Frisbie & Sawyer Opera House

Public Square,
Holley, NY 14470

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Ed Solero
Ed Solero on March 26, 2012 at 5:30 am

Thanks, Ron. There’s a website nominally about Old Fulton New York that contains scanned images from thousands of old newspapers that were published in cities and villages across New York State. The old editions of the Holley Standard found on that site were invaluable sources of information regarding the five Holley, NY, theaters I’ve been able to add to Cinema Treasures over the past few weeks. It should also be noted that Holley is a town situated along the Erie Canal.

I found editions of The Billboard, as Billboard Magazine was once known, from the early 1900’s and 1910’s, that listed the capacity for the Opera House at 650 seats to as high as 700 seats.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on March 24, 2012 at 10:37 am

The Frisbie & Sawyer Opera House is listed under Holley NY in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. It lists 550 seats. Frisbie & Sawyer Company, managers, business mgrs, and press agents. Electric illumination. Ticket prices 25 cents to 50 cents. Auditorium on the second floor. The proscenium opening was 20 feet wide X 16 feet high, and the stage was 20 feet deep. There was a weekly newspaper, the Holley Standard. The Downs House was the hotel for show folk. Railroad was the New York Central. The 1897 population of Holley was 2,000.