Hey, folks. I am new to this site … a Dayton native. I was too young to remember the Keith’s … but my parents mourned it’s passing for a long time.
We have watched all of the great Dayton movie-houses fall … even later (lesser) nice spots like the Dayton Mall 1.
When Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings premiered a few years back, I was stunned to find there wasn’t a single “big house” within a day’s drive to see it. I had planned to travel up to five hours to see it on a “real” screen (being such a fan of the books) but had to settle for a Showcase (National Amusements) wannabe.
The photo archives in the Dayton Room at the main library (actually it is no longer an actual “room”) probably have a good deal of photographic documentation of these theaters. Also, the NCR archives likely have a good bit.
I saw films at the Victory (now the re-born Victoria) as a kid, as well as at McCook’s before it was a porn-shack. We need to get the old “Elite” from Troy Street listed here. Here is a very nice link where you can read an entire book online about Dayton theaters:
Hey, folks. I am new to this site … a Dayton native. I was too young to remember the Keith’s … but my parents mourned it’s passing for a long time.
We have watched all of the great Dayton movie-houses fall … even later (lesser) nice spots like the Dayton Mall 1.
When Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings premiered a few years back, I was stunned to find there wasn’t a single “big house” within a day’s drive to see it. I had planned to travel up to five hours to see it on a “real” screen (being such a fan of the books) but had to settle for a Showcase (National Amusements) wannabe.
The photo archives in the Dayton Room at the main library (actually it is no longer an actual “room”) probably have a good deal of photographic documentation of these theaters. Also, the NCR archives likely have a good bit.
I saw films at the Victory (now the re-born Victoria) as a kid, as well as at McCook’s before it was a porn-shack. We need to get the old “Elite” from Troy Street listed here. Here is a very nice link where you can read an entire book online about Dayton theaters:
View link
Near as I can tell, this is pretty much an exhaustive work on the subject.
See ya!