Hollywood Theatre
Geddes Street,
Holley,
NY
14470
Geddes Street,
Holley,
NY
14470
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Agreed. I did rotate the view all the way around. Interestingly, the view facing east must be an older image, because the larger warehouse isn’t there. A couple of smaller buildings are depicted, which must have been razed to make way for the warehouse. The office structure appears pretty much the same from all angles.
In your Bing Map link, there is a blue circle marking the approximate location of 14 Geddes. If you move to the right there are two buildings with peaked roofs. The second one, the smaller of the two, with a grey roof – which appears to have a rear bay door open – is the one I presume to be the original Hollywood Theatre structure. It seems about the right size for a small, single level, 300 seat movie house. And this is the building that now has a VP Supply Corp sign hanging above its entrance, as can be viewed from down the block in the street view set at the top of this page (if you were to zoom-in).
But, as you say, still not sure which building is number 14.
Thanks for that info, RK. It was getting awful lonely in here, all by myself. Territory Wholesale Supply lives on, sort of, via acquisition by the company VP Supply. They list a Holley address at 14 Geddes Street, but I am unsure if this was the exact location of the former Hollywood Theatre. It appears that VP occupies two buildings, the smaller of which is the grey one-story building I refer to in the first comment above, with a stepped facade. I believe that this building is the original Hollywood Theatre structure. VP also owns the larger grey building just next door, with peaked roof. This is likely their warehouse, and appears to be a much newer structure. I’m not sure which of these belongs to the address of 14 Geddes. Either way, a street view along this portion of Geddes, is still not made possible by Google maps, so we can’t get a good look at the building.
Just thought I’d keep the conversation I’m having with myself going a bit further – what are the odds that anyone from Holley, NY, or surrounding areas, are members of CT? Anyway, a regular feature in the Holley Standard was one that looked back on the history of the village at varying intervals of time for the week of the current publication. On September 3, 1953, under the heading “Twenty-five Years Ago —1928,” the paper noted the following anecdote:
“The new organ recently installed at the Hollywood Theatre was heard for the first time, and lent a metropolitan air to the attractive little theatre. The picture, ‘The Street of Sin’ was shown in Holley simultaneously with its appearance at the Eastman Theatre. It was stated that it was unnecessary to go out of town to see the new pictures as they would be shown in Holley almost as soon as at the city theaters.”
Not sure where the Eastman was located – it is not listed on CT – but I can only assume it was in the city of Rochester.
Further research revealed that ground was broken for this theater on November 21, 1922, on a lot adjacent to the millinery shop of Jessie M. Webster, which was located on the “Newton block.” An 1875 map of Holley shows that the southwest corner lot on Geddes St and the Public Square was owned by H.G. Newton. This is the red brick building pictured on the left side of the street view above. I think its a very safe bet to assume that the one-story grey building in the center of the street view currently occupies the site of the late Hollywood Theatre, if it isn’t the former theater itself.
Also learned that the firm of Day & DePhillips were to erect the structure with materials furnished by N.L. Cole. No word on who the principal architect was. The interior was to be “tastefully decorated and all modern equipment installed.“ Construction was anticipated to be completed within three months, "depending on the weather.” Since the theater did not open until nearly nine months later, we can only assume it was a long, cold winter in Holley. Seating capacity was expected to be between four hundred and five hundred.
The Hollywood Theatre would be the first, last and only purpose-built cinema erected in the village. “Photo-plays” had previously been exhibited at several other theaters in town, such as the Lyric Theatre (in its two incarnations) and the Frisbie & Sawyer Opera House, but these were either built for stage presentations or converted from storefronts.
An interesting anecdote is that opening night for the Hollywood Theatre coincided with the same date on which the remains of President Warren G. Harding were entombed in Marion, Ohio. According to an item in the August 9, 1923, edition of the Holley Standard, all stores in the village were to close for the evening at 4 pm that Friday, in honor of the late President, who had died suddenly while still in office just 8 days earlier. I wonder if the original opening date (August 4th) had been postponed out of respect for the President’s passing? The August 9th ad for the rescheduled opening did state emphatically that the theater would open “Friday night for sure, unless the world comes to an end!”
It’s just an educated guess, but I pointed the street view looking towards the south side of Geddes Street just to the west of Holley’s public square. There is a greyish, one-story building with a stepped facade just visible next to the two-story brick building on the left side of the image. It might be that this is the original Hollywood Theatre building. There are no street views available that are actually on Geddes Street. One of the articles in the Holley Standard noted that the theater was opening next to the millinery store of Jennie M. Webster. Unfortunately, due to the small size of the town, ads in the Standard did not typically reference an address or specific intersection for local merchants. The fact that both the Webster millinery store and the theater were either advertised or associated with Geddes Street is an indication to me that both were located OFF the public square rather than right upon it. Occasionaly, an ad or news item about a shop or theater might have referenced a particular block – as in the “Matson Block” or the “Frisbie Block.” I believe these were actual land blocks containing multiple building lots that were on the square itself. The only one in Holley I’ve been able to pin-down was referred to as the “I.O.O.F. block,” which stood for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, an organization that constructed a meeting hall for themselves on the north-east corner of the square, where the 1890 building still stands today.