Butler Theatre
129 E. Jefferson Street,
Butler,
PA
16001
129 E. Jefferson Street,
Butler,
PA
16001
3 people
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Opened with “The Flirting Widow” (unknown if extras added).
Opened 23 Sep 1930.
The Butler Theater was built in 1929 by Harris Amusement Co. and the Warner Brothers theater chain bought it soon after it was built. It was touted as “one of the finest in Western PA”. It once hosted band leader Glenn Miller & Sally Rand the fan dancer. The Butler Theater only showed first run Warner Brother films and its companion the Majestic Theater showed the second run Warner Brother films. The theater was razed in 1965 to make room for PNC’s drive thru bank. Info from Butler Eagle Progress 1994 March 25 & 30. – See more at: http://clcing.blogspot.com/2010/08/butler-theater.html#sthash.YjiqriOs.dpuf
Oops, Not the Fisher house, but we purchased the McDonald House at 218 First St where this was the dining room chandelier.
The last film to play at the Butler Theater was “The Yellow Rolls-Royce” during the week of July 14-20, 1965.
This weblog post features a photo of the Butler Theatr. The caption mistakenly says that the theater was torn down in 1960, though the movie on the marquee was released in 1965.
This house might have been a replacement for (or rebuilding of) the Butler Theatre that was mentioned in the October 23, 1915, issue of Motography:
Patsy:it would seem that as it was built for the Harris Amusement Co it was given the tentative title of Harris Theatre but was eventually named the Butler.The Wolfsonian does have a website but no access to photos.They have photos of most of his atmospherics.They are located in Miami but you would need to visit them in person to see any photos and make an appointment.I am hoping to pay them a visit next year.
atmos: I would like to see some of the 31 photos. I have never read or heard that the Butler Theatre was the Harris Theatre though it could very well be true. Where the Harris Theatre is listed does it also give the name Butler Theatre?
atmos: Can one access this Eberson archives, online?
The Eberson archives at the Wolfsonian in Florida have this listed as the Harris Theatre with an album containing 31 photos.
And since it was an Eberson theatre, an art deco interior photo would be most interesting!
Bryan: Thanks so very much for this photo as I’ve been wanting to see something ever since I found this theatre on CT and posted my initial request in August of 2005. If you find others, please post. Thanks again and yes, “at least it’s a start”.
I still would love to see a photo of this theatre as it looked before demolition.
Thanks for the “definitely gone” confirmation though I wish the Butler were still standing for future generations.
it is definitely gone- i just don’t know that the bank sits on the former site
Architorture: I would to have it confirmed whether this theatre is gone as the answer will result in a possible trip to Butler PA.
the PNC bank proper does not sit on the site of this theatre… the PNC bank is housed in a building that has been there since the 1930’s
although there is a drivethru teller area behind that bank that very well could sit on the site of the old theatre- although i highly doubt it was torn down to fulfill that particular function
I wonder how many Eberson theatres were art deco as many of them were atmospheric in style?
Don’t think this theatre was atmospheric, but it was Eberson and art deco and the Town of Butler chose to demolish it for a bank!
Can anyone contribute a photo of this theatre?
This theatre has been demolished and a PNC Bank stands on that property! This information was sent to me via email from the Butler County Chamber of Commerce.
Yes, any further information on this theatre would be greatly appreciated!
Would love to see a photo(s) of this theatre!
I decided to look under the Eberson name as I’ll be checking out some of the theatres built by this famous name and came upon one that truly surprised me….Butler PA. This is a small PA town south of Erie PA. Can anyone contribute to this link?