Capitol Theatre
113 Baltimore Street,
Cumberland,
MD
21502
113 Baltimore Street,
Cumberland,
MD
21502
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Weiland Theatre, Empire Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Weiland Theatre opened as a nickelodeon by late-1907. It was operated by John Kirk and had 10 shows a day. Around 1910 it was rename Empire Theatre. It was still in operation in 1921, and in December 1921 it was renamed Capitol Theatre. It was closed in 1936.
The building is still standing as Hobbies Plus in 2019.
Contributed by
David Zornig
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Renamed Capital in December 1921. Ad posted.
Newspaper listings stopped in 1936, must be closed.
Our early history of this theater is a bit off. The obituary of John J. Kirk, published in the Cumberland Evening Times of May 2, 1913 said that he had “…for a time managed the Welland Theatre, a moving picture show in the building that formerly stood on the site of the Wertheimer Building in which the Victoria Theatre is now located.”
First, I’m pretty sure Welland is a typo for Weiland, which is a Cumberland theater name that comes up several times in publications from the period. The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists the Wieland Theatre, another misspelling, at 113 Baltimore St.. It also lists a Victoria Theatre, on Batto St. I believe Batto to be another typo, for Balto., a common abbreviation for Baltimore during that period. So the Wieland/Victoria is most likely a double listing of the same house under both names. There is no Empire Theatre listed in the directory. The photo showing the Empire vertical on the building probably dates from the later 1910s.
Newspaper items indicate that Mr. Kirk bought the Weiland in late 1907. The house was listed as the New Weiland Theatre in the August 3, 1907 issue of The Billboard, when it boasted of “[f]our good acts and motion pictures,” so it had vaudeville of some sort. I’m not sure that the 1913 obituary’s implication that the Victoria was a new theater on the site of the Weiland is accurate. Mr. Kirk might merely have had the place extensively remodeled.