Boxoffice of March 16, 1970 said that a farewell party would be held at the Miller Theatre on March 18, as a benefit for the local art museum. Organist Gaylord Carter would perform on the Miller’s Wurlitzer, which had been restored for the occasion by members of the Theater Organ Club. National General Corp. were the last operators of the Miller, and would soon open the suburban Mall Cinema as a replacement for the 1922 downtown house.
Andrew J. Burin of Youngstown, Ohio, designed the Gateway Cinema. Burin was the chief architect for William M. Cafaro & Associates, also of Youngstown, developers of the Gateway Plaza shopping center.
The March 16, 1970 issue of Boxoffice had a brief item saying that the Square Amusement Company of New York had announced that the Plaza Theatre in Bayonne had been shuttered and would not operate as a movie theater again.
The October 11, 1911 issue of Harvard Alumni Bulletin said that James R. Stewart, class of 1905, and Robert W. Stewart, class of 1908, had established their architectural offices in the Bell Block, Cincinnati.
Here is the official web site of the State Theatre. The house is currently not showing movies due to Ohio’s pandemic lockdown, but since March 17 they have been serving food for takeout and delivery. The State is a splendid asset for a small town like London, and I hope they can get through this difficult time and will soon be running movies again.
Given the fact that it had opened by early 1916, and that the Sanborn map shows different buildings on its site in 1914, the Fayette Theatre in its two-story building was most likely this project noted in the February 27, 1915 issue of The American contractor:
“Celina, O.—Motion Picture Theater, Store & Apt. Bldg.: 2 sty. & bas. 80x82. Archt. B. F. Matthews, 420 Opera House bldg., Lima, O. Owner Otto Ott, Celina. Architect will take bids next week.”
Benjamin F. Mathews (1854-1916) was one of Lima’s prominent architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The January 22, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World ran a letter from E. E. Bair, manager and operator, Fayette theater, Celina, Ohio, in which he says he is the “… manager and operator of a brand new show house seating 220.”
IMDb says the Gary Cooper movie Distant Drums was released in the U.S. on December 29, 1951, so this photo most likely dates from 1952. It looks like there is some scaffolding on the front of the old Texas Theatre building a few doors up the block. Most likely the Texas closed when the Uptown opened in 1950.
This photo probably dates from 1951, as the lead movie on the marquee, Gasoline Alley, was released early that year. The bottom half of the double bill, Across the Sierra was a re-release, dating from 1941.
Randy A. Carlisle: The photos we have definitely show two different buildings. As we have a photo of the Texas dating from 1946 and another with a 1948 movie on the marquee, it’s obvious that some sort of mistake has been made in the theater descriptions. The name Texas Theatre shows up in the local paper all through the 1930s and into the 1940s, but I haven’t found the name Texan Theatre in it. Neither have I found any articles about a fire in 1943, only the one article about the reopening after the fire in 1931.
The Rosedale was one of three houses listed at Chambersburg in the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory. The other two were the New Theatre and the Star Theatre. The Orpheum might not have opened early enough in 1914 to be included in the Directory. The Star, at 147 E. Market Street (now Lincoln Way) was in operation by 1913 and was open at least as late as the end of 1918, when it was ordered closed for a week for having violated the restrictions on allowing minor children to attend movies during the influenza pandemic.
J. S. Walker of the Texas Theatre, Grand Prairie, was a frequent contributor of capsule movie reviews to various theater industry trade journals as early as March, 1926.
Items from the Grand Prairie Daily News from January through early April, 1931 reveal that the Texas Theatre suffered a major fire early that year and was “practically rebuilt,” reopening at the end of March. J. S. Walker was still operating the Texas at least as late as 1940.
This house might have been the “New Theater” at Danbury to which Western Theater Supply had recently sold “…projectors, lamps, sound, screen and carpet….” according to an item in The Film Daily of April 11, 1941.
Danbury also once had a house called the Danby Theatre, mentioned in the June 23, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Times.
This rather muddled paragraph from a history of Danbury I found online might be about the Empress Theatre, but it’s hard to say for sure:
“Opera House Movies: Mr. C.E. Johnson had movies in the Opera House, but he wanted out by 1932. He sold the movie equipment to Phillip Papich of Madrid, IA. Mr. Papich made a few minor changes and operated the business strictly on movies. He found he was losing money, so he sold out to Irving Keller. Irving, too, lost money. These two men were still showing silent movies. Keller closed the doors. The Opera board met in January 1931. Through the efforts of M.J. Nathan, a new manager, the Opera House was remodeled into a modern movie house with a slightly inclined floor, a new entrance, new lighting, and the installation of Western Electric Talking Picture equipment. Talking pictures were invented in 1928. The new theatre was called the Danbury Theatre. Mr. Nathan then ran the theater a number of years with good financial returns. They sold the theatre to Carl Ortner, but the Depression years were approaching, and the people were beginning to feel hard up, so in a short time Carl sold the movie house again. It had folded by 1944 and was not able to be used for much other than a theatre with the slanting floors.”
At one time, Ropesville had at least two theaters in operation. The May 19, 1936 issue of The Film Daily said “ROPESVILLE— Palace
& Princess, transferred to R. E. Griffith Thea. Co.”
Boxofficeof September 2, 1950, had a brief item datelined Ropesville saying that “[t]he Ropes Theatre, damaged by a recent windstorm, is being reconstructed.” The Ropes Theatre was still in operation in 1952, when the “San Antonio” column of the October 11 issue of Boxoffice noted that its owner, Estes Burgamy, had recently been in town to book Spanish language pictures for his theaters in Ropesville and New Home. I haven’t been able to discover if the Ropes and the Lariat were the same house, but given how small Ropesville was it seems unlikely it would have supported two theaters as late as the early 1950s.
One early theater in Ropesville was called the Wallace, built in 1923 by 22-year old Wallace Blankenship, who would later expand his business into the large regional chain, Wallace Theatres, operating 30 houses throughout west Texas. A history of Wallace Theatres in Boxoffice of August 24, 1957, says that Blankenship closed the Ropesville house in late 1924 and moved to the new town of Levelland, where he opened a new Wallace Theatre in 1925, but the Ropesville house was later reopened for a while, though it doesn’t say for how long, or what ultimately became of it.
50sSNIPES: The New Era was one of several theaters to operate in Columbus during the early days of the movies. In addition to the New Era and the longer-lived Orpheum and Crump’s Theatre, the town had short-lived houses called the Nicklo, the Lyric, the Palace, the Airdome, and the Theatorium. The Nicklo (operating in 1907) and the Palace (listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory were both located in the Belvedere Block (home of the Belvedere Hotel) and might have been the same theater operating under different names, but the others all appear to have been separate houses.
The Gem Theatre at Greencastle was listed in the 1912-1913 Cahn guide as a ground floor house with 430 seats. The tiny stage was only 26 from the footlights to the back wall, with a six foot apron, and 28 feet between the side walls.
A poster from the State Theatre in Greencastle, advertising the 1946 movie The Bride Wore Boots, was for sale on Worthpoint, and the description included the line “[t]his was originally the Gem Theater built around 1912 at Hotel McLaughlin and then changed to the State Theater in the 1940’s.”
Other sources indicate that the McLaughlin Hotel was built in 1904, and the Gem Theatre was part of an addition built in 1911. H. W. McLaughlin’s intention to build a theater at Greencastle was noted in the April, 1911 issue of Motography.
The Auditorium is listed in the 1905-1906 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide. It is listed as a ground floor house with 1,000 seats, but there is no breakdown of seating by floor. The stage was 60 feet between side walls and 35 feet from the footlights to the back wall, with a proscenium 32 feet wide, so a decent size for road show productions.
10721 Lincoln Highway is the address of the Van Wert Cinemas, the modern multiplex in an outlying neighborhood. The Van Wert Theatre was at 147 E. Main Street, aka 147 Lincoln Highway. Google street view.
The August 22, 1935 issue of the Van Wert Daily Bulletin said that Schine’s Van Wert Theatre, at the corner of Main and Market streets, was in the final stages of construction. The opening was expected to take place in early Septmeber. Schine were also taking over the lease on the Strand Theatre, which would be closed for remodeling after the new house had opened.
More city directories are now available, and a house called the Union Square Theatre is listed at this address in 1911, though not in 1910. 1911 was the first year L.A. directories listed Moving Picture Theatres as a separate category. It’s likely that the Union Square opened in 1910, in time to be included in the 1911 directory, which probably went to press in late 1910. It’s interesting that the successor house built in 1921 eventually reverted to this theater’s original name.
Boxoffice of March 16, 1970 said that a farewell party would be held at the Miller Theatre on March 18, as a benefit for the local art museum. Organist Gaylord Carter would perform on the Miller’s Wurlitzer, which had been restored for the occasion by members of the Theater Organ Club. National General Corp. were the last operators of the Miller, and would soon open the suburban Mall Cinema as a replacement for the 1922 downtown house.
Andrew J. Burin of Youngstown, Ohio, designed the Gateway Cinema. Burin was the chief architect for William M. Cafaro & Associates, also of Youngstown, developers of the Gateway Plaza shopping center.
The March 16, 1970 issue of Boxoffice had a brief item saying that the Square Amusement Company of New York had announced that the Plaza Theatre in Bayonne had been shuttered and would not operate as a movie theater again.
The October 11, 1911 issue of Harvard Alumni Bulletin said that James R. Stewart, class of 1905, and Robert W. Stewart, class of 1908, had established their architectural offices in the Bell Block, Cincinnati.
Here is the official web site of the State Theatre. The house is currently not showing movies due to Ohio’s pandemic lockdown, but since March 17 they have been serving food for takeout and delivery. The State is a splendid asset for a small town like London, and I hope they can get through this difficult time and will soon be running movies again.
Given the fact that it had opened by early 1916, and that the Sanborn map shows different buildings on its site in 1914, the Fayette Theatre in its two-story building was most likely this project noted in the February 27, 1915 issue of The American contractor:
Benjamin F. Mathews (1854-1916) was one of Lima’s prominent architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The January 22, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World ran a letter from E. E. Bair, manager and operator, Fayette theater, Celina, Ohio, in which he says he is the “… manager and operator of a brand new show house seating 220.”
The Uptown’s web site says the house opened on March 17, 1950.
IMDb says the Gary Cooper movie Distant Drums was released in the U.S. on December 29, 1951, so this photo most likely dates from 1952. It looks like there is some scaffolding on the front of the old Texas Theatre building a few doors up the block. Most likely the Texas closed when the Uptown opened in 1950.
This photo probably dates from 1951, as the lead movie on the marquee, Gasoline Alley, was released early that year. The bottom half of the double bill, Across the Sierra was a re-release, dating from 1941.
Randy A. Carlisle: The photos we have definitely show two different buildings. As we have a photo of the Texas dating from 1946 and another with a 1948 movie on the marquee, it’s obvious that some sort of mistake has been made in the theater descriptions. The name Texas Theatre shows up in the local paper all through the 1930s and into the 1940s, but I haven’t found the name Texan Theatre in it. Neither have I found any articles about a fire in 1943, only the one article about the reopening after the fire in 1931.
The Rosedale was one of three houses listed at Chambersburg in the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory. The other two were the New Theatre and the Star Theatre. The Orpheum might not have opened early enough in 1914 to be included in the Directory. The Star, at 147 E. Market Street (now Lincoln Way) was in operation by 1913 and was open at least as late as the end of 1918, when it was ordered closed for a week for having violated the restrictions on allowing minor children to attend movies during the influenza pandemic.
Boxoffice of November 27, 1948, said that construction had begun on the Pictureland Theatre in Mill Creek.
Boxoffice of November 27, 1948 said that the Linda Theatre in Akron had opened on November 18.
J. S. Walker of the Texas Theatre, Grand Prairie, was a frequent contributor of capsule movie reviews to various theater industry trade journals as early as March, 1926.
Items from the Grand Prairie Daily News from January through early April, 1931 reveal that the Texas Theatre suffered a major fire early that year and was “practically rebuilt,” reopening at the end of March. J. S. Walker was still operating the Texas at least as late as 1940.
This house might have been the “New Theater” at Danbury to which Western Theater Supply had recently sold “…projectors, lamps, sound, screen and carpet….” according to an item in The Film Daily of April 11, 1941.
Danbury also once had a house called the Danby Theatre, mentioned in the June 23, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Times.
This rather muddled paragraph from a history of Danbury I found online might be about the Empress Theatre, but it’s hard to say for sure:
At one time, Ropesville had at least two theaters in operation. The May 19, 1936 issue of The Film Daily said “ROPESVILLE— Palace & Princess, transferred to R. E. Griffith Thea. Co.”
Boxofficeof September 2, 1950, had a brief item datelined Ropesville saying that “[t]he Ropes Theatre, damaged by a recent windstorm, is being reconstructed.” The Ropes Theatre was still in operation in 1952, when the “San Antonio” column of the October 11 issue of Boxoffice noted that its owner, Estes Burgamy, had recently been in town to book Spanish language pictures for his theaters in Ropesville and New Home. I haven’t been able to discover if the Ropes and the Lariat were the same house, but given how small Ropesville was it seems unlikely it would have supported two theaters as late as the early 1950s.
One early theater in Ropesville was called the Wallace, built in 1923 by 22-year old Wallace Blankenship, who would later expand his business into the large regional chain, Wallace Theatres, operating 30 houses throughout west Texas. A history of Wallace Theatres in Boxoffice of August 24, 1957, says that Blankenship closed the Ropesville house in late 1924 and moved to the new town of Levelland, where he opened a new Wallace Theatre in 1925, but the Ropesville house was later reopened for a while, though it doesn’t say for how long, or what ultimately became of it.
The recent opening of the new Forest Theater, replacing the burned house, was noted in Boxoffice of September 2, 1950.
50sSNIPES: The New Era was one of several theaters to operate in Columbus during the early days of the movies. In addition to the New Era and the longer-lived Orpheum and Crump’s Theatre, the town had short-lived houses called the Nicklo, the Lyric, the Palace, the Airdome, and the Theatorium. The Nicklo (operating in 1907) and the Palace (listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory were both located in the Belvedere Block (home of the Belvedere Hotel) and might have been the same theater operating under different names, but the others all appear to have been separate houses.
The Gem Theatre at Greencastle was listed in the 1912-1913 Cahn guide as a ground floor house with 430 seats. The tiny stage was only 26 from the footlights to the back wall, with a six foot apron, and 28 feet between the side walls.
A poster from the State Theatre in Greencastle, advertising the 1946 movie The Bride Wore Boots, was for sale on Worthpoint, and the description included the line “[t]his was originally the Gem Theater built around 1912 at Hotel McLaughlin and then changed to the State Theater in the 1940’s.”
Other sources indicate that the McLaughlin Hotel was built in 1904, and the Gem Theatre was part of an addition built in 1911. H. W. McLaughlin’s intention to build a theater at Greencastle was noted in the April, 1911 issue of Motography.
The Auditorium is listed in the 1905-1906 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide. It is listed as a ground floor house with 1,000 seats, but there is no breakdown of seating by floor. The stage was 60 feet between side walls and 35 feet from the footlights to the back wall, with a proscenium 32 feet wide, so a decent size for road show productions.
10721 Lincoln Highway is the address of the Van Wert Cinemas, the modern multiplex in an outlying neighborhood. The Van Wert Theatre was at 147 E. Main Street, aka 147 Lincoln Highway. Google street view.
The August 22, 1935 issue of the Van Wert Daily Bulletin said that Schine’s Van Wert Theatre, at the corner of Main and Market streets, was in the final stages of construction. The opening was expected to take place in early Septmeber. Schine were also taking over the lease on the Strand Theatre, which would be closed for remodeling after the new house had opened.
More city directories are now available, and a house called the Union Square Theatre is listed at this address in 1911, though not in 1910. 1911 was the first year L.A. directories listed Moving Picture Theatres as a separate category. It’s likely that the Union Square opened in 1910, in time to be included in the 1911 directory, which probably went to press in late 1910. It’s interesting that the successor house built in 1921 eventually reverted to this theater’s original name.