Etna Theater
501 Butler Street,
Etna,
PA
15223
501 Butler Street,
Etna,
PA
15223
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I remember attending some kind of a kid’s show with an emcee in the late 50’s or early 60’s. My mother, who grew up in the area, had told me it was originally built by the steel mill across the street and obtained its head from the mill.
Renewing link.
This was listed as a Stanley Warner theater in the 1955 Pittsburgh yellow pages. Phone number was Sterlng 1-0412.
The 501 Butler Street address apparently was correct when the Etna Theatre opened (I, too, found it that way in old phone directories and newspaper ads), but the building’s address inexplicably became 435 Butler Street without moving.
It may have changed when the theater building was taken over by Tippins Machinery Company (also called Tippins, Inc.), which deals in steel mill equipment. The original structure is still there.
An unusual feature of the Etna was that, like the Strand in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, you entered the theater from behind the screen and walked toward the projection booth when selecting a seat.
Appealingly to old theater buffs, you can identify the structure’s original use by the appearance of its left side.