Not at an intersection, and not on Main. The theater is at 115-117 W Butler. Dates are wrong as well. The Star is listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. The building was originally the Apollo Hall (later Apollo Opera House), built between 1897 and 1901. The capacity of the opera house is listed as 600 in the 1905 Cahn guide. The theater was still open in 1986 when the NRHP survey for downtown was done. The building is in fairly threadbare condition. The outdoor ticket booth has been destroyed and that side of the building has been derelict since well before 2010. There was a senior center on the other side, which may now be closed.
I do not think the address is right. While 203 is indeed a taxi station on the 1917 map, it is furniture storage on the 1912 map (and an armory in 1905). I see no theaters on the east side except for the Elite at 3 S Jefferson in 1912, and moved to 1 S Jefferson in 1917.
Not sure why this is listed as demolished. The building is still there, although it’s an incredibly ugly siding box. Who knows what’s under the sheet metal?
It was being used as a church in 2010, but a nonprofit was formed in 2022 to restore it. The ‘50s marquee, hidden under '70s plastic trash, has been revealed again.
The building is an unattractive one story corrugated metal shed. It appears to be home to a religious organization. According to the KHRI, it was constructed sometime between 1899 and 1901. Entry here -https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=001-98
Almost certainly somewhere on S Main St. Most likely demolished, but there are some possibilities for a small theater still standing in the decaying village.
The address is wrong, there is no Main St. This must have been on Cedar, and is certainly demolished. This town is a squalid wreck, and very few buildings survive. I think, from the very poor quality thumbnails, that it was north of Randolph. It appears to have been just south of the old library, which is the ugly abandoned siding covered thing south of the fire station. The theater, and the dealership to the south, were gone by 2008. Possible address of 323 Cedar.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
May 17, 2025 at 2:16 pm
That demolition date cannot be right, since there was a gas station here in 1930. It does appear that this structure has a roof, so the indoor conversion part is correct.
I’m not sure where this would have been. The corner is 202. There is no 200, even though it makes more sense. 202 ½ is the upstairs. The 1912 map doesn’t show anything upstairs. The space at 202 was occupied by a clothing store from 1895 through at least 1912 (the remaining bay window says ‘H.L.T. Skinner Clothier’ at the top), and there were some small spaces at the rear which faced W 2nd St. The left hand side of the building, 204, had a more varied history, and the theater might have been there, although again it would have closed by 1912.
George P. Washburn (1846-1922) was a prolific local architect. His office at 413 S Main is a charming Victorian eclectic structure. He mainly produced civic designs, with 9 Carnegie libraries and 13 courthouses to his credit.
This was not a conversion of the opera house. That was a large quadruple storefront 3 story building located roughly where the ugly little bank is. The Wikipedia page for Garnett has a photo showing both the proto-Peoples and the opera house. This area is a vacant lot on the July 1913 map, but the Peoples is listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. The name may have been moved. There is a Undeeda listed on 4th Ave, while the Peoples has no address information.
Judging from the photo in the listing which shows the neighboring buildings, the Opera House had been torn down by around 1940.
I’m sure the dates are right, but there is a gorgeous antique mirror in the courthouse, with a wooden frame holding advertisements. One is for the Tauy. Given that it is in the Eastlake style, it likely has been in the courthouse since it was built in 1892. Most of the other ads appear very old, and have 3 digit phone numbers. I don’t find any evidence of an earlier Tauy, so I suppose the card was placed in the frame around 1941.
The original building may have been a wooden structure which was originally built between 1884 and 1888 as the Ottawa Carriage Works. It was rebuilt or replaced between 1888 and 1893 by a wooden auditorium roughly the same size, but with a second story.
The 1905 Cahn guide gives the Rohrbaugh Opera House (also the name on the 1912 map) a capacity of 1,200.
Surely we can have a better main photo than a terrible blurry picture of one corner of the screen?
Link to the KHRI entry for this building - https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=207-6010-00033
Not at an intersection, and not on Main. The theater is at 115-117 W Butler. Dates are wrong as well. The Star is listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. The building was originally the Apollo Hall (later Apollo Opera House), built between 1897 and 1901. The capacity of the opera house is listed as 600 in the 1905 Cahn guide. The theater was still open in 1986 when the NRHP survey for downtown was done. The building is in fairly threadbare condition. The outdoor ticket booth has been destroyed and that side of the building has been derelict since well before 2010. There was a senior center on the other side, which may now be closed.
That makes sense. The new Empress was supposedly a remodeled commercial building, but he could have used the name here first.
The map is from 1916, so you may well be right. I got my information from one of the other listings, which I felt misidentified the Empress.
Trolleyguy’s comment was misinterpreted. The church runs the youth center. The changes should be reverted.
I do not think the address is right. While 203 is indeed a taxi station on the 1917 map, it is furniture storage on the 1912 map (and an armory in 1905). I see no theaters on the east side except for the Elite at 3 S Jefferson in 1912, and moved to 1 S Jefferson in 1917.
The building is in good shape, although the ground floor is pretty ugly. It’s a CPAs office.
Not sure why this is listed as demolished. The building is still there, although it’s an incredibly ugly siding box. Who knows what’s under the sheet metal?
It was being used as a church in 2010, but a nonprofit was formed in 2022 to restore it. The ‘50s marquee, hidden under '70s plastic trash, has been revealed again.
The building is an unattractive one story corrugated metal shed. It appears to be home to a religious organization. According to the KHRI, it was constructed sometime between 1899 and 1901. Entry here -https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=001-98
Address would be 203. The Memorial Hall was a very attractive building, but was demolished in 1970 to be replaced by some appallingly ugly apartments.
Almost certainly somewhere on S Main St. Most likely demolished, but there are some possibilities for a small theater still standing in the decaying village.
The address is wrong, there is no Main St. This must have been on Cedar, and is certainly demolished. This town is a squalid wreck, and very few buildings survive. I think, from the very poor quality thumbnails, that it was north of Randolph. It appears to have been just south of the old library, which is the ugly abandoned siding covered thing south of the fire station. The theater, and the dealership to the south, were gone by 2008. Possible address of 323 Cedar.
That demolition date cannot be right, since there was a gas station here in 1930. It does appear that this structure has a roof, so the indoor conversion part is correct.
I’m not sure where this would have been. The corner is 202. There is no 200, even though it makes more sense. 202 ½ is the upstairs. The 1912 map doesn’t show anything upstairs. The space at 202 was occupied by a clothing store from 1895 through at least 1912 (the remaining bay window says ‘H.L.T. Skinner Clothier’ at the top), and there were some small spaces at the rear which faced W 2nd St. The left hand side of the building, 204, had a more varied history, and the theater might have been there, although again it would have closed by 1912.
I’ve added a picture. Some moron put cladding on the left hand side sometime around the ‘60s, so that bay is missing.
George P. Washburn (1846-1922) was a prolific local architect. His office at 413 S Main is a charming Victorian eclectic structure. He mainly produced civic designs, with 9 Carnegie libraries and 13 courthouses to his credit.
Capacity listed is the current capacity. The Yearbooks listed it as 1,500. It was likely reduced during the renovations in the ‘70s.
This was not a conversion of the opera house. That was a large quadruple storefront 3 story building located roughly where the ugly little bank is. The Wikipedia page for Garnett has a photo showing both the proto-Peoples and the opera house. This area is a vacant lot on the July 1913 map, but the Peoples is listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. The name may have been moved. There is a Undeeda listed on 4th Ave, while the Peoples has no address information.
Judging from the photo in the listing which shows the neighboring buildings, the Opera House had been torn down by around 1940.
I’m sure the dates are right, but there is a gorgeous antique mirror in the courthouse, with a wooden frame holding advertisements. One is for the Tauy. Given that it is in the Eastlake style, it likely has been in the courthouse since it was built in 1892. Most of the other ads appear very old, and have 3 digit phone numbers. I don’t find any evidence of an earlier Tauy, so I suppose the card was placed in the frame around 1941.
Here’s the KHRI entry for the theater, with a few bits of information - https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=059-4270-00038
If you drive the streetview car down the alley behind, the original stone walls of the Pickrell Block can be seen.
As pointed out in 2018, the ‘Grill &’ part of the name should be removed. Looks like it hasn’t had a restaurant since at least 2014.
The original building may have been a wooden structure which was originally built between 1884 and 1888 as the Ottawa Carriage Works. It was rebuilt or replaced between 1888 and 1893 by a wooden auditorium roughly the same size, but with a second story.
The 1905 Cahn guide gives the Rohrbaugh Opera House (also the name on the 1912 map) a capacity of 1,200.
The address was 317-321 S Hickory St, almost directly across from the courthouse. This location is now a parking lot. Status should be updated.