Orpheum Theatre

The theatre that would end its days in 1952 as Clarksburg’s second Orpheum Theatre was in operation by 1906 as the Bijou Theatre, the first of two houses in town to use that name. Not large enough to pose serious competition to the Grand Opera House, operated by the Robinson family, it was nevertheless a serious competitor to Jack Marks' Star Theatre, the first movie house to open in Clarksburg.

The Bijou Theatre was so successful that within a short time its owners would lease a vacant storefront on Pike Street and open a second house, the Odeon Theatre. Both houses continued to thrive even as larger, more modern theatres opened in Clarksburg, most notably the Robinson Grand Theatre, which replaced the Grand Opera House following a fire in 1911, and two houses opened by Jack Marks; Moore’s Opera House which opened in 1918, and the town’s first Orpheum Theatre, opened in 1913.

In the early-1920’s, Jack Marks lost the leases on Moore’s Opera House and the original Orpheum Theatre to Claude Robinson of the Robinson Grand Theatre. Unwilling be driven from the theatre business in Clarksburg, Marks acquired the lease on the Bijou Theatre in early-1923. He was also unwilling to give up the name ‘Orpheum’, and gave that name to the Bijou Theatre during a period when the original Orpheum Theatre was temporarily closed.

Robinson, it turned out, was also unwilling to give up the name, and for a couple of years ran his house as Robinson’s Orpheum Theatre. Marks filed suit to enjoin Robinson’s use of the name, but in 1924 the courts decided the issue in Robinson’s favor. For a time, Marks took a leaf from Robinson’s book and operated his house as Marks' Orpheum Theatre, but before long settled on the name Main Street Theatre.

Marks tried another tack in his competition with Robinson, and in 1928 opened the new Ritz Theatre, which outclassed the original Orpheum Theatre both in size and modernity. In 1929, Claude Robinson closed the original Orpheum Theatre, and its building was converted into offices for the Monongahela Power Company. After a decent interval, Marks finally got to rename the old Bijou Theatre the Orpheum Theatre.

In time both Moore’s Opera House and the Ritz Theatre were taken over by the Warner Bros. Circuit, but Marks retained control of the Orpheum Theatre, which was remembered by generations of Clarksburg youngsters as the town’s Saturday Matinee house, specializing in adventure films, comedies and westerns, with many personal appearances by popular stars of the “B” movies that were the staple of the house. Jack Marks passed away in 1952, and the Orpheum Theatre was closed.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.