The Oasis Theatre was either remodeled after 1950 into the Center Theatre or demolished and replaced by the Center, which was a Stewart & Everett Theatre. The Center most likely closed around 1968 when the Parkwood Cinema (AKA Parkwood Mall Triple) opened for business.
I’m going to try to straighten out the confusion. Nash Street runs from northwest to southeast through downtown Wilson; cross streets run northeast to southwest (Nash Street divides the cross streets as Northeast and West [actually Southwest] generally). Tarboro Street is the dividing point for Nash Street and the streets running parallel to Nash. As regarding Nash Street, southeast of Tarboro Street is referred to as East Nash Street. Northwest of Tarboro Street it gets confusing: no directions listed on street signs at Tarboro/Nash or Pine Street/Nash intersections. Northwest of Pine Street up to Atlantic Christian College Drive it depends on what side of the street the street sign is located: on the northeast side of Nash the signs say Nash St. NE, on the southwest side signs say Nash St. W. Very confusing for non-locals reading the maps; locals call Nash Street northwest of Tarboro Street “West Nash Street”. Therefore the Edna Boykin Center would be 108 West Nash Street and the Oasis Theatre would be 104 West Nash Street. 104 West Nash Street is currently occupied by the Thomas & Farris law firm (which annexed 106 West Nash into the 104 West Nash building). There is no longer a 124 West Nash Street; the buildings northwest of the Edna Boykin Center (108 West Nash) are 110, 112, parking lot, and 126 West Nash Street.
The building at 702 Arendell Street was a theater at one time, but was called the Morehead Theatre. It was built by Stewart & Everett circa 1954 to the same design as the Iwo Jima in Jacksonville NC and the Wilrik in Sanford NC. After a new Morehead Theatre (AKA Morehead Twin, listed on CT as Eastern Carolina Showcase Theater) opened at 1309 Arendell Street in 1966 the 702 Arendell theater either closed or was renamed, but it was not the City Theatre. The 702 Arendell theater became a skating rink in the 1970s and was later converted to retail (presently a church).
The Carmike Patriot 12 is located directly behind the Buffalo Wild Wings on Western Boulevard, northwest of the intersection of Western Blvd. and Henderson Drive. A TownePlace Suites hotel is next door to the Patriot 12 cinemas. Google Earth aerial photos taken November 24, 2012 show this theater still under construction, so it most likely opened in December 2012 at the earliest.
The television studio located at this site is new construction. The Buccaneer Movies 3 was demolished by 2005, after a bogus “church” was evicted from the former theater.
Blockbuster is long gone from this location. Bonefish Grill is now located on the site of the original Cardinal Theatre, I’m not sure if the restaurant is in the old theater building or if the old Cardinal Theatre/Blockbuster was demolished.
Apparently not all churches who take over old theaters take care of them…this photo reminds me of what the Colonial Theatre in Tarboro, NC looked like a few years ago, after a church moved in. The Imperial in Augusta got fixed up and it looks like Tarboro’s Colonial will also return to glory (the church in that theater moved out 3 years ago and restoration has been going on since).
Ah, the good old days when you could actually get a PEPSI at a movie theater. I don’t know about Augusta, Georgia, but up here in Eastern North Carolina (where Pepsi was invented) all theaters sell only COCA-COLA products…Cineplex Odeon started selling Coke in the former ABC/Plitt theaters in ENC (Cardinals in Jacksonville and Rocky Mount, Golden East 4 in Rocky Mount and the Plitt Quad in Greenville), then CARMIKE took over Stewart-Everett and Consolidated – kicking Pepsi out in the process. The last theater east of Raleigh selling Pepsi and Mountain Dew was New Bern’s Southgate 6 (now Bear Town 6)– the largest multiplex in Pepsi’s birthplace. I don’t know if Bear Town 6 is still selling Pepsi – last time I went there it was still the Southgate. Mike Rogers, thanks for posting these vintage theatre ads and photos – they remind me of moviegoing back in the 1970s before ABC/Plitt and S&E sold out; back when Greenville NC had two downtown theaters (ABC’s Pitt and S&E’s Park-the Pitt had the bigger screen and was higher-class than the Park or the S&E Plaza Cinema).
This is the only theater in Kinston that was built from the ground up as a multiplex. The Plaza and Mall Cinemas were originally single-screen theaters; the Plaza added a second auditorium to the original Trans-Lux theater while the Mall Cinema split its auditorium down the middle.
This was originally a Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema. It most likely opened in 1970, along with locations in Burlington, Charlotte, Greensboro and High Point. The Kinston Plaza Trans-Lux was the third shopping-center cinema in town, following the Park Theatre on North Queen Street (H. B. Meiselman, approximately 1951) and the Mall Cinema at Vernon Park Mall (Stewart & Everett, 1969). Trans-Lux’s use of 16mm equipment instead of conventional 35mm doomed their operation from the start; Trans-Lux abandoned the Kinston cinema by 1974. Stewart & Everett reopened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975; this theater may have been the only former Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema in North Carolina to never operate as a dedicated pornhouse (Kinston severely restricted when and/or where porn movies could be shown: either late-night weekend shows within city limits – Mall Cinema – or outside of the city limits – North 11 Drive-In).
The Mayberry Cinemas was never a United Artists theater. It was opened by the second incarnation of Litchfield Cinemas and was advertising in the Winston-Salem Journal in 1989-90 as a Litchfield theater, not UA. Regal bought the Mayberry in the mid-1990s along with the rest of the second Litchfield chain. This theater opened right after the first Litchfield chain was sold to UA in 1987.
The street name should be Goldsboro Street Southwest. Google Street View lists the address as 1808 Goldsboro Street Southwest, but 1798 may be closer to the actual address. US 301 was probably rerouted not long after this theater opened. The site is now at the rear of the White’s International truck dealership on the corner of Ward Boulevard and US 301 South (which bypassed Goldsboro Street – the old US 301).
Rocky Mount was apparently slow to embrace multiplex cinemas, as Tarboro got a three-screen cinema at Parkhill Mall in 1982. All of Rocky Mount’s operating indoor theaters in 1982 were twins. Rather odd of Plitt to keep the Cardinal a twin until 1985, as Plitt built the first quad cinema east of Raleigh in Greenville (Plitt Quad AKA Carolina East Center Cinemas) in 1980. The Cardinal eventually succumbed to triplexing and split its larger auditorium before Cineplex Odeon took over in 1987.
According to Google Earth (aerial view) the Berkeley Cinema Four has been demolished; Google street view still shows the abandoned theater on the site (Street view usually lags behind the aerial view by at least a year for Eastern North Carolina locations).
The Oasis Theatre was either remodeled after 1950 into the Center Theatre or demolished and replaced by the Center, which was a Stewart & Everett Theatre. The Center most likely closed around 1968 when the Parkwood Cinema (AKA Parkwood Mall Triple) opened for business.
I’m going to try to straighten out the confusion. Nash Street runs from northwest to southeast through downtown Wilson; cross streets run northeast to southwest (Nash Street divides the cross streets as Northeast and West [actually Southwest] generally). Tarboro Street is the dividing point for Nash Street and the streets running parallel to Nash. As regarding Nash Street, southeast of Tarboro Street is referred to as East Nash Street. Northwest of Tarboro Street it gets confusing: no directions listed on street signs at Tarboro/Nash or Pine Street/Nash intersections. Northwest of Pine Street up to Atlantic Christian College Drive it depends on what side of the street the street sign is located: on the northeast side of Nash the signs say Nash St. NE, on the southwest side signs say Nash St. W. Very confusing for non-locals reading the maps; locals call Nash Street northwest of Tarboro Street “West Nash Street”. Therefore the Edna Boykin Center would be 108 West Nash Street and the Oasis Theatre would be 104 West Nash Street. 104 West Nash Street is currently occupied by the Thomas & Farris law firm (which annexed 106 West Nash into the 104 West Nash building). There is no longer a 124 West Nash Street; the buildings northwest of the Edna Boykin Center (108 West Nash) are 110, 112, parking lot, and 126 West Nash Street.
This was the second Morehead Theatre, opened in 1966. The first Morehead Theatre (the 1954 theater) was at 702 Arendell Street.
The building at 702 Arendell Street was a theater at one time, but was called the Morehead Theatre. It was built by Stewart & Everett circa 1954 to the same design as the Iwo Jima in Jacksonville NC and the Wilrik in Sanford NC. After a new Morehead Theatre (AKA Morehead Twin, listed on CT as Eastern Carolina Showcase Theater) opened at 1309 Arendell Street in 1966 the 702 Arendell theater either closed or was renamed, but it was not the City Theatre. The 702 Arendell theater became a skating rink in the 1970s and was later converted to retail (presently a church).
The Carmike Patriot 12 is located directly behind the Buffalo Wild Wings on Western Boulevard, northwest of the intersection of Western Blvd. and Henderson Drive. A TownePlace Suites hotel is next door to the Patriot 12 cinemas. Google Earth aerial photos taken November 24, 2012 show this theater still under construction, so it most likely opened in December 2012 at the earliest.
The television studio located at this site is new construction. The Buccaneer Movies 3 was demolished by 2005, after a bogus “church” was evicted from the former theater.
Blockbuster is long gone from this location. Bonefish Grill is now located on the site of the original Cardinal Theatre, I’m not sure if the restaurant is in the old theater building or if the old Cardinal Theatre/Blockbuster was demolished.
I remember a similar ad to this run by the Pitt Theatre in Greenville, NC (also an ABC theater).
Apparently not all churches who take over old theaters take care of them…this photo reminds me of what the Colonial Theatre in Tarboro, NC looked like a few years ago, after a church moved in. The Imperial in Augusta got fixed up and it looks like Tarboro’s Colonial will also return to glory (the church in that theater moved out 3 years ago and restoration has been going on since).
Classy display….the theater I saw Snow White in back in the mid-1970s (Park Theatre, Kinston, NC) had no display other than the outside poster case.
They posted this photo twice….it is that good!
Ah, the good old days when you could actually get a PEPSI at a movie theater. I don’t know about Augusta, Georgia, but up here in Eastern North Carolina (where Pepsi was invented) all theaters sell only COCA-COLA products…Cineplex Odeon started selling Coke in the former ABC/Plitt theaters in ENC (Cardinals in Jacksonville and Rocky Mount, Golden East 4 in Rocky Mount and the Plitt Quad in Greenville), then CARMIKE took over Stewart-Everett and Consolidated – kicking Pepsi out in the process. The last theater east of Raleigh selling Pepsi and Mountain Dew was New Bern’s Southgate 6 (now Bear Town 6)– the largest multiplex in Pepsi’s birthplace. I don’t know if Bear Town 6 is still selling Pepsi – last time I went there it was still the Southgate. Mike Rogers, thanks for posting these vintage theatre ads and photos – they remind me of moviegoing back in the 1970s before ABC/Plitt and S&E sold out; back when Greenville NC had two downtown theaters (ABC’s Pitt and S&E’s Park-the Pitt had the bigger screen and was higher-class than the Park or the S&E Plaza Cinema).
This theater has not been demolished; it presently houses Manna Church.
This was a pornhouse from the late 1970s until closing.
Pope Air Force Base is now Pope Army Air Field.
This is the only theater in Kinston that was built from the ground up as a multiplex. The Plaza and Mall Cinemas were originally single-screen theaters; the Plaza added a second auditorium to the original Trans-Lux theater while the Mall Cinema split its auditorium down the middle.
This was originally a Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema. It most likely opened in 1970, along with locations in Burlington, Charlotte, Greensboro and High Point. The Kinston Plaza Trans-Lux was the third shopping-center cinema in town, following the Park Theatre on North Queen Street (H. B. Meiselman, approximately 1951) and the Mall Cinema at Vernon Park Mall (Stewart & Everett, 1969). Trans-Lux’s use of 16mm equipment instead of conventional 35mm doomed their operation from the start; Trans-Lux abandoned the Kinston cinema by 1974. Stewart & Everett reopened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975; this theater may have been the only former Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema in North Carolina to never operate as a dedicated pornhouse (Kinston severely restricted when and/or where porn movies could be shown: either late-night weekend shows within city limits – Mall Cinema – or outside of the city limits – North 11 Drive-In).
The Mayberry Cinemas was never a United Artists theater. It was opened by the second incarnation of Litchfield Cinemas and was advertising in the Winston-Salem Journal in 1989-90 as a Litchfield theater, not UA. Regal bought the Mayberry in the mid-1990s along with the rest of the second Litchfield chain. This theater opened right after the first Litchfield chain was sold to UA in 1987.
The street name should be Goldsboro Street Southwest. Google Street View lists the address as 1808 Goldsboro Street Southwest, but 1798 may be closer to the actual address. US 301 was probably rerouted not long after this theater opened. The site is now at the rear of the White’s International truck dealership on the corner of Ward Boulevard and US 301 South (which bypassed Goldsboro Street – the old US 301).
Rocky Mount was apparently slow to embrace multiplex cinemas, as Tarboro got a three-screen cinema at Parkhill Mall in 1982. All of Rocky Mount’s operating indoor theaters in 1982 were twins. Rather odd of Plitt to keep the Cardinal a twin until 1985, as Plitt built the first quad cinema east of Raleigh in Greenville (Plitt Quad AKA Carolina East Center Cinemas) in 1980. The Cardinal eventually succumbed to triplexing and split its larger auditorium before Cineplex Odeon took over in 1987.
Operated by Stewart & Everett in the 1970s.
According to Google Earth (aerial view) the Berkeley Cinema Four has been demolished; Google street view still shows the abandoned theater on the site (Street view usually lags behind the aerial view by at least a year for Eastern North Carolina locations).
This theater was first operated by Stewart & Everett as the Kendale Cinema 1 & 2.
The site of the Buccaneer Movies 3 is now occupied by the new main studio of WITN-TV Channel 7, the local NBC affiliate.
This photo belongs under the Ansonia Theatre listing.