New Theatre

Joe Vogel on December 15, 2021 at 6:46 pm

A survey of historic buildings in Tazewell prepared for a proposed historic district in 1998 says “[a] new opera house to serve the citizens of Tazewell was provided in 1916 with the building of the Clinch Theater at the comer of Church and Main streets. This theater was demolished in the 1980s to enlarge the Methodist Church.” Another page of the survey says “[m]ovies were viewed at the Clinch Theater, the former opera house built in 1916. This theater was demolished in recent years.”

The only new theater I can find that was built at Tazewell in 1916 was the New Theatre. It is listed with 600 seats in FDYs in 1926 and 1934, but in 1935 it vanishes and the 360-seat Amusu Theatre appears. Starting in 1936 the 360-seat Clinch Theatre is listed. I’ve found no news items that would account for the drop in capacity at the time of the name change, but it’s easy to imagine something such as a fire that led to a rebuilding without a balcony, for example. In any case, it appears that New Theatre was the opening name of the house we have listed as the Clinch Theatre.