Regent Theatre
126 Fall Street,
Seneca Falls,
NY
13148
126 Fall Street,
Seneca Falls,
NY
13148
1 person
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Johnson Hall, Johnson Opera House, Doyle's Moving Picture House
Nearby Theaters
Originally the former Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls. It became Johnson Hall, then Johnson Opera House. It was converted into a movie theatre known as Doyle’s Moving Picture House. In 1917 it became the Regent Theatre, and gave Seneca Falls three movie houses. Almost next door to the Regent Theatre was the Fisher Theatre (later the Strand Theatre), which had opened in 1915.
The Fisher Theatre and an even older house, the Seneca Theatre, both outlasted the Regent Theatre, which had closed within a few years. In later years the building was converted for many uses, including an automobile dealership, a market, an office for the telephone company, a roller skating rink, and a laundromat.
The Wesleyan Chapel had been the site of an historic meeting in 1848 which had launched the women’s rights movement in the United States. In 1985, the property was purchased by the National Park Service, and has since been engaged in a gradual restoration of what remains of the 1843 chapel as the centerpiece of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park. The nearby Strand Theatre was demolished as part of this project. Almost the only parts of the original chapel building (and of the Regent Theatre) that remain are the side walls.
Contributed by
Joe Vogel
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The web site of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park has some photos of the Wesleyan Chapel. This page includes one photo of the building ca. 1917-1919, when it was the Regent Theatre, and this page includes a photo of the portion of the old roof that has survived, along with some recent photos showing the completed building as of 2010 (current Google Street View dates from 2007.)
This link will take you to a .pdf of a page of the Geneva Daily Times for December 26, 1918 that includes an article about improvements being made to the Regent; it also includes ads for the Regent and Fisher Theatres.
Prior to its remodeling into the Regent Theatre this was known as Johnson Hall, the Johnson Opera House, and Doyle’s Moving Picture House.