On February 29, 1944, both the Bentley Theatre and the hotel next to it were destroyed by a fire, and the fire also killed a man as well. Coroner Archie Craft later identified the only death as 24-year-old Wardell Robbins of Neon.
First opened as the Universal Theatre on January 14, 1920 with William Stowell in “The Heart of Humanity”, along with 6 acts of vaudeville. The Universal Theatre and Mr. Randolph’s grocery store was completely burned and destroyed by a fire on February 4, 1924 (with the Universal possibly during its run of “The Girl With 1000 Visions” but it was unknown yet).
The building was then rebuilt, restored, and reopened as the Ritz on September 2, 1927 with Louise Brooks in “Rolling Stockings”, along with an overture by the city’s orchestra, a two-reel comedy reel, vaudeville performances by Sevier and West, and addresses by M.F. Hyde, A.J. Simmons, and the then-mayor of Marshfield James Thompson.
The New Drive-In closed in the mid-to-late 1970s. It was demolished to make way for the Kmart which operated from August 2, 1979 until December 2016. A Rural King now sits in the former Kmart and the former theater’s site.
On December 26, 1958, 62-year-old Charlie Palmer, one of the first employees of the Lonesome Pine Drive-In since its opening in 1949, was struck and killed in a hit-and-run by 28-year-old Rufus V. McCoy of Nora. Charlie received a fractured skull and hip before being announced dead before arriving in Norton Hospital.
I just saw this not too long ago that the Neon Theatre was flooded, and was damaged by the historic Eastern Kentucky flooding that occurred a few days ago.
Whitley County’s dominant first-run theater started life when F.F. Morsches, A.E. Hancock, and James D. Adams formed their own theater company and opened the Columbia Theatre on September 15, 1920 with Lewis Stone in “The River’s End” (unknown if subjects were added), over the corner of Van Buren and Main with an estimate costing $100,000 in building. Columbia City had a couple of nickelodeons around the time. One of the custodians of the Columbia Theatre is Frank M. Hartman (May 26, 1878-February 4, 1964) of 113 West North Street of Columbia City who is also a former Baltimore & Ohio railroad employee. The Columbia Theatre was notable for Gail E. Lancaster, who was an organist at the Columbia and would later became a local theater chain owner in Huntington, Indiana. The original organ was given from the Grace Lutheran Church nearby. The first sound system the theater was given was Western Electric.
Shortly before the rise of the CinemaScope boom, the Columbia Theatre’s original 17x9w-14x6h screen was replaced by an Astrolite 32x6w-15x3h screen (with 123ft in size from the projection booth to the stage) shortly two days before the screening of Ava Gardner’s “Mogambo” and a Disney cartoon “Football Now and Then” on December 23, 1953. This didn’t last long. Approximately more than 9 months later, CinemaScope arrived at the Columbia, replacing the short-lived Astrolite screen.
After running a one-day showing of Jules Munshin’s “Monte Carlo Baby” with no extras, the first CinemaScope titles were released beginning with Robert Cummings' “Lucky Me” on October 5, 1954 (also with no subjects, and originally scheduled for October 3 but was shifted later for unknown reasons).
On November 1, 1957, the Columbia Theatre closed its doors for four months by owners Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hancock and Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hancock. He said that the rise of television in Whitney County and the surrounding Fort Wayne area, especially Fort Wayne’s WKJG, WANE, and the “then-new” WPTA, may’ve caused the closure according to the owner. However speaking of Hancock, after a four month hiatus without even a single theater in Columbia City, the Columbia Theatre reopened by new owners John Hancock and Robert Walker on March 2, 1958 with John Hoyt’s “God Is My Partner” along with a short “Hero On Horseback” and an unnamed Mighty Mouse cartoon.
On September 16, 1963, after running the “exploitation-type” film “Beach Party”, the Columbia Theatre closed for two months and a week for unknown reasons, leaving the West 30 Drive-In which opened its gates two months prior being the only theater during the two month hiatus. The Columbia Theatre reopened its doors on November 23, 1963 with “The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze” as a Thanksgiving matinee.
Opened On November 18, 1936, The Name Miller Was Selected By 11-Year-Old Jackson Peabody Who Won In The Theater Name Contest. The Miller Theatre Closed In The Mid-1950s Although I Cannot Enough Information About The Closure.
The Former Miller Theatre Was Left Abandoned Until March 1957 When NIPSCO, The Northern Indiana Public Safety Company, Takes The Half Piece Of The Theater, While The Other Half Surrounds The Larwell Location.
The J-Town 4 Opened On July 9, 1971 with the following in screen order: “A New Leaf”, “Cold Turkey”, “Patton”, and “Little Big Man”.
The J-Town 4 Last Operated As A Dollar Movie House In The 1990s And Closed For The Final Time In July 1998, Although They Were Trying To Survive During The Month By Upgrading Including Increasing The Amount Of Refreshments, But Sad To Say That It Was Due To A Very Low Capacity Of Patrons Heading To The Theater.
The theater first opened as the Plymouth Cinema I & II in 1972. The theater changed its name to the Standish Plaza Cinemas in November 1974 (although sometimes The Boston Globe leaves the previous names as errors).
The Standish Plaza Cinemas remained as a twin until the Spring of 1985 when it became a quad. Its closing date hasn’t been found yet, but was still running into the late 1980s.
The Bijou Theatre (or Bijou Electric Theatre) opened as early as 1909.
On a 0-Degree day on February 17, 1910 at approximately 8:30 PM, the Bijou Theatre was destroyed by a fire caused by a gas heater suffering damage from the projector which was sat next to the heater. Despite a small crowd of 75 was reported inside the theater at the time, nobody was reported injured. The front was severely damaged as well as the film originally supposed to be shown was destroyed. The Bijou was rebuilt and reopened later that year.
It was once operated by the Ross Humphrey and his brother. The Bijou Theatre closed for the final time in mid-1916. The A.F. Parkinson building later took over the site of the Bijou that same year.
The Cozy Theatre (not Cosy) opened as early as 1912. One of the first few operators of the theater is the one-and-only E.D. Luna, who installed Vitaphone at the Cozy on May 16, 1929. “Two Weeks Off” is the first sound film being played, no extras. The Thompson Theatres Circuit began operating the theater in 1948.
It remained as the only indoor theater in Wagoner after the closure of the Plaza Theatre in 1953.
CinemaScope was installed in September 1954, running its first CinemaScope titles that October.
In late December 1962, the Cozy Theatre closed for six weeks, and reopened on February 1, 1963 with “Hatari” after being taken over by Betty Cook. It was still in operation as late as the mid-1960s.
C.G. Kemble of Davis, Oklahoma, opened the Kemble Theatre on June 20, 1936. He previously purchased the building that first week of May. It was renamed the Plaza Theatre on January 30, 1941 after an inside remodeling, and being purchased by longtime nearby Cozy Theatre operator E.D. Luna.
The Plaza ended its movie-house run in the Spring of 1953, but left as a special events theater until the end of the year.
The Cherokee Drive-In opened its gates on April 1, 1953 with Jean Peters in “Anne of the Indies” with no extra short subjects. The Cherokee was first operated by town’s favorite Charles Ralls, who also operated the town’s Cosy, and was managed by Bill Dilbeck of Marlow, Oklahoma.
Only a bit of information serves as the Cherokee Drive-In’s marquee at the front featured a huge Indian (or Chief based on Oklahoma tribe), with the installations of RCA Sound Systems and a mammoth screen.
It opened on December 16, 2011, not June 1, 2011. Construction started on June 1, 2011 at the former grassy site.
Construction began on June 1, 2011, and opened on December 16, 2011.
On February 29, 1944, both the Bentley Theatre and the hotel next to it were destroyed by a fire, and the fire also killed a man as well. Coroner Archie Craft later identified the only death as 24-year-old Wardell Robbins of Neon.
Opened on May 28, 1949, closed on September 13, 1985, demolished on May 18, 1990.
First opened as the Universal Theatre on January 14, 1920 with William Stowell in “The Heart of Humanity”, along with 6 acts of vaudeville. The Universal Theatre and Mr. Randolph’s grocery store was completely burned and destroyed by a fire on February 4, 1924 (with the Universal possibly during its run of “The Girl With 1000 Visions” but it was unknown yet).
The building was then rebuilt, restored, and reopened as the Ritz on September 2, 1927 with Louise Brooks in “Rolling Stockings”, along with an overture by the city’s orchestra, a two-reel comedy reel, vaudeville performances by Sevier and West, and addresses by M.F. Hyde, A.J. Simmons, and the then-mayor of Marshfield James Thompson.
The New Drive-In closed in the mid-to-late 1970s. It was demolished to make way for the Kmart which operated from August 2, 1979 until December 2016. A Rural King now sits in the former Kmart and the former theater’s site.
On December 26, 1958, 62-year-old Charlie Palmer, one of the first employees of the Lonesome Pine Drive-In since its opening in 1949, was struck and killed in a hit-and-run by 28-year-old Rufus V. McCoy of Nora. Charlie received a fractured skull and hip before being announced dead before arriving in Norton Hospital.
The fire occurred on February 29, 1944, which not just destroyed two buildings but it also killed a man.
I just saw this not too long ago that the Neon Theatre was flooded, and was damaged by the historic Eastern Kentucky flooding that occurred a few days ago.
Once damaged by a fire on August 13, 1946.
Whitley County’s dominant first-run theater started life when F.F. Morsches, A.E. Hancock, and James D. Adams formed their own theater company and opened the Columbia Theatre on September 15, 1920 with Lewis Stone in “The River’s End” (unknown if subjects were added), over the corner of Van Buren and Main with an estimate costing $100,000 in building. Columbia City had a couple of nickelodeons around the time. One of the custodians of the Columbia Theatre is Frank M. Hartman (May 26, 1878-February 4, 1964) of 113 West North Street of Columbia City who is also a former Baltimore & Ohio railroad employee. The Columbia Theatre was notable for Gail E. Lancaster, who was an organist at the Columbia and would later became a local theater chain owner in Huntington, Indiana. The original organ was given from the Grace Lutheran Church nearby. The first sound system the theater was given was Western Electric.
Shortly before the rise of the CinemaScope boom, the Columbia Theatre’s original 17x9w-14x6h screen was replaced by an Astrolite 32x6w-15x3h screen (with 123ft in size from the projection booth to the stage) shortly two days before the screening of Ava Gardner’s “Mogambo” and a Disney cartoon “Football Now and Then” on December 23, 1953. This didn’t last long. Approximately more than 9 months later, CinemaScope arrived at the Columbia, replacing the short-lived Astrolite screen.
After running a one-day showing of Jules Munshin’s “Monte Carlo Baby” with no extras, the first CinemaScope titles were released beginning with Robert Cummings' “Lucky Me” on October 5, 1954 (also with no subjects, and originally scheduled for October 3 but was shifted later for unknown reasons).
On November 1, 1957, the Columbia Theatre closed its doors for four months by owners Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hancock and Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hancock. He said that the rise of television in Whitney County and the surrounding Fort Wayne area, especially Fort Wayne’s WKJG, WANE, and the “then-new” WPTA, may’ve caused the closure according to the owner. However speaking of Hancock, after a four month hiatus without even a single theater in Columbia City, the Columbia Theatre reopened by new owners John Hancock and Robert Walker on March 2, 1958 with John Hoyt’s “God Is My Partner” along with a short “Hero On Horseback” and an unnamed Mighty Mouse cartoon.
On September 16, 1963, after running the “exploitation-type” film “Beach Party”, the Columbia Theatre closed for two months and a week for unknown reasons, leaving the West 30 Drive-In which opened its gates two months prior being the only theater during the two month hiatus. The Columbia Theatre reopened its doors on November 23, 1963 with “The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze” as a Thanksgiving matinee.
Its final closing date hasn’t been found yet.
Opened On November 18, 1936, The Name Miller Was Selected By 11-Year-Old Jackson Peabody Who Won In The Theater Name Contest. The Miller Theatre Closed In The Mid-1950s Although I Cannot Enough Information About The Closure.
The Former Miller Theatre Was Left Abandoned Until March 1957 When NIPSCO, The Northern Indiana Public Safety Company, Takes The Half Piece Of The Theater, While The Other Half Surrounds The Larwell Location.
The J-Town 4 Opened On July 9, 1971 with the following in screen order: “A New Leaf”, “Cold Turkey”, “Patton”, and “Little Big Man”.
The J-Town 4 Last Operated As A Dollar Movie House In The 1990s And Closed For The Final Time In July 1998, Although They Were Trying To Survive During The Month By Upgrading Including Increasing The Amount Of Refreshments, But Sad To Say That It Was Due To A Very Low Capacity Of Patrons Heading To The Theater.
Once operated by Plitt.
The theater first opened as the Plymouth Cinema I & II in 1972. The theater changed its name to the Standish Plaza Cinemas in November 1974 (although sometimes The Boston Globe leaves the previous names as errors).
The Standish Plaza Cinemas remained as a twin until the Spring of 1985 when it became a quad. Its closing date hasn’t been found yet, but was still running into the late 1980s.
Opened in either 1934 or 1935, and closed in either 1970 or 1971.
The second screen was added either in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
The Bijou Theatre (or Bijou Electric Theatre) opened as early as 1909.
On a 0-Degree day on February 17, 1910 at approximately 8:30 PM, the Bijou Theatre was destroyed by a fire caused by a gas heater suffering damage from the projector which was sat next to the heater. Despite a small crowd of 75 was reported inside the theater at the time, nobody was reported injured. The front was severely damaged as well as the film originally supposed to be shown was destroyed. The Bijou was rebuilt and reopened later that year.
It was once operated by the Ross Humphrey and his brother. The Bijou Theatre closed for the final time in mid-1916. The A.F. Parkinson building later took over the site of the Bijou that same year.
Add it just in case. It appears that the Regency Cinema 7 opened in either the late 1980s or the early 1990s.
Opened with Jack Carson in “It’s A Great Feeling” along with an unnamed comedy and a newsreel.
Is the theater flooded from last night’s historic flooding?
The Cozy Theatre (not Cosy) opened as early as 1912. One of the first few operators of the theater is the one-and-only E.D. Luna, who installed Vitaphone at the Cozy on May 16, 1929. “Two Weeks Off” is the first sound film being played, no extras. The Thompson Theatres Circuit began operating the theater in 1948.
It remained as the only indoor theater in Wagoner after the closure of the Plaza Theatre in 1953.
CinemaScope was installed in September 1954, running its first CinemaScope titles that October.
In late December 1962, the Cozy Theatre closed for six weeks, and reopened on February 1, 1963 with “Hatari” after being taken over by Betty Cook. It was still in operation as late as the mid-1960s.
C.G. Kemble of Davis, Oklahoma, opened the Kemble Theatre on June 20, 1936. He previously purchased the building that first week of May. It was renamed the Plaza Theatre on January 30, 1941 after an inside remodeling, and being purchased by longtime nearby Cozy Theatre operator E.D. Luna.
The Plaza ended its movie-house run in the Spring of 1953, but left as a special events theater until the end of the year.
The Cherokee Drive-In opened its gates on April 1, 1953 with Jean Peters in “Anne of the Indies” with no extra short subjects. The Cherokee was first operated by town’s favorite Charles Ralls, who also operated the town’s Cosy, and was managed by Bill Dilbeck of Marlow, Oklahoma.
Only a bit of information serves as the Cherokee Drive-In’s marquee at the front featured a huge Indian (or Chief based on Oklahoma tribe), with the installations of RCA Sound Systems and a mammoth screen.
It was actually “A Hare Grows in Manhattan”, despite being listed as “Hares in Manhattan” as an accidental error.