The Laurel was a beautiful old theatre. When I was assigned to NSA at Fort Meade, we lived in Laurel, one block over from the theatre. I used to go every Wednesday night (pictures changed on Wed). I saw The Godfather there and I saw my first X rated movie there. I worked there part time in 1972 and 1973. The owner was Donald Richie, admission was one dollar. The screen was 20 x 40 and had footlights that shined on the curtain before the movie. The screen at some time was moved to the front of the stage and the stage was littered with old advertising from Sidney Lust theatres. The seats were Griggs push backs and the seats in the balcony were covered in Velour frabic and looked brand new. The projection booth had another room behind it that had a couch and chairs in it. The projectors were Simplex. It had 4 glass and wood front doors. The rear of the theatre had a door way up high and in the winter the homeless would climb up there to stay warm. They used the curtain with every movie. When I was discharged from the Navy I came back to Cairo GA. and reopened the closed Zebulon theatre and ran it for 27 years. The front of the Laurel had virolite, but when it started falling off it was replaced with a rock and concrete mixture. After I left, I subscribed to the Laurel newspaper and it was saddening when the paper had the story about its closing. I remember Mr. Prior as he would always hold the doors open when the movie was over. The Laurel Cinema was located in the Laurel Shopping Center. I only saw one movie there and it had a large stage. I also remember the Laurel Drive In theatre but never went there. I done a google search a few weeks ago and I could see the hole in the theatre roof and the only area of the apartment house we lived in was now a vacant lot. It is a shame no one was able to keep it in repair.
The Pine Theatre was across the railroad tracks from the Park Theatre. It has been used for years as a lawyers office, but the façade still looks like a theatre façade. Have not been able to locate any pictures as a theatre.
The Moultrie Twin was located in the Sunset Shopping Center. It closed when a new 6 screen multiplex was built. It was owned by Georgia Theatre Company along with the Colquitt theatre downtown and the Sunset Drive In. Georgia Theatre Company owns the new Cinema Six.
The Gateway opened in 1972 as a single screen rocking chair theatre by Nat M Williams, Jr. (Interstate Enterprises). In the eighties it was sold to Georgia Theatre Company, along with the Hiwa Drive In, and two more auditoriums were added making it a triple. Georgia Theatre Company later sold out to United Artists Theatres. Eventually United Artist sold out and Georgia Theatre Company II was formed and bought the theatres back. Four more auditoriums were added in the nineties. The theatre converted to digital in 2009.
This theatre was a black patronage theatre owned by Interstate Enterprises. It closed in the late seventies. An effort was made to try and restore the theatre, but engineering studies showed that the east wall was not salvagable and the building demolished.
This building is not the Perkins Opera House. This building was located on the east side of the courthouse on Highway 90 and is still standing and I believe it is used as the Masonic Lodge meeting hall. The Perkins Opera House is on the West side of the courthouse on Highway 90. It is located on the 2nd floor of the Perkins building and is currently being used as a performing arts theatre. At one time for a short period of time it was used as a movie theatre.
This theatre was built as a triple by Sidney Pink. It was later operated by Cobb theatres, Dickenson theatres and Starnet Cinemas. Under Starnet, it added 3 more screen making it a sixplex. It appeared to be built as cheaply as possible. The rear exits for the middle auditorium opened into auditoriums 1 and 3. The renovation that added the 3 other screens improved the looks of the theatre. It has sat empty for several years now in a shopping center. Bainbridge is a fairly good size town, but has never been a movie town.
The Ritz theatre still stands as a retail store. It was once the Diana Shops. The stage doors remain in the rear with the sign RITZ painted above them.
A few years ago I was traveling through Waycross and stopped at the Ritz and went it. It was being rebuilt on the inside as the roof had collapsed unexpected. The auditorium was being retrofitted for stadium seating. The gentleman that was in charge told me about the theatre and also gave me instructions on how to get into the old Lyric theatre around the corner (he worked for the police department). Took his advice but was unable to succeed in geting into the building.
I was given the opportunity to tour this old theatre when the proposed renovation was planned. It was a shame to see such a magnificant building in the shape it was in. I wrote a story about the theatre tour and if anyone would like to read it, please send me a request at . A few of the orchestra seats remained and all of the balcony seats remained. Odd thing I noticed about this theatre was that the restrooms were on the mezannine level, I found not on the main floor. Went down under the stage and could look up through the open stage floor and see the electric hub. Stage timbers were handing down. There was no water in the area so the drains must still work. Could not locate a heating plant but i know there had to be one as the building had a chimney.
The Dunn Drive In Theatre opened in 1950 as was part of Dunn Family Theatres (3 brothers and 2 sisters). It closed in 1978. The screen tower housed a shop and office. It was torn down and replaced with a resturant, which is now closed. The projection booth/concession stand was converted into a sports bar, which is also now closed. All that remains is the lone ticket booth. After R.H. Dunn passed in 1977, his son took over and it did not last long. I done the movie bookings after Mr. Dunn died. I have a picture of the Dunn Drive In and the Camilla theatre will I will post shortly.
After looking closely at the pictures I took, orbs (aka spirits) appeared in the pictures of the auditorium, but not in the pictures I took of the lobby and stairs. Do you suppose I had company that day?
Stopped by the old Lyric in October, 2013. A front door was unlocked. Propped door open to get a little light in because I did not have a flashlight. Area between the front doors and the auditorium wall was only about 6 feet wide. Lots of derbis on the floor. Everything too dark to see around, but found auditorim entrance. Could see stage as light was coming in from some where, but all the side doors were closed. Stage looked very large. Took pictures with flash which turned out pretty good. Did not look like the auditorium had a lot of fallen stuff in it. Balcony stairway was littered and could not see to got up them. Kept hearing noises like curtains blowing in the wind, but saw no curtains. Will return again and will have a flashlight.
The theatre shown in the pictures is the Sylvia. The name Palace for the Sylvania theatre may have been confused with the Palace that was in Sylvester which was owned by the Stein circuit. The towns names are similiar enought to be confusing.
The Palace was located downtown in Sylvester GA. It was an L shaped theatre with a very small balcony. It had a 35mm projection booth, but in its last years it used 16mm projection with the projector located in the lobby with a port hole cut in the back wall of the auditorium. The old 35mm equipment was stored in an area over the lobby. I went into this building when it was closed. All the seats had been removed, but there is no way it could have contained 500 seats.
The Worth Drive In Theatre was in Sylvester Georgia. The last time I saw the location it was being used by a timber company. Sylvester was in Worth County. It was owned by R. T. Moody. Sylvester has the Palace downtown and the building is still standing and was owned by Stein Theatres. There is a possibility that the Palace listed in Sylvania is really the Palace in Sylvester.
The Dixie probably opened around 1950 (about the same time as they built the Cairo Drive In Theatre in Cairo, GA.) My 1949 Film Daily Yearbook does not list it. It closed in the sixties. It was a truck stop when I was stationed in Pensacola Fl in 1969 as I used to stop by and see Mr. Dunn. I don’t know who Shellgrove was, but my 52 and 56 directories list C S Dunn as the owner.
Williams Electric Sign Service (WESS) in Thomasville Georgia done a great job of building a replica of the original marquee of the Zebulon Theatre in Cairo. I still had parts of it for them to pattern after and I remembered the color of the neon. The vertical sign was stored in their sign graveyard when I had it taken down.
The Laurel was a beautiful old theatre. When I was assigned to NSA at Fort Meade, we lived in Laurel, one block over from the theatre. I used to go every Wednesday night (pictures changed on Wed). I saw The Godfather there and I saw my first X rated movie there. I worked there part time in 1972 and 1973. The owner was Donald Richie, admission was one dollar. The screen was 20 x 40 and had footlights that shined on the curtain before the movie. The screen at some time was moved to the front of the stage and the stage was littered with old advertising from Sidney Lust theatres. The seats were Griggs push backs and the seats in the balcony were covered in Velour frabic and looked brand new. The projection booth had another room behind it that had a couch and chairs in it. The projectors were Simplex. It had 4 glass and wood front doors. The rear of the theatre had a door way up high and in the winter the homeless would climb up there to stay warm. They used the curtain with every movie. When I was discharged from the Navy I came back to Cairo GA. and reopened the closed Zebulon theatre and ran it for 27 years. The front of the Laurel had virolite, but when it started falling off it was replaced with a rock and concrete mixture. After I left, I subscribed to the Laurel newspaper and it was saddening when the paper had the story about its closing. I remember Mr. Prior as he would always hold the doors open when the movie was over. The Laurel Cinema was located in the Laurel Shopping Center. I only saw one movie there and it had a large stage. I also remember the Laurel Drive In theatre but never went there. I done a google search a few weeks ago and I could see the hole in the theatre roof and the only area of the apartment house we lived in was now a vacant lot. It is a shame no one was able to keep it in repair.
The Pine Theatre was across the railroad tracks from the Park Theatre. It has been used for years as a lawyers office, but the façade still looks like a theatre façade. Have not been able to locate any pictures as a theatre.
The Palm theatre building has been completely demolished.
The Moultrie Twin was located in the Sunset Shopping Center. It closed when a new 6 screen multiplex was built. It was owned by Georgia Theatre Company along with the Colquitt theatre downtown and the Sunset Drive In. Georgia Theatre Company owns the new Cinema Six.
The Gateway opened in 1972 as a single screen rocking chair theatre by Nat M Williams, Jr. (Interstate Enterprises). In the eighties it was sold to Georgia Theatre Company, along with the Hiwa Drive In, and two more auditoriums were added making it a triple. Georgia Theatre Company later sold out to United Artists Theatres. Eventually United Artist sold out and Georgia Theatre Company II was formed and bought the theatres back. Four more auditoriums were added in the nineties. The theatre converted to digital in 2009.
This theatre was a black patronage theatre owned by Interstate Enterprises. It closed in the late seventies. An effort was made to try and restore the theatre, but engineering studies showed that the east wall was not salvagable and the building demolished.
May also have been called the Cozy Drive In. Have not been able to find anyone who can tell me about this theatre.
This building is not the Perkins Opera House. This building was located on the east side of the courthouse on Highway 90 and is still standing and I believe it is used as the Masonic Lodge meeting hall. The Perkins Opera House is on the West side of the courthouse on Highway 90. It is located on the 2nd floor of the Perkins building and is currently being used as a performing arts theatre. At one time for a short period of time it was used as a movie theatre.
This theatre was built as a triple by Sidney Pink. It was later operated by Cobb theatres, Dickenson theatres and Starnet Cinemas. Under Starnet, it added 3 more screen making it a sixplex. It appeared to be built as cheaply as possible. The rear exits for the middle auditorium opened into auditoriums 1 and 3. The renovation that added the 3 other screens improved the looks of the theatre. It has sat empty for several years now in a shopping center. Bainbridge is a fairly good size town, but has never been a movie town.
The Ritz theatre still stands as a retail store. It was once the Diana Shops. The stage doors remain in the rear with the sign RITZ painted above them.
I have heard that the Waycross Holiday Inn sits on the site of a drive in theatre, but have nothing to back that up.
To DirtRoadDivaFoto -If you took pictures, please post them if you can.
A few years ago I was traveling through Waycross and stopped at the Ritz and went it. It was being rebuilt on the inside as the roof had collapsed unexpected. The auditorium was being retrofitted for stadium seating. The gentleman that was in charge told me about the theatre and also gave me instructions on how to get into the old Lyric theatre around the corner (he worked for the police department). Took his advice but was unable to succeed in geting into the building.
I was given the opportunity to tour this old theatre when the proposed renovation was planned. It was a shame to see such a magnificant building in the shape it was in. I wrote a story about the theatre tour and if anyone would like to read it, please send me a request at . A few of the orchestra seats remained and all of the balcony seats remained. Odd thing I noticed about this theatre was that the restrooms were on the mezannine level, I found not on the main floor. Went down under the stage and could look up through the open stage floor and see the electric hub. Stage timbers were handing down. There was no water in the area so the drains must still work. Could not locate a heating plant but i know there had to be one as the building had a chimney.
The Ritz is now a perfoming arts type theatre for the black community.
The Dunn Drive In Theatre opened in 1950 as was part of Dunn Family Theatres (3 brothers and 2 sisters). It closed in 1978. The screen tower housed a shop and office. It was torn down and replaced with a resturant, which is now closed. The projection booth/concession stand was converted into a sports bar, which is also now closed. All that remains is the lone ticket booth. After R.H. Dunn passed in 1977, his son took over and it did not last long. I done the movie bookings after Mr. Dunn died. I have a picture of the Dunn Drive In and the Camilla theatre will I will post shortly.
After looking closely at the pictures I took, orbs (aka spirits) appeared in the pictures of the auditorium, but not in the pictures I took of the lobby and stairs. Do you suppose I had company that day?
Stopped by the old Lyric in October, 2013. A front door was unlocked. Propped door open to get a little light in because I did not have a flashlight. Area between the front doors and the auditorium wall was only about 6 feet wide. Lots of derbis on the floor. Everything too dark to see around, but found auditorim entrance. Could see stage as light was coming in from some where, but all the side doors were closed. Stage looked very large. Took pictures with flash which turned out pretty good. Did not look like the auditorium had a lot of fallen stuff in it. Balcony stairway was littered and could not see to got up them. Kept hearing noises like curtains blowing in the wind, but saw no curtains. Will return again and will have a flashlight.
The building to the left of the theatre was a service station and Feber Mincey, the owner of Tos theatres had his home office on the second floor.
The theatre shown in the pictures is the Sylvia. The name Palace for the Sylvania theatre may have been confused with the Palace that was in Sylvester which was owned by the Stein circuit. The towns names are similiar enought to be confusing.
The Palace was located downtown in Sylvester GA. It was an L shaped theatre with a very small balcony. It had a 35mm projection booth, but in its last years it used 16mm projection with the projector located in the lobby with a port hole cut in the back wall of the auditorium. The old 35mm equipment was stored in an area over the lobby. I went into this building when it was closed. All the seats had been removed, but there is no way it could have contained 500 seats.
The Worth Drive In Theatre was in Sylvester Georgia. The last time I saw the location it was being used by a timber company. Sylvester was in Worth County. It was owned by R. T. Moody. Sylvester has the Palace downtown and the building is still standing and was owned by Stein Theatres. There is a possibility that the Palace listed in Sylvania is really the Palace in Sylvester.
The Dixie probably opened around 1950 (about the same time as they built the Cairo Drive In Theatre in Cairo, GA.) My 1949 Film Daily Yearbook does not list it. It closed in the sixties. It was a truck stop when I was stationed in Pensacola Fl in 1969 as I used to stop by and see Mr. Dunn. I don’t know who Shellgrove was, but my 52 and 56 directories list C S Dunn as the owner.
Williams Electric Sign Service (WESS) in Thomasville Georgia done a great job of building a replica of the original marquee of the Zebulon Theatre in Cairo. I still had parts of it for them to pattern after and I remembered the color of the neon. The vertical sign was stored in their sign graveyard when I had it taken down.
The comments state that a picture was posted, but I cannot link on to one. Can someone who has a photo of the Star and/or Ilex please post it?