This item appeared in the May 13, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Daily:
“SENECA, S. C— A trip into the Piedmont hills would not be complete without calling on that charming couple, the Richardsons. Kenneth and the missus took us through their new theatre, the culmination of a dream that has been some 13 years in the making. Their new house will open May 1 and has been entirely built by local labor and contractors. This theatre will be known as the Richardson and will seat 500.”
The NRHP nomination form for the historic district in which the theater is located says that the Richardson Theatre opened in 1920, but I think that might have been a different theater operated by the Richardsons. Their Seneca house called the Star Theatre was mentioned in the March 5, 1924, issue of Motion Picture News. It’s possible that the Star Theatre was also called the Richardson Theatre at some point, but I haven’t found evidence that it was.
This web page has a couple of programs from the Richardson Theatre, from 1936 and 1937. The page also mentions (at the bottom) that the Star Theatre was listed in the 1927 Film Yearbook.
The Star Theatre at Seneca, North Carolina, operated by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Richardson, is mentioned in the March 5, 1924, issue of Motion Picture News. Kenneth Richardson opened the Richardson Theatre at Seneca in 1935.
The Richmond Theatre was remodeled and enlarged in 1935, according to this item from the April 24 issue of Motion Picture Daily:
“Rebuild at Rockingham
“Charlotte, N. C, April 23. — H. C. Wall is modernizing the Richmond at Rockingham, N. C. The seating capacity will be doubled to 855. New chairs will be installed and posts will be eliminated. The lobby is being widened from seven to 18 feet.”
Mentions of the Richmond’s older rival, the Star Theatre, which had been in operation at least as early as 1917, soon vanished from the local newspaper. Henry C. Wall was still operating the Richmond in 1940, when another house (possibly the Star reopened and renamed) called the Strand was also in operation. That year, Wall opened a second house, called the Little Theatre, giving Rockingham three movie houses.
The Tribune Theatre was opened by the Springer & Cocalis circuit in 1935. The April 5, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Daily named it as one of four movie houses then under construction by the chain:
“S. & C. at Work On
Four New Theatres
“In addition to the Tribune and Court which are now nearing completion, Springer & Cocalis are building two other theatres, one a 1,400-seat house at 204th St. and Broadway, and a second, a 1,200-seat theatre, at Hillside development at Boston Post Road. Both houses will be ready in September.
“The Tribune, which will seat 600, is expected to be ready for opening May 1. The Court, also a 600-seater, will be opened about May I5.”
An item mentioning the Casino Theatre in the April 22, 1937, issue of The Film Daily says that it had 600 seats:
“Cocalis Adds 2 Houses
“Sam D. Cocalis has added two new units to his circuit. Both are in Keansburg, N. J. One is the new 1,200-seat house nearing completion. He will probably call it the Alexander. The other theatre is the Casino, seating 600.”
A Red Bank Register article from February 10, 1938, said that Sam Cocalis was operating the Casino and Fowler Theatres in Keansburg. The house he was building in 1937 must have been the Fowler, which we list with 580 seats. It’s possible that the Film Daily article got the capacities reversed, but maybe it was the Yearbook (which was probably our source) that got them backwards. Both theaters have been demolished, so satellite view is no help in determining their sizes.
The Fowler Theatre was probably opened in 1937. An item in the April 22 issue of The Film Daily said that Sam Cocalis had acquired the Casino Theatre in Keansburg and also had a new house under construction there which was nearing completion. Both theaters have since been demolished. Sam Cocalis’s Fowler Theatre was mentioned in the February 10, 1938, issue of the Red Bank Register.
An item datelined Palmer, Nebraska, in the July 7, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World said: “Leffelbein & Beyer have sold the Pastime theater to Charles Griffith.”
Palmer didn’t make many appearances in the trade journals. The April 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Daily said that Russell E. Johnson had opened the Opera House at Palmer, Neb., and the January 4, 1937 issue of The Film Daily said that Bingham and Walters, of Ericson, Nebraska, had opened a house in Palmer called the Waltham Theatre. That’s all I’ve found outside the yearbooks.
In one of the photos at CinemaTour that Life’s Too short linked to, you can make out the sign for the cross street, and it’s Adams, not Charles. The “Theatres in Construction” column of Variety, May 26, 1926 said that the theater that was to be built at Mulberry and Adams Streets in Muncie had been designed by Indianapolis architect Donald Graham.
Philadelphia Architects & Buildings has some drawings and floor plans of a theater in Hammonton for Sam Frank, dated 7/23/1926. The plans were by the firm of Magaziner, Eberhardt & Harris. As always, the full-resolution images are available only to PAB subrscribers, but this page has thumbnails.
This item is from the “Theatres in Construction” column of Variety, May 5, 1926:
Chamberaburg, Pa. — (Also apartments) S. Main, near Washington Street. Owner. Chambersburg Theatre Co., L. Luke, Pottstown, Pa. Architect. M. R. Rhoads, Chambersburg. Value and policy not given.“
This history of the Capitol from the theater’s web site says that it was built for a Pottstown theater company, and that a local architect was hired to design it. The location is right for the Capitol, too, so it is very likely that the Variety item is about the Capitol.
Local architect Maurice R. Rhoads also drew the plans for the remodeling of the Rosedale Opera House in Chambersburg into the Rosedale Theatre in 1920. Rhoads died in 1926, but I haven’t been able to find out how early in the year. As the Capitol did not open until February, 1927, it is possible that some other architect was brought in to complete the project.
The article MKtchamp linked to says that the Indiana Theatre opened on October 6, 1926. The Opera House built in 1892 was destroyed by a fire earlier that year, as reported (without the theater’s name) in the January 12, 1926 issue of The Film Daily:
“ Fire Destroys Wash. Ind., House
“Washington, Ind. — Fire destroyed a local house, causing a loss estimated at $150,000. Nearly 1,000 persons were in the theater when the fire started but all filed out quietly.”
The Janauary 11, 1926, issue of The Indianapolis News reported that the damage to the Grand Theatre, formerly the Grand Opera House, been extensive, with walls collapsing into the street and through the roof of an adjacent building. Because of the extent of the damage it seems unlikely that much, if any, of the structure of the Opera House remained to be incorporated into the Indiana Theatre. Perhaps we should consider the Grand Opera House/Grand Theatre a separate house rather than aka’s for the Indiana Theatre?
The Indiana Theatre was built for the Switow chain of Louisville, Kentucky, and operated by them for many years. The “Theatres in Construction” column of the May 5, 1926, issue of Variety had this item about it:
“Washington, Ind. — $100,000. Fourth and Main streets. Owners, A. Switow & Sons, Louisville. Architect, Carl J. Epping, Louisville. Pictures.”
Carl J. Epping was around this time president of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. It’s possible that he designed other theater projects for the Switow interests, but I haven’t been able to track any down.
This item from The Film Daily of January 6, 1926, notes the recent opening of the Lancaster Theatre, the second house of that name on the site:
“Detroit — The new Lancaster, 10530 West Jefferson Ave., River Rouge, opened. It is on the site of the old Lancaster. Ted Williams will manage the house, which seats 1,650 and cost $275,000.”
Unless River Rouge flipped odd and even addresses from one side of its streets to the other at some point, the magazine got the theater’s address wrong. In 1930, a Milton’s Shoe Store was advertising its location as “10530 West Jefferson Avenue, opposite Lancaster Theatre.”
The July 16, 1935, issue of The Film Daily had this item:
“H. K. Allen of Dallas and J. J. Bowler of Springfield, Mo., opened the Island theater in Grand Island over the week-end with double features. It is the fifth theater in Nebraska’s third city.”
Although the item doesn’t specify it, this must have been a re-opening. The building looks to date from the 1920s, and the wide center bay and the pattern of the arched second floor windows suggest that it was built specifically to house a theater.
From the late 1930s until his death in 1949, the Island Theatre was operated by William Youngclaus, and from 1949 until around 1960 it was operated by his widow. Youngclaus was involved in exhibition in Iowa and Nebraska at least as early as 1919.
American Classic Images has two photos of the Omwick Theatre. This one from April, 1980, shows the house still in operation, and this one from June, 1987, shows that it had been converted into a thrift shop by then.
I’m not sure what occupies the Omwick Theatre building now. The door has a sign reading “Open Door Center,” but an Internet search reveals that Open Door operates several facilities in Valley City. Their home page says that “…Open Door Center provides day, residential and vocational services for individuals with disabilities including children and adults with developmental disabilities, adults with mental illness and people with a traumatic brain injury.” But there’s no indication of which function or functions the Omwick building serves.
Windows have been punched in the side wall of the auditorium along 2nd Street, and they are all at the same height so it’s likely that the floor has been leveled (downhill wheelchair races by developmentally disable kids are surely one of the last things any sort of care facility would want.) The building might be anything from a clinic to offices to a residential facility.
A web page about Page, North Dakota, says that the Omwick Theatre’s seats were installed in the Page Theatre there, but doesn’t say when (CT’s Page page.)
This web page has a small photo of the Omwick Theatre in (probably) 1970 (it was showing Love Story with Ryan O'Neil and Ali MacGraw.)
This web page about Page has a few photos of the Page Theatre, including some interior shots (pretty much the typical small twin with no historic features other than those on the front.) The page says that the seats in the Page came from the Omwick Theatre (CT’s Omwick page) in Valley City, North Dakota.
The web site of the City of Page has a page for the Page, but the only thing on it right now is a notice that the house is closed for the season. Movie listings are featured when the theater is open.
This item is from the February 19, 1916, issue of The American Contractor:
“Pittsburgh, Pa. — Moving Picture Theater, Store & Apt. Bldg.: $16,000. 2 sty. 32x80. 1604 Carson st. Archt. Chas. Geisler, 1933 Warnock st. Owner Louis Michael, 1606 Carson st. Plans in progress.”
A later issue of the magazine said that plans were complete and the architect would be taking bids for the project about March 15. Chas. Geisler was probably the Charles R. Geisler who designed the Harris South Hills Theatre in Dormont, Pennsylvania.
We’ve been using the wrong address for the Grand Theatre. The auto body shop entrance at 2311 Rheem Avenue was cut into what had been the end wall of the auditorium. Comparing the vintage photo with modern street view, the theater entrance was where Amigo Tires is now, at 1144 23rd Street. The Grand Market was on the corner, inside the “L” of the theater.
This item from the May 30, 1925, issue of Exhibitors Trade Review is surely about the Dundee Theatre:
“Archt. — John & Alan McDonald, 2nd flr., Standard Oil Bldg., Omaha, Nebr., drawing plans on Theatre (M.P.), $50,000; 2 sty. & bas., 50 x 128, at 50th & Dodge. Owner— A. R. Hansen, 4901 Dodge, Omaha, Nebr. Drawing plans.”
The Dundee Theatre opened on December 19, 1925. It had a four-manual Hillgreen-Lane organ to accompany the silent movies that were its primary fare. Quite a few Internet sources say that the Dundee opened as a vaudeville theater, but in this suburban neighborhood location this fairly small house would have operated primarily as a movie theater, probably bringing in a few vaudeville acts as an occasional added attraction.
The archives of The Omaha World-Herald have this (partial) ad published the day before the theater opened.
The father and son team of John and Alan McDonald were among Omaha’s leading architects of the period. Hansen’s decision to give them the commission for this theater was an indication that he was well aware of the need to impress his potential patrons, the residents of this well-to-do enclave, with something more than an ordinary neighborhood movie house.
Although none of the addresses the magazine gives make sense (all in residential districts,) the theater in this item from the May 30, 1925, issue of Exhibitors Trade Review is probably the Piller Theatre:
“Archt. — J. E. Nason, Corn Exchange, Minneapolis, Minn., building Theatre (M.P.), 2 sty., at 5th Ave. & 4th St., Valley City, N. D. Owner— John Piller, Grand Theatre, 511 5th Ave., Valley City. N. D. Gen. Contr. let to E. A. Moline, Jamestown, Md.”
The contractor was undoubtedly from Jamestown, ND, not Maryland. Architect Joseph E. Nason also designed the earlier Nokomis Theatre in Minneapolis.
This photo on the Granada Theatre’s photo page shows the Orpheum just up the block from the Granada, and across the street from the Palace. The Orpheum’s entrance was in the central of three bays, so the address must have been 222 N. Michigan Street. The site is now part of the plaza fronting the Morris Performing Arts Center.
The 1927 FDY lists the Capitol as under construction, so it might have replaced the Strand.
A book called History of Hall County, Nebraska (Google Books scan,) published in 1920, said that the Michelson Theatre had been built “…about eleven years ago….”
An article in The Grand Island Independent of July 1, 2000, said that the Michelson was renovated and renamed the Strand in 1921. It also said the house had 450 seats and featured a balcony. They must have been squeezed tight, because the building isn’t very big, especially considering that the Michelson presented vaudeville as well as movies.
In 1917, Hebron had two movie theaters: the Elite, which had been in operation since at least 1913, and the Gem. I’m not adding them because one or the other might be an aka for the Majestic. Maybe somebody familiar with Hebron’s history knows for sure and will show up here.
The Orpheum Theatre was listed in the 1921 South Bend city directory at 220-24 N. Michigan Street. The Orpheum was listed in the 1913-1914 Cahn guide as a ground floor house with 1105 seats.
The Orpheum Theatre in South Bend was advertised in the March 2, 1912, issue of The New York Clipper as part of the Allardt Circuit, which was headquartered in the Majestic Theatre Building, Chicago, and booked through the Western Vaudeville Managers' Association.
This item appeared in the May 13, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Daily:
The NRHP nomination form for the historic district in which the theater is located says that the Richardson Theatre opened in 1920, but I think that might have been a different theater operated by the Richardsons. Their Seneca house called the Star Theatre was mentioned in the March 5, 1924, issue of Motion Picture News. It’s possible that the Star Theatre was also called the Richardson Theatre at some point, but I haven’t found evidence that it was.This web page has a couple of programs from the Richardson Theatre, from 1936 and 1937. The page also mentions (at the bottom) that the Star Theatre was listed in the 1927 Film Yearbook.
The Star Theatre at Seneca, North Carolina, operated by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Richardson, is mentioned in the March 5, 1924, issue of Motion Picture News. Kenneth Richardson opened the Richardson Theatre at Seneca in 1935.
This page of the Village of Orchard’s web site has a few lines about the Rex Theatre. It says that the last show was on November 14, 1970.
The Richmond Theatre was remodeled and enlarged in 1935, according to this item from the April 24 issue of Motion Picture Daily:
Mentions of the Richmond’s older rival, the Star Theatre, which had been in operation at least as early as 1917, soon vanished from the local newspaper. Henry C. Wall was still operating the Richmond in 1940, when another house (possibly the Star reopened and renamed) called the Strand was also in operation. That year, Wall opened a second house, called the Little Theatre, giving Rockingham three movie houses.The Tribune Theatre was opened by the Springer & Cocalis circuit in 1935. The April 5, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Daily named it as one of four movie houses then under construction by the chain:
An item mentioning the Casino Theatre in the April 22, 1937, issue of The Film Daily says that it had 600 seats:
A Red Bank Register article from February 10, 1938, said that Sam Cocalis was operating the Casino and Fowler Theatres in Keansburg. The house he was building in 1937 must have been the Fowler, which we list with 580 seats. It’s possible that the Film Daily article got the capacities reversed, but maybe it was the Yearbook (which was probably our source) that got them backwards. Both theaters have been demolished, so satellite view is no help in determining their sizes.The Fowler Theatre was probably opened in 1937. An item in the April 22 issue of The Film Daily said that Sam Cocalis had acquired the Casino Theatre in Keansburg and also had a new house under construction there which was nearing completion. Both theaters have since been demolished. Sam Cocalis’s Fowler Theatre was mentioned in the February 10, 1938, issue of the Red Bank Register.
An item datelined Palmer, Nebraska, in the July 7, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World said: “Leffelbein & Beyer have sold the Pastime theater to Charles Griffith.”
Palmer didn’t make many appearances in the trade journals. The April 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Daily said that Russell E. Johnson had opened the Opera House at Palmer, Neb., and the January 4, 1937 issue of The Film Daily said that Bingham and Walters, of Ericson, Nebraska, had opened a house in Palmer called the Waltham Theatre. That’s all I’ve found outside the yearbooks.
In one of the photos at CinemaTour that Life’s Too short linked to, you can make out the sign for the cross street, and it’s Adams, not Charles. The “Theatres in Construction” column of Variety, May 26, 1926 said that the theater that was to be built at Mulberry and Adams Streets in Muncie had been designed by Indianapolis architect Donald Graham.
Philadelphia Architects & Buildings has some drawings and floor plans of a theater in Hammonton for Sam Frank, dated 7/23/1926. The plans were by the firm of Magaziner, Eberhardt & Harris. As always, the full-resolution images are available only to PAB subrscribers, but this page has thumbnails.
This item is from the “Theatres in Construction” column of Variety, May 5, 1926:
This history of the Capitol from the theater’s web site says that it was built for a Pottstown theater company, and that a local architect was hired to design it. The location is right for the Capitol, too, so it is very likely that the Variety item is about the Capitol.Local architect Maurice R. Rhoads also drew the plans for the remodeling of the Rosedale Opera House in Chambersburg into the Rosedale Theatre in 1920. Rhoads died in 1926, but I haven’t been able to find out how early in the year. As the Capitol did not open until February, 1927, it is possible that some other architect was brought in to complete the project.
The article MKtchamp linked to says that the Indiana Theatre opened on October 6, 1926. The Opera House built in 1892 was destroyed by a fire earlier that year, as reported (without the theater’s name) in the January 12, 1926 issue of The Film Daily:
The Janauary 11, 1926, issue of The Indianapolis News reported that the damage to the Grand Theatre, formerly the Grand Opera House, been extensive, with walls collapsing into the street and through the roof of an adjacent building. Because of the extent of the damage it seems unlikely that much, if any, of the structure of the Opera House remained to be incorporated into the Indiana Theatre. Perhaps we should consider the Grand Opera House/Grand Theatre a separate house rather than aka’s for the Indiana Theatre?The Indiana Theatre was built for the Switow chain of Louisville, Kentucky, and operated by them for many years. The “Theatres in Construction” column of the May 5, 1926, issue of Variety had this item about it:
Carl J. Epping was around this time president of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. It’s possible that he designed other theater projects for the Switow interests, but I haven’t been able to track any down.This item from The Film Daily of January 6, 1926, notes the recent opening of the Lancaster Theatre, the second house of that name on the site:
Unless River Rouge flipped odd and even addresses from one side of its streets to the other at some point, the magazine got the theater’s address wrong. In 1930, a Milton’s Shoe Store was advertising its location as “10530 West Jefferson Avenue, opposite Lancaster Theatre.”The July 16, 1935, issue of The Film Daily had this item:
Although the item doesn’t specify it, this must have been a re-opening. The building looks to date from the 1920s, and the wide center bay and the pattern of the arched second floor windows suggest that it was built specifically to house a theater.From the late 1930s until his death in 1949, the Island Theatre was operated by William Youngclaus, and from 1949 until around 1960 it was operated by his widow. Youngclaus was involved in exhibition in Iowa and Nebraska at least as early as 1919.
The Rex Theatre was mentioned in the September 5, 1912, issue of the Valley City Weekly Times Record.
American Classic Images has two photos of the Omwick Theatre. This one from April, 1980, shows the house still in operation, and this one from June, 1987, shows that it had been converted into a thrift shop by then.
I’m not sure what occupies the Omwick Theatre building now. The door has a sign reading “Open Door Center,” but an Internet search reveals that Open Door operates several facilities in Valley City. Their home page says that “…Open Door Center provides day, residential and vocational services for individuals with disabilities including children and adults with developmental disabilities, adults with mental illness and people with a traumatic brain injury.” But there’s no indication of which function or functions the Omwick building serves.
Windows have been punched in the side wall of the auditorium along 2nd Street, and they are all at the same height so it’s likely that the floor has been leveled (downhill wheelchair races by developmentally disable kids are surely one of the last things any sort of care facility would want.) The building might be anything from a clinic to offices to a residential facility.
A web page about Page, North Dakota, says that the Omwick Theatre’s seats were installed in the Page Theatre there, but doesn’t say when (CT’s Page page.)
This web page has a small photo of the Omwick Theatre in (probably) 1970 (it was showing Love Story with Ryan O'Neil and Ali MacGraw.)
This web page about Page has a few photos of the Page Theatre, including some interior shots (pretty much the typical small twin with no historic features other than those on the front.) The page says that the seats in the Page came from the Omwick Theatre (CT’s Omwick page) in Valley City, North Dakota.
The web site of the City of Page has a page for the Page, but the only thing on it right now is a notice that the house is closed for the season. Movie listings are featured when the theater is open.
This item is from the February 19, 1916, issue of The American Contractor:
A later issue of the magazine said that plans were complete and the architect would be taking bids for the project about March 15. Chas. Geisler was probably the Charles R. Geisler who designed the Harris South Hills Theatre in Dormont, Pennsylvania.We’ve been using the wrong address for the Grand Theatre. The auto body shop entrance at 2311 Rheem Avenue was cut into what had been the end wall of the auditorium. Comparing the vintage photo with modern street view, the theater entrance was where Amigo Tires is now, at 1144 23rd Street. The Grand Market was on the corner, inside the “L” of the theater.
This item from the May 30, 1925, issue of Exhibitors Trade Review is surely about the Dundee Theatre:
The Dundee Theatre opened on December 19, 1925. It had a four-manual Hillgreen-Lane organ to accompany the silent movies that were its primary fare. Quite a few Internet sources say that the Dundee opened as a vaudeville theater, but in this suburban neighborhood location this fairly small house would have operated primarily as a movie theater, probably bringing in a few vaudeville acts as an occasional added attraction.The archives of The Omaha World-Herald have this (partial) ad published the day before the theater opened.
The father and son team of John and Alan McDonald were among Omaha’s leading architects of the period. Hansen’s decision to give them the commission for this theater was an indication that he was well aware of the need to impress his potential patrons, the residents of this well-to-do enclave, with something more than an ordinary neighborhood movie house.
Although none of the addresses the magazine gives make sense (all in residential districts,) the theater in this item from the May 30, 1925, issue of Exhibitors Trade Review is probably the Piller Theatre:
The contractor was undoubtedly from Jamestown, ND, not Maryland. Architect Joseph E. Nason also designed the earlier Nokomis Theatre in Minneapolis.This photo on the Granada Theatre’s photo page shows the Orpheum just up the block from the Granada, and across the street from the Palace. The Orpheum’s entrance was in the central of three bays, so the address must have been 222 N. Michigan Street. The site is now part of the plaza fronting the Morris Performing Arts Center.
The 1927 FDY lists the Capitol as under construction, so it might have replaced the Strand.
A book called History of Hall County, Nebraska (Google Books scan,) published in 1920, said that the Michelson Theatre had been built “…about eleven years ago….”
An article in The Grand Island Independent of July 1, 2000, said that the Michelson was renovated and renamed the Strand in 1921. It also said the house had 450 seats and featured a balcony. They must have been squeezed tight, because the building isn’t very big, especially considering that the Michelson presented vaudeville as well as movies.
In 1917, Hebron had two movie theaters: the Elite, which had been in operation since at least 1913, and the Gem. I’m not adding them because one or the other might be an aka for the Majestic. Maybe somebody familiar with Hebron’s history knows for sure and will show up here.
The Orpheum Theatre was listed in the 1921 South Bend city directory at 220-24 N. Michigan Street. The Orpheum was listed in the 1913-1914 Cahn guide as a ground floor house with 1105 seats.
The Orpheum Theatre in South Bend was advertised in the March 2, 1912, issue of The New York Clipper as part of the Allardt Circuit, which was headquartered in the Majestic Theatre Building, Chicago, and booked through the Western Vaudeville Managers' Association.