The 1918 Sanborn map of Fairmont shows a “Moving Picture Theater” at 316 Adams, just up the hill from the site of the Virginia. It wasn’t on the 1912 map. I haven’t been able to identify this mystery theater.
A history of theater concession stands by Lucy Hulls (PDF here) says that the Virginia installed a permanent stand on one side of its large lobby as part of major refurbishments in 1924, which would make it one of the earlier cinemas to provide such a facility.
The 1912 Sanborn map of Fairmont shows the Hippodrome at 413-415 Adams Street. It was the easternmost of four moving picture houses on the street, and was almost directly across the street from the vacant lot where the Fairmont Theatre would later be built.
The Princess Theatre opened on October 14, 1915. The Fairmont West Virginian reported that the planned 1:00 pm opening had to be delayed until 6:00 pm due to the failure of the film reels to arrive on time.
An item datelined Fairmont in the July 17, 1913 issue of Construction Record had said that “[w]ork will soon be started on erecting a one-story brick moving picture theatre on Jefferson street, for F J. Galliger, Main street, from private plans. Cost $10,000.” If that project was the Princess then Mr. Galliger’s plans took quite a while to come to fruition, and I’ve found no more mentions of him.
The Gazette article with the information is no longer available online, but it said that the Forest Theatre opened in 1927 as the Castle Theatre and was renamed Forest Theatre in 1940, so we can delete the redundant page for the Castle Theatre. The Forest operated until it was gutted by a fire in July, 1966. The theater’s site is now occupied by part of a bank. The bank uses the address 231 S. White Street, but the theater’s number was probably a bit lower, perhaps 225 S. White.
The correct address for the Collegiate Theatre is 214 S. White Avenue. Opened in 1939, the theater was destroyed by an explosion and fire on March 12, 1940. The building’s owner, local fast food purveyor Shorty Joyner, had the house rebuilt and it operated until shortly after Wake Forest College moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. At that time, Mr. Joyner moved his hot dog restaurant into the building, where it remains today.
The theater’s history is recounted on >this web page from the Wake Forest Historical Museum.
This is from the “Theatres Under Construction” column of Film Daily, December 16, 1938: “NORTH CAROLINA Wake Forest — Collegiate, 302 seats, White St.; Builder: T. C. Hester; Architect: C. C. Whitacre; Cost: $10,000; Operator: C. C. Whitacre.”
Imp was the name given for this house by an item in the November 4, 1922 Moving Picture World. The item was about the opening of the new State Theatre, and said that the State Amusement Co. also controlled the Penn and Imp Theatres. I think there’s enough evidence of its use to justify adding Imp Theatre as an aka for this house.
The November 4, 1922 issue of Moving Picture World said that the formal opening of the new State Theatre in Uniontown had been held on October 30. The item noted that the state Amusement Company also controlled the Penn and Imp (an aka for the Imperial) Theatres. The State had been 18 months in building.
The November 4, 1922 issue of Moving Picture World had this announcement: “F. E. O'Neil, of McMinnville, Oregon, opened a new theatre in that city September 15, and has been maintaining record attendance for his district since the opening. O'Neil’s new theatre is called ‘The Lark.’”
The Bedford Theatre opened in 1920 as the Richelieu Theatre. The Richelieu is last listed in the FDY in 1929, with 500 seats. The Bedford was first listed in 1930, without a seating capacity, but in 1931 it was listed with 440 seats. The renaming must have taken place sometime in 1929.
The October 9, 1920 Moving Picture World said that the Richelieu had opened on September 27. It was owned by Charles Richelieu, who would sell the house to Harry R. Cromwell in 1923, as reported in the July 27 issue of the Bedford Gazette. In 1925 he would build the similar but somewhat larger Richelieu Theatre in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, which was later renamed the Plaza Theatre.
The Bellefonte house was designed by architect Anna Wagner Keichline, and the Bedford Richelieu is of similar style, so it might be that she designed it as well, but I haven’t been able to confirm this.
Harry Cromwell operated the Bedford and Pitt Theatres until his death in April, 1951. His widow, Grace Cromwell, then operated the houses until selling them in November that year to B. J. Redfoot, owner of the Arcadia Theatre in Windber. The Bedford had been operating only on weekends for some time, though the Pitt was open every day. All this was reported in the November 24, 1951 issue of Boxoffice, which said that Redfoot planned changes of policy for the houses, but had not yet revealed what the new policies would be.
The January 14, 1937 issue of Film Daily had this item: “Clear Lake, Ia.—C. E. Carragher is remodeling and re-equipping his Park Theater.” Charles Carragher (sometimes misspelled as Caragher) was listed in Polk directories as early as 1918 as manager of the Electric Theatre in Clear Lake.
A December 25, 1915 Moving Picture World item datelined Clear Lake said that “C. E. Carragher, of Rudd, Iowa, who recently took over the Palm theater, is planning to make a number of improvements.”
An item in the local paper in November, 1916, said that D.C. Branson had sold the Electric Theatre to C. Carragher.
An item datelined Clear Lake in the April 9, 1927 issue of The Billboard says that “[t]he Park Theatre [is] to undergo alterations and improvements, C. E. Carragher is owner and manager.”
The 250-seat Park is the only theater listed at Clear Lake in the 1926 FDY, but then it vanishes in the next three editions, with 1927 and 1928 listing a 250-seat Electric Theatre and a house called the Garden with no capacity given, and the 1929 edition lists a 250-seat Uptown Theatre and the Palm Theatre, with no capacity given. In 1930, the Park is back, the only house in town, and listed as wired for sound. The Uptown rejoins the Park in 1931, but is listed as silent. After that, it’s only the Park through 1936.
Clear Lake is not listed in 1937 or 1938, and I have no 1939 edition, but in 1940 the 500-seat Lake is listed along with the 250-seat Park, which was closed. A local newspaper item in 1945 announced the grand opening of the Park Theatre, but I haven’t checked FDYs to see if it was listed as closed between 1940 and then.
A house called the Electric Theatre was in operation at Clear Lake by 1914 (listed in the American Motion Picture Directory) and still in operation in 1926 (mentioned in the July 15 issue of Film Daily even though not listed in that year’s FDY.) The AMPD listed in on “Main St.” I’ve also found the Palm mentioned in 1915 and 1918 and the Uptown mentioned in 1927. the earliest theater name I’ve found associated with Clear Lake is the Star, mentioned twice in 1907.
Moving pictures apparently began at the Perkins in 1908, as noted in this item from the May 7 issue of The Holton Recorder that year: “The Perkins theatre management has installed a moving picture machine of the latest make and will give popular exhibitions in the theatre at the price of 10 cents for adults and 6 cents for children. The moving picture craze is on in Holton, and the advantage of seeing them In the beautiful Perkins theatre will appeal to the public.”
At least in its early years the Gem appears to have operated seasonally. This is from the September 26, 1912 issue of The Holton Recorder: “The Gem picture house has been opened for the winter season. The house has been cleaned and renovated and will show fine [unreadable] of pictures this fall.”
Here is a 1921 item about the renaming of the Majestic, but it gives no reason why the particular name was requested: “At the request of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, James B. Clark, of the Rowland & Clark theatres will change the name of the Majestic Theatre, Erie, a house recently taken over by the Rowland & Clark interests, to the Perry Theatre.
“It is hoped to have the opening about October 1.”
Here is the brief item about the opening of Wheeling’s new Plaza Theatre that appeared in the September 3, 1921 issue of Moving Picture World: “The beautiful new Plaza Theatre, Wheeling, W. Va., which has been under construction for the past year, was opened Monday, August 1, with ‘Black Beauty’ as the attraction. The entire proceeds of the first day were divided equally between the Ohio Valley General and the North Wheeling Hospitals.
“The theatre is under the management of George Zeppos, general manager of the Rex Theatre Co., operating the Rex Theatre here, with Paul Leach, recently manager of the Elks Club, as house manager. Fred Campwell is director of the orchestra.”
The Plaza was designed by noted local architect Frederick Fisher Faris (advertising as F. F. Faris and usually called Fred Faris in published items.)
A July 10, 1926 Moving Picture World item about the project that would open as the Capitol Theatre in 1928 said that plans for the new house had already been prepared by Fred Faris. I’m not sure why the commission ended up being given to Faris’s principal local rival, Charles W. Bates. The Plaza was certainly a handsome building, as were Faris’s numerous other works.
It should be noted that the map we display does not show the actual location of the Empire Theatre. A redevelopment project in the 1970s led to the realignment and partial obliteration of several streets. The site of the Empire was between Beacon and Palos Verdes streets, a bit west of where the Portside Inn and Suites is now located. Two other theaters operated in the near vicinity; the Star at 5th and Beacon and the New Theatre at 5th and Palos Verdes.
The Music Trade Review of April 14, 1917 said that “[t]he Wm. L. Glockner Music Co. reports the sale of a Wurlitzer orchestra, Style Y-O, to the Empire Motion Picture Theatre, San Pedro, Cal.”
The only theaters listed at Burley in Polk’s 1914 Idaho gazetteer are a 400-seat house called the Diamond Theatre and a 200-seat house called the Good Luck Theatre. To provide a bit more confusion, the only theaters listed in Burley in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory are called the Elysium Theatre and the Modern Theatre, which was at Main and Oak streets.
The 1918 Sanborn map of Fairmont shows a “Moving Picture Theater” at 316 Adams, just up the hill from the site of the Virginia. It wasn’t on the 1912 map. I haven’t been able to identify this mystery theater.
A history of theater concession stands by Lucy Hulls (PDF here) says that the Virginia installed a permanent stand on one side of its large lobby as part of major refurbishments in 1924, which would make it one of the earlier cinemas to provide such a facility.
The Princess Theatre was at 220 Jefferson Street, just off Adams Street.
The 1912 Sanborn map of Fairmont shows the Hippodrome at 413-415 Adams Street. It was the easternmost of four moving picture houses on the street, and was almost directly across the street from the vacant lot where the Fairmont Theatre would later be built.
The Princess Theatre opened on October 14, 1915. The Fairmont West Virginian reported that the planned 1:00 pm opening had to be delayed until 6:00 pm due to the failure of the film reels to arrive on time.
An item datelined Fairmont in the July 17, 1913 issue of Construction Record had said that “[w]ork will soon be started on erecting a one-story brick moving picture theatre on Jefferson street, for F J. Galliger, Main street, from private plans. Cost $10,000.” If that project was the Princess then Mr. Galliger’s plans took quite a while to come to fruition, and I’ve found no more mentions of him.
The Gazette article with the information is no longer available online, but it said that the Forest Theatre opened in 1927 as the Castle Theatre and was renamed Forest Theatre in 1940, so we can delete the redundant page for the Castle Theatre. The Forest operated until it was gutted by a fire in July, 1966. The theater’s site is now occupied by part of a bank. The bank uses the address 231 S. White Street, but the theater’s number was probably a bit lower, perhaps 225 S. White.
The correct address for the Collegiate Theatre is 214 S. White Avenue. Opened in 1939, the theater was destroyed by an explosion and fire on March 12, 1940. The building’s owner, local fast food purveyor Shorty Joyner, had the house rebuilt and it operated until shortly after Wake Forest College moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. At that time, Mr. Joyner moved his hot dog restaurant into the building, where it remains today.
The theater’s history is recounted on >this web page from the Wake Forest Historical Museum.
This is from the “Theatres Under Construction” column of Film Daily, December 16, 1938: “NORTH CAROLINA Wake Forest — Collegiate, 302 seats, White St.; Builder: T. C. Hester; Architect: C. C. Whitacre; Cost: $10,000; Operator: C. C. Whitacre.”
Imp was the name given for this house by an item in the November 4, 1922 Moving Picture World. The item was about the opening of the new State Theatre, and said that the State Amusement Co. also controlled the Penn and Imp Theatres. I think there’s enough evidence of its use to justify adding Imp Theatre as an aka for this house.
The November 4, 1922 issue of Moving Picture World said that the formal opening of the new State Theatre in Uniontown had been held on October 30. The item noted that the state Amusement Company also controlled the Penn and Imp (an aka for the Imperial) Theatres. The State had been 18 months in building.
The November 4, 1922 issue of Moving Picture World had this announcement: “F. E. O'Neil, of McMinnville, Oregon, opened a new theatre in that city September 15, and has been maintaining record attendance for his district since the opening. O'Neil’s new theatre is called ‘The Lark.’”
The Bedford Theatre opened in 1920 as the Richelieu Theatre. The Richelieu is last listed in the FDY in 1929, with 500 seats. The Bedford was first listed in 1930, without a seating capacity, but in 1931 it was listed with 440 seats. The renaming must have taken place sometime in 1929.
The October 9, 1920 Moving Picture World said that the Richelieu had opened on September 27. It was owned by Charles Richelieu, who would sell the house to Harry R. Cromwell in 1923, as reported in the July 27 issue of the Bedford Gazette. In 1925 he would build the similar but somewhat larger Richelieu Theatre in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, which was later renamed the Plaza Theatre.
The Bellefonte house was designed by architect Anna Wagner Keichline, and the Bedford Richelieu is of similar style, so it might be that she designed it as well, but I haven’t been able to confirm this.
Harry Cromwell operated the Bedford and Pitt Theatres until his death in April, 1951. His widow, Grace Cromwell, then operated the houses until selling them in November that year to B. J. Redfoot, owner of the Arcadia Theatre in Windber. The Bedford had been operating only on weekends for some time, though the Pitt was open every day. All this was reported in the November 24, 1951 issue of Boxoffice, which said that Redfoot planned changes of policy for the houses, but had not yet revealed what the new policies would be.
The January 14, 1937 issue of Film Daily had this item: “Clear Lake, Ia.—C. E. Carragher is remodeling and re-equipping his Park Theater.” Charles Carragher (sometimes misspelled as Caragher) was listed in Polk directories as early as 1918 as manager of the Electric Theatre in Clear Lake.
A December 25, 1915 Moving Picture World item datelined Clear Lake said that “C. E. Carragher, of Rudd, Iowa, who recently took over the Palm theater, is planning to make a number of improvements.”
An item in the local paper in November, 1916, said that D.C. Branson had sold the Electric Theatre to C. Carragher.
An item datelined Clear Lake in the April 9, 1927 issue of The Billboard says that “[t]he Park Theatre [is] to undergo alterations and improvements, C. E. Carragher is owner and manager.”
The 250-seat Park is the only theater listed at Clear Lake in the 1926 FDY, but then it vanishes in the next three editions, with 1927 and 1928 listing a 250-seat Electric Theatre and a house called the Garden with no capacity given, and the 1929 edition lists a 250-seat Uptown Theatre and the Palm Theatre, with no capacity given. In 1930, the Park is back, the only house in town, and listed as wired for sound. The Uptown rejoins the Park in 1931, but is listed as silent. After that, it’s only the Park through 1936.
Clear Lake is not listed in 1937 or 1938, and I have no 1939 edition, but in 1940 the 500-seat Lake is listed along with the 250-seat Park, which was closed. A local newspaper item in 1945 announced the grand opening of the Park Theatre, but I haven’t checked FDYs to see if it was listed as closed between 1940 and then.
A house called the Electric Theatre was in operation at Clear Lake by 1914 (listed in the American Motion Picture Directory) and still in operation in 1926 (mentioned in the July 15 issue of Film Daily even though not listed in that year’s FDY.) The AMPD listed in on “Main St.” I’ve also found the Palm mentioned in 1915 and 1918 and the Uptown mentioned in 1927. the earliest theater name I’ve found associated with Clear Lake is the Star, mentioned twice in 1907.
Moving pictures apparently began at the Perkins in 1908, as noted in this item from the May 7 issue of The Holton Recorder that year: “The Perkins theatre management has installed a moving picture machine of the latest make and will give popular exhibitions in the theatre at the price of 10 cents for adults and 6 cents for children. The moving picture craze is on in Holton, and the advantage of seeing them In the beautiful Perkins theatre will appeal to the public.”
At least in its early years the Gem appears to have operated seasonally. This is from the September 26, 1912 issue of The Holton Recorder: “The Gem picture house has been opened for the winter season. The house has been cleaned and renovated and will show fine [unreadable] of pictures this fall.”
The new owners of the Garden Theatre responsible for the 1936 remodeling were the A. G. Constant circuit of Steubenville, Ohio.
Here is a 1921 item about the renaming of the Majestic, but it gives no reason why the particular name was requested: “At the request of the Erie Chamber of Commerce, James B. Clark, of the Rowland & Clark theatres will change the name of the Majestic Theatre, Erie, a house recently taken over by the Rowland & Clark interests, to the Perry Theatre.
“It is hoped to have the opening about October 1.”
Here is the brief item about the opening of Wheeling’s new Plaza Theatre that appeared in the September 3, 1921 issue of Moving Picture World: “The beautiful new Plaza Theatre, Wheeling, W. Va., which has been under construction for the past year, was opened Monday, August 1, with ‘Black Beauty’ as the attraction. The entire proceeds of the first day were divided equally between the Ohio Valley General and the North Wheeling Hospitals.
“The theatre is under the management of George Zeppos, general manager of the Rex Theatre Co., operating the Rex Theatre here, with Paul Leach, recently manager of the Elks Club, as house manager. Fred Campwell is director of the orchestra.”
The Plaza was designed by noted local architect Frederick Fisher Faris (advertising as F. F. Faris and usually called Fred Faris in published items.)
A July 10, 1926 Moving Picture World item about the project that would open as the Capitol Theatre in 1928 said that plans for the new house had already been prepared by Fred Faris. I’m not sure why the commission ended up being given to Faris’s principal local rival, Charles W. Bates. The Plaza was certainly a handsome building, as were Faris’s numerous other works.
It should be noted that the map we display does not show the actual location of the Empire Theatre. A redevelopment project in the 1970s led to the realignment and partial obliteration of several streets. The site of the Empire was between Beacon and Palos Verdes streets, a bit west of where the Portside Inn and Suites is now located. Two other theaters operated in the near vicinity; the Star at 5th and Beacon and the New Theatre at 5th and Palos Verdes.
The Music Trade Review of April 14, 1917 said that “[t]he Wm. L. Glockner Music Co. reports the sale of a Wurlitzer orchestra, Style Y-O, to the Empire Motion Picture Theatre, San Pedro, Cal.”
The only theaters listed at Burley in Polk’s 1914 Idaho gazetteer are a 400-seat house called the Diamond Theatre and a 200-seat house called the Good Luck Theatre. To provide a bit more confusion, the only theaters listed in Burley in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory are called the Elysium Theatre and the Modern Theatre, which was at Main and Oak streets.
Polk’s 1914 Idaho gazetteer lists a 200-seat Amazon Theatre at Bonners Ferry. Also listed was a 200 seat house called the Utopia Theatre.
Polk’s 1914 Idaho gazetteer lists the Orpheum Theatre at Blackfoot with 250 seats.
Polk’s 1914 Idaho gazetteer lists the Isis Theatre at Blackfoot with 350 seats.
Polk’s 1914 Idaho gazetteer lists a 300-seat Star Theatre at Ashton.
The Knights of Pythias castle was built in 1904.