Status needs to be listed as demolished. The 1909 Sanborn shows a 2-story tin front in the middle of the 100 block of W Chestnut on the south side (so an odd number). This is two wooden stores joined by one front with a central stair. The deeper east half is a bowling alley. By 1912, this space is shown as a ‘picture show’. Presuming the address to be correct, this was likely a forerunner of the Anatole.
The good news is that the chintzy ‘Showtime’ boxes went off to the dump by 2016, revealing the sides of the marquee again. They’re only a bit rusty after years of being covered. The upper story windows have been replaced by cheapo white plastic frames, which really don’t match the style. That ugly wooden ticket booth is history as well (although I wonder what was under the wood), and the doors moved to the center.
The Cinematour thread linked to by Joe is confusing. Konrad had the wrong address for the Casino (it was likely at 103 W North), and one of the earlier posters suggests the Orpheum and Florine were both in operation in 1946, along with a Roxy, which Konrad claims was built on the site of the Casino. The building at 103 W North was never demolished, although the location of 103 E North became a parking lot as far back as 2009 (and probably well before that).
Joe is right about the probable location. The May 1912 map shows a wooden theater building on this site. On the March 1906 map, there are some small wooden stores. The theater building runs the whole depth of the block, and has a deep stage at the rear. The entire building was tin clad, with an ornate front featuring a double-arched entry. The front wall of the lobby was concrete block (doubtless the stuff patterned to look like stone), and the ticket booth was in a bowed-out central portion. From the article above, it appears this building was replaced in 1921.
There is however, a problem with the Opera House ID. The 1906 map shows the opera house across the street, at 117. This building still exists, with an ugly windowless flat front from sometime post-WWII. That building appears at least as early as 1894. By 1912, it appears to have closed, and only the ground floor stores are noted. The structure appearing on the 1912 map is much less substantial. It is noted on the map only as ‘Moving Picture Show’, although the stage is noted as having scenery.
I could only find Cahn guides online for 1897 and 1905, and neither mention Flora at all.
Last movie mentioned was in 2018. A music studio is using part of the building. Last FB activity was summer 2019. I don’t think they show movies anymore.
The hotel survived until at least 1996 when it was destroyed for a parking lot, a foolish waste in a rapidly shrinking city with almost no businesses in this block. Although the Sanborn maps neglect to show it, the building had a very elaborate stone front.
I’m not sure exactly when this was demolished, but the hotel, which is part of the same parking lot today, was mentioned in a 1996 guide to the National Road (US 40).
It’s strange that the Sanborn surveyor wrote ‘Imp’ rather than Imperial. There was definitely room for the whole word. I’m disappointed that it wasn’t the Imp, which is much more fun.
The 1914 map shows a very deep stage, a deep horseshoe balcony extending all the way to that, and a long narrow central entry between a bookstore and a grocery. Apartments were on the second floor, and a dance hall occupied the third, which must have been miserable for the apartment dwellers.
This building has been demolished. There’s a cheap pre-fab business center on the site now. The 2007 streetview is the typical blurry mess, but it’s possible the VFW was the same building. The insurance maps show it as three stories, not two, but it could have been cut down.
Actually, looking at the picture of the Manos with the soldiers marching past, I think you can see the old hotel in the background. It looks like Kresge’s was content to slap a storefront on the ground floor and call it done.
The address is ridiculously wrong. Looking at one clear exterior shot, it seems that it was at 8-12 E Main between the currently extant building on the corner, and what looks like the old Mahaney/Exchange/Fuller hotel next door, which is also now a parking lot.
This has been demolished, and is now a parking lot. The hotel was built in 1891 as the Mahaney. Sometime between 1901 and 1907 it became the Exchange, but the 1914 map shows it as the Hotel Fuller. It was a 4-story brick structure filling about 1/3 of the lot, with a rear section filling in the rest. The rear section contained a dining room, and was narrower, presumably to allow light to reach those areas. The 1914 map shows a bar and office occupying most of the front of the ground floor, with only a narrow lobby. It’s unclear where the theater would have fit. I assume Kresge’s actually purchased the lot to demolish the hotel and build a store.
No, this is looking from the intersection of Beeson, so the hotel would have been on the left side of the street, behind the photographer. However, the Rex is visible as the brown 2-story building on the right, just before the large white-fronted department store.
The 2005 photo is not of the original building, which was a large square brick building of 1-2 stories with a peaked roof. It occupied the NE corner of W Peter St and Pittsburgh Rd. The entrance was off Peter, so presumably the address was not on Pittsburgh. As can be seen in the rather blurry main picture, there was a balcony which ran on three walls, right up to the stage.
If the 2005 picture was taken in Uniontown, then the original theater must have been destroyed in the fire, and smaller buildings constructed on the lot. Since that entire corner is now a parking lot, it’s hard to tell whether the ‘new’ Dixie faced Peter or Pittsburgh.
By the way, there is no Pittsburgh STREET, which is why the map is screwed up.
We stopped in Oak Grove so I could see this theater. The very friendly staff invited me in, and Mr. Holland (who is the mayor), showed me around. The movie was almost over, so I waited a few minutes and they let me roam around inside and take a bunch of pictures. The theater is very well cared for.
I suppose the stores could have operated while the theater built out. Otherwise, I would expect those spaces to have generic labels. At any rate, in 1921, there was no other building that was being used as a theater, so they must have done without for a while. It sounds like the old theater was relocated, not replaced. There was one building which has a hall on the 3rd floor on the 1909 map, but was remodeled in 1920. That might have been the location of either the Vaudeville, or Barney’s (or maybe they’re the same thing). It would be nice if there were a map from around 1915.
I figured it stayed open longer. I didn’t put that sentence about 1929 in. Usually I’m grateful for the added information, but here it’s wrong.
The July ‘21 map specifically labels it Barney’s. The interior, with the outline of the balcony, does have a ‘From Plans’ notation, but since the tenants of the storefronts are specifically labeled, they must have been extant. Even if we assume the building was incomplete, that’s nearly a year and a half before the article you found.
I’m not sure what’s up with the ‘Port’ stuff. There’s no evidence the name of the town was ever ‘Port Marion’. There is no ‘Port Marion’ anywhere in the world. People must have garbled the name. I doubt the opera house used that name.
Jane (no ’s’ on the maps at least) St, which had been renamed Railroad by 1921, does have a large concrete building at the corner with Freeling. In 1909, it is labeled ‘Skating Rink’, and in 1921 ‘Public Auditorium & Dance Hall’. I suppose it could have been the opera house.
I think it’s really misleading to list these as demolished just because the auditorium is gone. I don’t want anyone to miss seeing this because they think the building isn’t there anymore. You can almost never see the inside of these older theaters, and most of them were gutted long ago, even if they technically still have walls and a roof over the location of the seats/screen.
According to the 1991 NRHP listing, this was built in the ‘20s sometime and may have originally been called the Hippodrome. Michael Collins built the neighboring Hotel Collins in 1910, and this larger structure may have replaced a small wood-frame Hippodrome that operated previously. Although the NRHP listing says this is 128 S Maple, '136’ is clearly visible on the ticket booth. The auditorium was demolished long ago, and the lobby was being used to store junk by the public works department in 2012. The 2015 streetview shows it spruced up a bit.
Status needs to be listed as demolished. The 1909 Sanborn shows a 2-story tin front in the middle of the 100 block of W Chestnut on the south side (so an odd number). This is two wooden stores joined by one front with a central stair. The deeper east half is a bowling alley. By 1912, this space is shown as a ‘picture show’. Presuming the address to be correct, this was likely a forerunner of the Anatole.
The good news is that the chintzy ‘Showtime’ boxes went off to the dump by 2016, revealing the sides of the marquee again. They’re only a bit rusty after years of being covered. The upper story windows have been replaced by cheapo white plastic frames, which really don’t match the style. That ugly wooden ticket booth is history as well (although I wonder what was under the wood), and the doors moved to the center.
The Cinematour thread linked to by Joe is confusing. Konrad had the wrong address for the Casino (it was likely at 103 W North), and one of the earlier posters suggests the Orpheum and Florine were both in operation in 1946, along with a Roxy, which Konrad claims was built on the site of the Casino. The building at 103 W North was never demolished, although the location of 103 E North became a parking lot as far back as 2009 (and probably well before that).
Joe is right about the probable location. The May 1912 map shows a wooden theater building on this site. On the March 1906 map, there are some small wooden stores. The theater building runs the whole depth of the block, and has a deep stage at the rear. The entire building was tin clad, with an ornate front featuring a double-arched entry. The front wall of the lobby was concrete block (doubtless the stuff patterned to look like stone), and the ticket booth was in a bowed-out central portion. From the article above, it appears this building was replaced in 1921.
There is however, a problem with the Opera House ID. The 1906 map shows the opera house across the street, at 117. This building still exists, with an ugly windowless flat front from sometime post-WWII. That building appears at least as early as 1894. By 1912, it appears to have closed, and only the ground floor stores are noted. The structure appearing on the 1912 map is much less substantial. It is noted on the map only as ‘Moving Picture Show’, although the stage is noted as having scenery.
I could only find Cahn guides online for 1897 and 1905, and neither mention Flora at all.
Last movie mentioned was in 2018. A music studio is using part of the building. Last FB activity was summer 2019. I don’t think they show movies anymore.
The hotel survived until at least 1996 when it was destroyed for a parking lot, a foolish waste in a rapidly shrinking city with almost no businesses in this block. Although the Sanborn maps neglect to show it, the building had a very elaborate stone front.
I’m not sure exactly when this was demolished, but the hotel, which is part of the same parking lot today, was mentioned in a 1996 guide to the National Road (US 40).
It’s strange that the Sanborn surveyor wrote ‘Imp’ rather than Imperial. There was definitely room for the whole word. I’m disappointed that it wasn’t the Imp, which is much more fun.
Since the Plaza was demolished in 1938, this must be somewhere else.
The 1914 map shows a very deep stage, a deep horseshoe balcony extending all the way to that, and a long narrow central entry between a bookstore and a grocery. Apartments were on the second floor, and a dance hall occupied the third, which must have been miserable for the apartment dwellers.
This building has been demolished. There’s a cheap pre-fab business center on the site now. The 2007 streetview is the typical blurry mess, but it’s possible the VFW was the same building. The insurance maps show it as three stories, not two, but it could have been cut down.
Actually, looking at the picture of the Manos with the soldiers marching past, I think you can see the old hotel in the background. It looks like Kresge’s was content to slap a storefront on the ground floor and call it done.
The address is ridiculously wrong. Looking at one clear exterior shot, it seems that it was at 8-12 E Main between the currently extant building on the corner, and what looks like the old Mahaney/Exchange/Fuller hotel next door, which is also now a parking lot.
This has been demolished, and is now a parking lot. The hotel was built in 1891 as the Mahaney. Sometime between 1901 and 1907 it became the Exchange, but the 1914 map shows it as the Hotel Fuller. It was a 4-story brick structure filling about 1/3 of the lot, with a rear section filling in the rest. The rear section contained a dining room, and was narrower, presumably to allow light to reach those areas. The 1914 map shows a bar and office occupying most of the front of the ground floor, with only a narrow lobby. It’s unclear where the theater would have fit. I assume Kresge’s actually purchased the lot to demolish the hotel and build a store.
No, this is looking from the intersection of Beeson, so the hotel would have been on the left side of the street, behind the photographer. However, the Rex is visible as the brown 2-story building on the right, just before the large white-fronted department store.
The 2005 photo is not of the original building, which was a large square brick building of 1-2 stories with a peaked roof. It occupied the NE corner of W Peter St and Pittsburgh Rd. The entrance was off Peter, so presumably the address was not on Pittsburgh. As can be seen in the rather blurry main picture, there was a balcony which ran on three walls, right up to the stage.
If the 2005 picture was taken in Uniontown, then the original theater must have been destroyed in the fire, and smaller buildings constructed on the lot. Since that entire corner is now a parking lot, it’s hard to tell whether the ‘new’ Dixie faced Peter or Pittsburgh.
By the way, there is no Pittsburgh STREET, which is why the map is screwed up.
I think you meant 1930, when the movie came out.
We stopped in Oak Grove so I could see this theater. The very friendly staff invited me in, and Mr. Holland (who is the mayor), showed me around. The movie was almost over, so I waited a few minutes and they let me roam around inside and take a bunch of pictures. The theater is very well cared for.
I suppose the stores could have operated while the theater built out. Otherwise, I would expect those spaces to have generic labels. At any rate, in 1921, there was no other building that was being used as a theater, so they must have done without for a while. It sounds like the old theater was relocated, not replaced. There was one building which has a hall on the 3rd floor on the 1909 map, but was remodeled in 1920. That might have been the location of either the Vaudeville, or Barney’s (or maybe they’re the same thing). It would be nice if there were a map from around 1915.
I figured it stayed open longer. I didn’t put that sentence about 1929 in. Usually I’m grateful for the added information, but here it’s wrong.
The July ‘21 map specifically labels it Barney’s. The interior, with the outline of the balcony, does have a ‘From Plans’ notation, but since the tenants of the storefronts are specifically labeled, they must have been extant. Even if we assume the building was incomplete, that’s nearly a year and a half before the article you found.
I’m not sure what’s up with the ‘Port’ stuff. There’s no evidence the name of the town was ever ‘Port Marion’. There is no ‘Port Marion’ anywhere in the world. People must have garbled the name. I doubt the opera house used that name.
Jane (no ’s’ on the maps at least) St, which had been renamed Railroad by 1921, does have a large concrete building at the corner with Freeling. In 1909, it is labeled ‘Skating Rink’, and in 1921 ‘Public Auditorium & Dance Hall’. I suppose it could have been the opera house.
In 2012, this was a thrift store.
I think it’s really misleading to list these as demolished just because the auditorium is gone. I don’t want anyone to miss seeing this because they think the building isn’t there anymore. You can almost never see the inside of these older theaters, and most of them were gutted long ago, even if they technically still have walls and a roof over the location of the seats/screen.
I suggest 331 W Main as a possibility. Big arched windows on the second floor, obviously once had a vertical sign.
According to the 1991 NRHP listing, this was built in the ‘20s sometime and may have originally been called the Hippodrome. Michael Collins built the neighboring Hotel Collins in 1910, and this larger structure may have replaced a small wood-frame Hippodrome that operated previously. Although the NRHP listing says this is 128 S Maple, '136’ is clearly visible on the ticket booth. The auditorium was demolished long ago, and the lobby was being used to store junk by the public works department in 2012. The 2015 streetview shows it spruced up a bit.
Not sure when it got the cheapo marquee and the dull name, but it was still the Visulite in 1991, and still had the original marquee.