Liberty Theatre
6 E. Penna Avenue,
Pen Argyl,
PA
18072
6 E. Penna Avenue,
Pen Argyl,
PA
18072
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Little is known about the Liberty Theatre in Pen Argyl PA except that it opened in September 1923. It was one of two theatre’s in town and according to members of the “You know you grew up in the Slate Belt if….” Facebook page, the Liberty Theatre was the hands down favorite with the other theatre being the Palace Theatre which had opened by 1914. The Liberty Theatre featured a short wooden marquee canopy with backlit frosted glass trim underneath. Two sets of theatre doors flanked a central set of doors leading to a small cafe. Poster boxes were located in between the doors and at opposite ends of the building. The Liberty Theatre closed down sometime in the mid-1950’s.
The Colonial style building remains today but the theatre was gutted shortly after closing and rebuilt into the showroom of a local family owned furniture store. Liberty Lanes, a vintage three lane bowling alley with hand-set pin arrangement in the basement remains but the space has been used for storage for several decades. Today a pool supply store occupies the street frontage.
Contributed by
Mark Demmin II
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The Liberty was expected to open in September, according to this item from the July 14, 1923 issue of Moving Picture World: “Upon the expiration of the lease of the Palace Theatre, which William Eyre conducts at Pen Argyl, Pa., near Stroudsburg, he will discontinue its conduct and give his time entirely to the management of another theatre now under construction in that town which is owned by the Hurd Brothers. Mr. Eyre will take up his new enterprise when the building is completed in September.”
The January 1, 1924 issue of The Exhibitor made reference to “…the Liberty, Pen Argyl… opened recently by Marsh and Hurd.” Also, it appears that the Palace did not shut down after Mr. Eyre departed, as it was still listed in the 1926 FDY, along with the Liberty. The 1929 FDY listed the 400-seat Liberty and the 500-seat New Palace. I haven’t discovered if the New Palace was a new theater or the old house perhaps remodeled or simply under new ownership. The Palace, which was on Main Street, was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, along with a house called the Bijou. Only the Liberty was listed in the FDY by 1940, but with 600 seats, so it must have been expanded at some point.