Pawnee Theatre

Swor & Broaddus launched the 230-seat Lyric Theatre with motion pictures and vaudeville on March 18, 1910. It was the first such theatre for the town which had only recently added its second Opera House three years earlier on March 28, 1907 which had experimented with films. L. Baier took on the venue selling it to new operator, O.M. Clouse, who changed the policy to full-time motion pictures under the name of the Elite Theatre in 1911. The local paper approved saying that the Elite Theatre was “a good place to spend an hour each evening.”

Under new management of Earl Nesbitt, the theatre was refreshed 1916 and then half sold in 1921 to Olin S. Shannon. Shannon gave the theatre a major refresh changing its name to the Linwood Theatre on April 12, 1921. On January 30, 1930, the theatre was equipped with sound to remain viable. Beginning with the film, “The Fall of Eve” starring Patsy Ruth Miller. The theatres biggest hit came with some form of special screening of “Cimarron” that provided the largest capacity consecutive sell-outs in Pawnee City.

The theatre got an exterior refresh in July of 1943 and officially became the Pawnee Theatre under Mrs. Carl Bailey on August 15, 1943 with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the patriotic, “Star Spangled Rhythm". However, the “Pawnee” name had been in use informally for some time. Dean Richardson was still operating the small-town theatre into the 1960’s.

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