Taylor Theater
208 S. Broad Street,
Edenton,
NC
27932
208 S. Broad Street,
Edenton,
NC
27932
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According to their Facebook page, the Taylor theater reopened on July 6, 2018. https://www.facebook.com/TaylorTheater/
A group of citizens got together and purchased the Taylor. It is being repaired and renovated and should open again in late-April/early March! https://www.facebook.com/TaylorTheater/
The digital equipment is installed (both picture and sound). Long live the Taylor.
jeannecumby, It is a thrill to see the older picture of the Taylor with the marquee intact—did it just rust away? Sorry to hear about the situation it will certainly be a monumental task to raise money in today’s economic situation. Please take the time to post about the changes that were made by the twinning process. I read that the chandelier was removed and sold to a motel indicating construction of a center wall. Was the balcony lost to a wider projection booth? Were changes made to the stage/proscenium—or a wall built in front of the area? Was the ceiling “dropped”? Were the side walls changed? Does Bob own the theater? I saw info on the net that indicated that Mrs. Earnhardt had died but Mr. Earnhardt was still living and 100 yrs old.
Dear David, Mike, Ken and anyone else interested in the Taylor Theatre, The Taylor needs to upgrade it’s equipment from 35mm to digital. Over the next 12 to 18 months the movie production companies are going to all discontinue making 35mm film available and will only be sending out digital film. My husband and I are going to be helping Bob raise the $150,000 he needs in order to purchase the digital projectors. If we are unsuccessful he will have to close the doors. We need all the help we can get so that the Taylor screens do not go dark. If any of you are interested or know of anyone who is in helping us please call me at 252-340-3348. Thanks for your interest in the Taylor Theatre! I can’t imagine our wonderful town not having this movie theatre. I know you feel the same!
Was just playing with the Google feature. If one turns left on this picture of the Eden Theater and goes to the west just past the parking lot on the same side of the street and swings back to the right facing north you see the profile of the Eden and the two toned brick structure without any windows is the screen and stage part of the Taylor. The scale certainly confirms the ability to “fly” scenery above the stage for theatrical productions. The Taylor has three roof levels—the facade with the two flanking commercial spaces on each side of the long walk-up (arcade?) to the box office, the lobby and auditorium, and the third level of the stage area. The Eden was strictly a cinema.
Just got back to the site and stumbled my way through the changes. Quite a difference. Interesting hooking up with the Google feature. Did a virtual tour of Edenton last week and saw that the comment on this building was that it was built in 1948 and was now an accountant’s office. Well, boo on them this building is the defunct Eden Theater on W. Eden St. not the address listed for the Taylor Twin. There never was a real marquee, just a small unsupported roof attached to the building. Quinn Funiture used the theater for storage for some period of time. The building has been “colonialized” with an antiqued brick facade to match Edenton’s historic character.
I saw movies there as a kid of 6 through 9 yrs old. Great movies like “Angel Face”, “Track of the Cat”, “Superman and the Mole Men” several Jungle Jim and Tarzan features, and a few sci-fi films. I have good vivid memories of this theater and I am thoroughly amazed that I have remembered the movies that screened there 60 years ago.
To get to the Taylor Twin turn right on this picture go to Broad St., turn left, go halfway up the block and turn left to the west for the facade of the Taylor—minus its marquee. The roof mounted Taylor sign spells out the name one letter at the time and does a flash of the complete name. I noticed that every other bulb had been removed indicating that the management really was using extraordinary means to reduce cost of operation.
David, check out our ad for “JAWS” Imperial Theatre,Augusta.It was an experience no feature film could match,one would have had to work it like I did as a Usher,Doorman,Popcorn popper,Driving around Town trying to buy Ice cause our old ice maker at the Imperial couldn' keep up,cleaning up vomit etc.And at the same time our sister Theatre,National Hills opened with “BENJI” and for a good three weeks it was kicking butt,all this for $1.25 an hour or so.Had to love it!Plez add more stories!
Thanks for the complements MikeRogers and tlsloews. I forgot to include in the updates that the projectors were adapted to platters for automation from the concession stand before it went twin.
raysson, if you remember Jaws you might remember the red four foot tall “JAWS” letters standing atop the marquee. Spivey, the manager at the time, commissioned me to make them and they were reused at some of the other theaters in the chain. I wonder if they eventually ended up in a dorm room somewhere.
“JAWS”-played here in 1975
“STAR WARS”-played here in July of 1977
When the Taylor was a single screen theatre.
It wasn’t until the late-1970’s(probably 1978 or 1979)
when the Taylor became a twin cinema.
I agree David,thanks for posting.
thanks david great article.
Addendum: In its heyday Edenton had another movie theater called the Eden. It was on W. Eden St. so that the properties of the Eden and the Taylor probably touched. Unlike the Taylor, the Eden was a utilitarian moviehouse with a narrow concrete block auditorium without ornamentation. The floor had a rather steep angle and the metal frame holding the screen sat on the floor at the front of the auditorium. The Eden probably shut its doors when the naval air station closed. It was stripped of its equipment and became a storage facility for another business.
The Hiway 17 Drive In operated until around 1960. It was dismantled and the real estate became Earnhardt Fields.
The Taylor Theater was constructed before safety film came to the movies. Notice the metal “doghouse” in the pictures- that is the old projection booth. Movie film was highly flammable and the projectors used a carbon arc to project the image so as a fire protection measure the booth was sheathed & lined with steel as well as outside of the building proper.
I am sorry to see that the heavy black steel marquee has been removed. It reached more than half the width of the wide sidewalk. I was suspended from heavy iron chains & anchored to the building. The movie titles & actors names were spelled out with metal stencil letters that let the backlighting show through. Originally it was trimmed in neon but the kids were prone to leap to touch the marquee and would in the process break the fragile tubes. The neon was removed in a remodeling.
The Taylor had theater and cinema capabilities. The movie screen sat on a stage which had a ceiling height and rigging allowing raising scenery for theatrical productions. Early movie stars and entertainers have appeared in live productions there- probably until the early 1950s. For a small town the auditorium was quite large and relatively ornate with plaster work.
There was a restoration around ‘56 or '57 that saw the installation of stereophonic sound & Cinemascope capability. Other re-modelings over the years involved, central air conditioning, more comfortable seating, installing xeon bulb lights to the projectors, carpeting, updated concessions, etc.
The Taylor eventually became part of a small chain of theaters headquartered in Wilson, NC to reduce overhead and to book first run movies more easily. I am uncertain of the date but it appears that the auditorium was partitioned at the end of the '70s and converted to a twin cinema to be competitive.
Here is a 2008 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/m8ek6h
This web site says that the Taylor Theatre was “…built in 1925 by Charles Collins Benton.” As the owner/operator for whom the house was built was Samuel Taylor, they must mean that Charles Collins Benton was the architect.
According to Bowers' “Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments” page 551, this theatre once had a Reproduco organ made by the Operators Piano Co.
Here is another view:
http://tinyurl.com/2tmy94
aka Taylor Twin Cinema.