Empire Theatre

SethG on April 1, 2018 at 9:59 am

Of all the old theaters in Quincy, it’s a shame that one of the survivors is this cloddishly-proportioned hulk.

Joe Vogel on January 4, 2014 at 6:58 pm

This house opened in 1893 as the Empire Theatre and was later renamed the Hippodrome, then became the Empire Hippodrome, and apparently went back to just the Empire Theatre during its last years. An item in the June 21, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World told of the first change of name and policy for the theater:

“The Empire Theater, at Quincy, has forsaken the dramatic field, it is reported, and will reopen August 25, as the Hippodrome, featuring vaudeville and moving pictures. All seats will be ten cents, seven days a week. It is announced that the highest class attractions have been booked in Quincy, but have not been profitable.”

Here is an early interior photo of the Empire Theater. The description, which does not mention the name change, says that the house closed in 1926.

The same source has an advertisement for the inaugural performance at the Empire Theatre, which took place on December 21, 1893.

This advertisement for a performance at the Empire Hippodrome Theatre dates from January, 1915.

It also looks like the Hippodrome era was over by 1921. The Empire Theatre in Quincy, Illinois, is listed in the 1921 Cahn guide. I’ve come across a few references to events at the Empire Theatre in the early 1920s, but no more mentions of the name Hippodrome.