Royal Theatre
115 S. 16th Street,
Unionville,
MO
63565
115 S. 16th Street,
Unionville,
MO
63565
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The Royal Theatre opened in 1911 and was relocated to its current location a couple of years later. It was first operated by Percy Jones and later V.C. Rose Sr. who purchased the theater in 1916 and operated the theater until 1933 when it was taken over by the husband-and-wife team of G.W. Summers.
The large fire on May 16, 1951 destroyed the entire building caused by unknown. It was rebuilt and reopened on September 11, 1951.
The Royal closed for the final time in mid-March 1977.
I don’t think this was ever called the Summers. It was owned by a Mr. Summers. The first building was completely different, and quite a bit smaller, at least width-wise. It, along with most of the rest of the block, was destroyed by fire.
The library has a picture of the old Royal ablaze. It was taken from the courthouse roof, and you can see the fire was huge, with smoke and flame pouring out of the roofs of all the buildings along the block. Mr. Summers and fellow businessmen rebuilt the block in 1951. All of these buildings look fairly similar. The library also displays a few seats, a rewinder, and several pictures of the ‘new’ theater.
One final note, the building is not as wide as it appears. The façade on the right is a false front over a one story section.