SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 30, 2023 at 8:37 am
The 1910 map is from February, but it is just possible that it’s the Colonial. Usually things that aren’t open have a ‘to be’ note before the description.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 29, 2023 at 7:13 am
Thanks for all that research. Yale does seem the most likely. Might the West End Lyric be a reopened Cozy? Further west than that, it’s all houses. Even on the 1933 map, the only businesses on W Main further out are two gas stations.
No idea where a replacement Rex might have been, it could have been any storefront, or possibly the first name for this one. The chronology does seem to fit. This could have opened 1912 or 1913 as the Rex, and become the Yale sometime after 1914.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 28, 2023 at 10:42 am
Since you’ve definitely identified a New Windsor theater, you should add the Cozy. Not sure where it would have been. There is only one map, from 1916, and it’s no help. New Windsor’s downtown is actually nicer than Windsor’s, and it’s possible the building is still there.
That bit about the furniture store is wrong. The Shorts building was constructed sometime around 1922 as a garage. This building seems to be vacant on the older streetviews.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 27, 2023 at 9:40 pm
Since New Windsor insists on calling itself Windsor as well, it is very confusing. I guess this was likely the Grand, then perhaps Windsor? This town is a few hundred people larger than New Windsor, but not enough to support two theaters. I agree that the ‘Dutchess’ is either a renaming, or perhaps a confusion between Windsors.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 27, 2023 at 9:30 pm
Sorry, but New Windsor is a completely different town on the other side of the state. Windsor is between Mattoon and Shelbyville. New Windsor is between Galesburg and Davenport, IA.
Some of this history is inaccurate. The building was not built in the 1880s, it was constructed sometime between 1911 and 1922. The 1911 map shows the building that preceded the theater was only one story tall. Even that did not date from the 1880s, being constructed sometime between 1896 and 1906 to replace an earlier wooden building.
By 1922, everything from the theater down to the corner was a replacement. Perhaps there was a fire? The opening date is clearly also wrong, as the theater appears on the 1922 and 1933 maps.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 27, 2023 at 11:59 am
Since a lot of the E-W roads are states, the spelling of Maine St was correct.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jun 27, 2023 at 6:59 am
No, the opera house was a huge structure on the north side of the square. I had asked Ken about that some time ago, but not heard back. If you could confirm that it showed movies, I’ll add it. I’m leaning toward this being an early iteration of the Illinois.
That all makes sense. The indoor Grand may even have been built here to replace this, and then become the Oakland. Or it may have been in the block to the west of this.
The address information is wrong. This was on 6th St, well south of Van Buren. The address would be something like 750. As of the 1919 map, nothing had replaced it, and the site today is a scruffy parking lot with the foundations of some later buildings.
Some historic views of the theater can be found at: https://dnrhistoric.illinois.gov/preserve/hargis.html
The navigation is extremely cumbersome, but you need to ‘Enter Hargis’, move the map to Charleston (it always drops you on Sprinfield, so go east and a bit south), and click on one of the purple dots downtown. The other one is the courthouse.
I guess they’re still trying, but they lost out on grant money recently. The December ‘22 streetview is pretty grim. Looks like the tile over one of the storefronts fell off.
Wrong address, wrong building. The old photo clearly shows that the theater was at 609, which is a law office. The trees do block a lot of the view, but the building in the photo used clearly has a construction date of 1922 on its facade.
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.
The 1910 map is from February, but it is just possible that it’s the Colonial. Usually things that aren’t open have a ‘to be’ note before the description.
Thanks for all that research. Yale does seem the most likely. Might the West End Lyric be a reopened Cozy? Further west than that, it’s all houses. Even on the 1933 map, the only businesses on W Main further out are two gas stations.
No idea where a replacement Rex might have been, it could have been any storefront, or possibly the first name for this one. The chronology does seem to fit. This could have opened 1912 or 1913 as the Rex, and become the Yale sometime after 1914.
Since you’ve definitely identified a New Windsor theater, you should add the Cozy. Not sure where it would have been. There is only one map, from 1916, and it’s no help. New Windsor’s downtown is actually nicer than Windsor’s, and it’s possible the building is still there.
That bit about the furniture store is wrong. The Shorts building was constructed sometime around 1922 as a garage. This building seems to be vacant on the older streetviews.
Since New Windsor insists on calling itself Windsor as well, it is very confusing. I guess this was likely the Grand, then perhaps Windsor? This town is a few hundred people larger than New Windsor, but not enough to support two theaters. I agree that the ‘Dutchess’ is either a renaming, or perhaps a confusion between Windsors.
Sorry, but New Windsor is a completely different town on the other side of the state. Windsor is between Mattoon and Shelbyville. New Windsor is between Galesburg and Davenport, IA.
Some of this history is inaccurate. The building was not built in the 1880s, it was constructed sometime between 1911 and 1922. The 1911 map shows the building that preceded the theater was only one story tall. Even that did not date from the 1880s, being constructed sometime between 1896 and 1906 to replace an earlier wooden building.
By 1922, everything from the theater down to the corner was a replacement. Perhaps there was a fire? The opening date is clearly also wrong, as the theater appears on the 1922 and 1933 maps.
Since a lot of the E-W roads are states, the spelling of Maine St was correct.
No, the opera house was a huge structure on the north side of the square. I had asked Ken about that some time ago, but not heard back. If you could confirm that it showed movies, I’ll add it. I’m leaning toward this being an early iteration of the Illinois.
That all makes sense. The indoor Grand may even have been built here to replace this, and then become the Oakland. Or it may have been in the block to the west of this.
For some idea of the size, it was roughly 40' tall at the front, and the 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 842.
The address information is wrong. This was on 6th St, well south of Van Buren. The address would be something like 750. As of the 1919 map, nothing had replaced it, and the site today is a scruffy parking lot with the foundations of some later buildings.
Some historic views of the theater can be found at: https://dnrhistoric.illinois.gov/preserve/hargis.html
The navigation is extremely cumbersome, but you need to ‘Enter Hargis’, move the map to Charleston (it always drops you on Sprinfield, so go east and a bit south), and click on one of the purple dots downtown. The other one is the courthouse.
I guess they’re still trying, but they lost out on grant money recently. The December ‘22 streetview is pretty grim. Looks like the tile over one of the storefronts fell off.
Wrong address, wrong building. The old photo clearly shows that the theater was at 609, which is a law office. The trees do block a lot of the view, but the building in the photo used clearly has a construction date of 1922 on its facade.
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.