Main Street Theatre
37 W. Main Street,
Galeton,
PA
16922
37 W. Main Street,
Galeton,
PA
16922
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The Main Street Theatre is listed in the 1909-1910 Cahn Guide as a ground floor house with 900 seats. The May 2, 1925 issue of Motion Picture News published part of a letter from theater owner J. A. Nordquist, who said the Main Street had almost 800 seats and a stage 40x80 feet. The size of the stage was probably an exaggeration, as the Cahn guide had said that it was 30 feet deep and 70 feet wide. Still, it was a pretty large stage for a small town theater.
Here is a scan of the 1925 Motion Picture News item. The theater’s unusual location, dug into a hillside, helped keep it cool in summer and warm in winter.
1949 photo added via Kevin Patrick. Main Street Theatre left of center.
This item from the January 25, 1921, issue of The Moving Picture World indicates that J. A. Nordquist bought the original Main Street Theatre that year:
The 1914-1915 edition of the American Motion Picture Directory lists the Main Street Theatre in Galeton at 37 Main Street. It doesn’t specify East or West, but East Main is lined mostly with old houses while the greatest part of Galeton’s surviving business buildings are on West Main, so 37 W. Main is probably where the theater was.The Main Street Theatre must have been destroyed by fire twice if signsell is correct. The June 6, 1941, issue of The Film Daily said that architect Michael J. DeAngelis was preparing plans for rebuilding the Main Street Theatre in Galeton, which had recently destroyed by a fire. The house was definitely rebuilt, as the Main Street was mentioned in the July 9, 1945, issue of the Daily, when the theater was taken over by Lewis Hauser from J. A. Nordquist.
I am pretty sure that the theatre building survived into the mid 1970’s when it was destroyed by fire. I was one of teh fireman that responded on a mutual aid call form over 70 miles away. Not quite sure what month it was but I know it was below zero that morning.