The address is wrong. This would have been 201 E Main. Status needs to be changed to demolished. The Metropolitan Block, which this was located on the west end of, suffered a collapse of the east wall in 2018, and was demolished in March of 2021.
The building was constructed sometime between 1898 and 1909. Not sure when the theater opened, but it had definitely closed by the early ‘70s, when the Illinois historical survey photos show the marquee looking pretty shabby, and the letters missing.
The Washington Post had a photo of an SUV shoved into the lobby. The marquee was still up, and looked mostly intact, except for the ‘E’ being folded over.
Address was 121 N Main. It’s hard to tell, but this may have been a remodel of an older roller rink which appears on the 1909 map. Looks like it was split in half, and the theater created in the northern section.
I added a listing for one of these, with a West Frankfort address. Frankfort Heights seems to no longer exist, post-office wise. I understand the Frankfort Heights PO burned in 2004. The zip code must have been eliminated at that point. Anyway, since this is a very bad listing with nothing but a name, it should probably be removed or replaced. It’s possible that two theaters were operating when the Tri-State Tornado came through, but there was definitely only one on either the 1919 map or the 1928 map. The 1928 theater was in a newer building next to the building that had the theater in 1919.
This listing has a lot of bad information. The address is wrong, it should be 213 (the empty lot next to the old garage/Honda dealer). The dates are also wrong, since the theater appears on the 1928 map (but not 1919).
If the 226 address is accurate, the Rex aka is wrong. The Rex was in the one story building at 224. The Rex is shown on the September 1914 Sanborn with a note: ‘To Be Motion Pictures’. It remains in operation on the 1928 map. Either it closed permanently and the Roxy opened at 226, or we have the wrong address for the Roxy, and that was a brief reopening. I can’t understand people complaining that the Rex building was small since it obviously has a much higher ceiling than 226, so I suspect these are different theaters.
Another very poor listing with no information. It may have become the Strand in 1927, but the 1919 map shows it as the Star. The building does not appear on the 1914 map. The ‘Opera House’ aka is spurious; this was never an opera house. The 1928 map shows the address as 104-106. 100-102 belonged to a lumber yard closer to the railroad.
There are two theaters on the 1926 map, but based on the description, I am positive that this was the brick building at 113 S Main. It’s still in very good shape, and seems to be used as a car repair shop.
The 1905 Cahn guide has a Sterling Opera House with a capacity of 425. This was almost certainly somewhere else, as the timeline and low capacity don’t match this structure.
Wrong building. The theater is the one to the left.
Most likely the block east of the square, which is a tragic collection of vacant lots and crummy replacements.
I think this has to be it. Thanks!
The address is wrong. This would have been 201 E Main. Status needs to be changed to demolished. The Metropolitan Block, which this was located on the west end of, suffered a collapse of the east wall in 2018, and was demolished in March of 2021.
The theater is the one story building at the right.
The building was constructed sometime between 1898 and 1909. Not sure when the theater opened, but it had definitely closed by the early ‘70s, when the Illinois historical survey photos show the marquee looking pretty shabby, and the letters missing.
The Washington Post had a photo of an SUV shoved into the lobby. The marquee was still up, and looked mostly intact, except for the ‘E’ being folded over.
Address was 121 N Main. It’s hard to tell, but this may have been a remodel of an older roller rink which appears on the 1909 map. Looks like it was split in half, and the theater created in the northern section.
I added a bunch more theaters. There is at least one other candidate for the Majestic.
To help ‘locate’ the theater, it was basically where the red shed building (fire station?) is.
I added a listing for one of these, with a West Frankfort address. Frankfort Heights seems to no longer exist, post-office wise. I understand the Frankfort Heights PO burned in 2004. The zip code must have been eliminated at that point. Anyway, since this is a very bad listing with nothing but a name, it should probably be removed or replaced. It’s possible that two theaters were operating when the Tri-State Tornado came through, but there was definitely only one on either the 1919 map or the 1928 map. The 1928 theater was in a newer building next to the building that had the theater in 1919.
This listing has a lot of bad information. The address is wrong, it should be 213 (the empty lot next to the old garage/Honda dealer). The dates are also wrong, since the theater appears on the 1928 map (but not 1919).
This must be a very early picture, since by 1919 there was a building to the left, and the side wall wouldn’t be visible.
If the 226 address is accurate, the Rex aka is wrong. The Rex was in the one story building at 224. The Rex is shown on the September 1914 Sanborn with a note: ‘To Be Motion Pictures’. It remains in operation on the 1928 map. Either it closed permanently and the Roxy opened at 226, or we have the wrong address for the Roxy, and that was a brief reopening. I can’t understand people complaining that the Rex building was small since it obviously has a much higher ceiling than 226, so I suspect these are different theaters.
Another very poor listing with no information. It may have become the Strand in 1927, but the 1919 map shows it as the Star. The building does not appear on the 1914 map. The ‘Opera House’ aka is spurious; this was never an opera house. The 1928 map shows the address as 104-106. 100-102 belonged to a lumber yard closer to the railroad.
There are two theaters on the 1926 map, but based on the description, I am positive that this was the brick building at 113 S Main. It’s still in very good shape, and seems to be used as a car repair shop.
The 1921 Sanborn has a capacity of 750.
Not demolished, the old railway station is very obviously still there.
That sounds like a double to me!
The 1905 Cahn guide has a Sterling Opera House with a capacity of 425. This was almost certainly somewhere else, as the timeline and low capacity don’t match this structure.
Maybe? We definitely need to add America, with no ‘N’, as an aka.
Thanks, I’ll list the Opera House. Very fleeting existence, and I wasn’t sure about it.
I didn’t mean that the address was wrong, only that old directories, etc. would give a different one! It is now 120.
Obviously not three stories tall, but one, possibly later remodeled to two.
Address while this theater was operating was 114, and it was definitely still open in 1918.