Olympian Theatre
117 E. Main Street,
Arcola,
IL
61910
117 E. Main Street,
Arcola,
IL
61910
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This theatre appears on the 1914 map, in the eastern storefront of a good-sized two-story brick commercial building that was constructed sometime before 1887. The 1907 map shows a clothing store there.
Arcola was never very large, and this theatre possibly only operated until the much larger Arcola Theatre began showing films. The 1923 map shows that it has reverted to retail.
The building today is in excellent shape, and is occupied by a furniture store.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
An item datelined Arcola in the October 31, 1908 Moving Picture World said that “Mr. Tait is preparing to open a moving picture show in the Lyons room on Main Street.” I don’t know if that was this house or not. The Lyons family has been prominent in Arcola for a long time and have had their name on a lot of things. It might be that one of them owned the clothing store that occupied this space in 1907.
The August 13, 1921 MPW suggest that the house was still in operation then with this item: “ARCOLA, ILL.— Samuel Sholom has purchased Olympic Theatre and leased it to A. C. Metcalf.”