American Theatre
122 W. Carolina Avenue,
Crewe,
VA
23930
122 W. Carolina Avenue,
Crewe,
VA
23930
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Amusu Theatre, Palace Theater
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This theater first appears on the September 1909 Sanborn. It was located in the western storefront of three nearly identical 2 story brick buildings which do not appear on the 1904 map.
The theater is listed as the Amusu Theatre in the 1914-15 AMPD. Definitely still operating in 1925, it is almost certainly the Palace Theater listed in the 1926 Yearbook. It appears to have been renamed the American Theatre by 1929. That seems to be its final year of operation, although there is a Playhouse with no capacity listed for 1930.
Downtown Crewe is rather desolate, and this was vacant for many years. The building was demolished sometime after 2011.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Must have been demolished sometime between 2011 and 2021. I hadn’t recalled correctly when I photographed this.
Note that one map calls it ‘Electric Theatre’, but it’s unclear whether that’s a name or designation.
The 180-seat Palace is still the only theater listed at Crewe in the 1928 FDY, and the 1929 edition lists only a 180-seat American Theatre, which I think we can safely assume was the Palace renamed. The 1929 edition features the same listing, but multiple sources indicate that in April, 1929 the 398-seat Crewe Theatre opened, with Vitaphone pictures. It is first listed in 1930, along with a 400-seat house called the Oliver.
With two big new theaters competing, it’s unlikely the Palace/American survived for long, although the 1930 FDY also lists a theater called the Playhouse, with no seating capacity given. None of the three were listed as closed, so perhaps the American managed to hang on with a new name for at least part of one more year. It was gone from the listings in 1931. Odd that it kept its theater doors into the age of dish antennae. Perhaps a church took the space over?