Mount Hope Theater

725 Main Street,
Mount Hope, WV 25880

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Additional Info

Architects: Alex B. Mahood

Styles: Streamline Moderne

Nearby Theaters

Mount Hope Theater

The Mount Hope Theater opened on April 11, 1947 with Errol Flynn in “San Antonio”. It replaced the Royal Theater, which had burned to the ground in an arson fire on September 30, 1945.

Contributed by Ken McIntyre

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on March 12, 2009 at 5:08 pm

I think the Royal was a separate theater that burned down. I wouldn’t agree that Royal was an aka for Mount Hope.

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on March 12, 2009 at 5:17 pm

In the 1941 & 1943 editions of Film Daily Yearbook, the Royal Theater is listed with 500 seats.

The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists the Royal Theater with 450 seats. It must have opened as the Royal Theater, and was renamed Mount Hope Theater at a later stage.

There was also a Princess Theatre with 500 seats, also located on Main Street and operating prior to 1941 thru to 1950 and beyond….

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on March 12, 2009 at 5:52 pm

Here is an article from the Raleigh Register dated 4/11/47:

MOUNT HOPE-The Mount Hope Theater, erected in the same location as the Royal, which burned recently, will open today. Owned by a syndicate known as the Oak Hill Theater Company, the new theater is considered one of the best equipped in the states.

Charles Taylor, Jr., of Mount Hope, is serving three one to ten year sentences in the state penitentiary at Moundsville after confessing to setting fire to the Royal Theater, predecessor of the Mount Hope. The Royal Theater building was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning, September 30, 1945, the blaze being the largest in the history of Fayette County.

Construction of the new building started early in 1947. Edward Pasley is the new manager of the theater. Formerly of Bramwell, Pasley assumed managership of the Oak Hill Theater last August following his discharge from the Marine Corps.

Erasmusinwv2
Erasmusinwv2 on July 4, 2012 at 9:34 pm

Is this theater still around? I am in the process of buying and rehabbing the Philippi Grand and if it proves profitable I want to work on reopening other theaters in WV, KY, OH, PA, MD, and VA. There are so many wonderful old theaters with more character than any modern cookie cutter places.

tomwebb1966
tomwebb1966 on March 25, 2013 at 3:20 pm

Yes it is still around!!! Are you still interested?

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 16, 2014 at 12:41 am

The April 10, 1947, issue of The Raleigh Register (published in Beckley, Raleigh County, West Virgina) contained many advertisements congratulating the new Mount Hope Theatre. One of the ads was placed by the architect of the theater, Alex B. Mahood of Bluefield, West Virginia.

Mking26
Mking26 on February 3, 2015 at 5:23 pm

Wondering if the theater is still for sale?

rivest266
rivest266 on April 21, 2021 at 9:53 am

Opened on April 10th, 1947. Grand opening ad posted.

Found on Newspaperarchive.com

rivest266
rivest266 on April 21, 2021 at 9:54 am

Correction: April 11th.

Mister_Comics
Mister_Comics on October 7, 2021 at 11:29 am

On a recent new episode of the American Pickers television show, Mike Wolf and his brother Rob, talked to relatives of the Mt. Hope Theater and near by Princess Theater. Mike found items from the Princess Theater and purchased them. Some good history about the theaters is talked about n this episode. (See Photo section for related scenes)

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