Crystal Theatre
31 Colony Street,
Meriden,
CT
06451
31 Colony Street,
Meriden,
CT
06451
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According to an article entitled “A History of Movie Theatres in Meriden, Wallingford, Southington and Cheshire” which appeared on July 25, 2017 in the Record-Journal the original name of the Crystal was reported to be “Happy Thought” and the address 31 Colony.
John Hennies and Herbert Clark opened the low-priced Merry Widow Theatre on May 22, 1908 managed by Paul F. Fagan with nickel movies. The theatre reopened as the Crystal on. April 12, 1909 with the films, “Return of Ulysses” and “Boots and Saddles.”
Yeah, sadly this was demolished a few years ago.
I was in my home town, Meriden, recently, and noticed that this building has been demolished. Don’t know if there was a fire, or if it had been condemned. I do know this was a late 1880s/1890s structure that probably hadn’t had a paying tenant for its upper floors in probably 50 years. Meriden used to be a thriving industrial town. What’s left is a ghost town. Very sad that the one town voted in WWII as America’s “Ideal War Community” ended up like this.
If anyone in Meriden wishes to contact the local newspaper editor, I’m sure he/she would be interested in the work being done online through Cinema Treasures. Meriden and it surrounding towns at one time had many, many theaters and drive-ins. Now, all gone but still remembered. This is a news feature story that could capture interest and make for additional online submissions about these theaters.
As I said above, it closed in the 1930’s, so unless you are quite elderly you wouldn’t have heard about it. I’m not sure if it was a storefront theatre or if an auditorium was carved out of space inside this building or what.
This would be very, very easy to research. The Meriden Library has a terrific and complete collection of back newspapers, either in paper or microfiche. Some records go back to colonial times. Fascinating stuff.
I grew up in Meriden, but I don’t recall ever hearing about the “Crystal Theater.” I’ve been by this particular building thousands of times; it has been largely vacant since the mid-1960s.