Little Grand Theatre

107 E. Main Street,
Madison, IN 47250

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on February 17, 2016 at 1:31 am

On a comprehensive list of movie theaters in the United States that was published in the December 19, 1908, issue of The Billboard, the Little Grand Theatre in Madison, Indiana, was listed at 107 E. Main Street. At 105 E.Main Street (now the address of the Little Grand’s successor theater, the Ohio) was a house called the Nickeltra Theatre.

The August 17, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World said that “[t]he Little Grand, Madison, Ind., has the white brick front about completed.” I suspect that it was either with this 1915 remodeling, or earlier, the Little Grand and Nickeltra Theatres were thrown together into one house called the Little Grand. The businesses adjacent to the Ohio in Google Street View are Harriette’s Knit Knook, at 103 Main, and Blue Wolf Vape, at 109 Main, so the footprint of the Ohio Theatre probably covers both of the theaters that were in operation in 1908.

DavidAE
DavidAE on February 16, 2016 at 12:45 am

I think this is a photo of the Little Grand Theatre.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 20, 2010 at 4:35 pm

I’ve finally puzzled this out. The Grand Theatre is already listed here as the Madison Theatre. It never burned down. The theater that burned— whether it burned in 1928, 1936, or 1937— was always called the Little Grand Theatre, and this page should be changed to reflect that.

The organ mentioned in the current intro was undoubtedly installed not in the Little Grand, but in the Grand.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 20, 2010 at 3:43 pm

This list of major fires in Madison, from the Jefferson County Public Library, says that the Little Grand Theater (Ohio Theater) burned on December 27, 1928. No other theater fires are on the list. This contradicts the Ohio Theatre’s official web site, which says the Little Grand burned in 1936.

A 1911 book published by the Indian Department of Inspections lists four movie theaters in Madison: The Little Grand Theatre, Gray’s Theatre, the Star Theatre, and the Wolwager Theatre (It’s online at Google Books.)