been damaged by a tornado in May of ‘24. If anyone can confirm the building is still standing, it would be appreciated.
I do not think this was the opera house. There was one on the second floor of a building in downtown, and still operating on the 1914 map. I will add that.