A history of the Swan Drive-In written by Blanche Tilley (PDF here) says that Jack Jones, Sr., Bernice Kiker Tilley, and W. H. Tilley, Jr., bought the Rialto and Royal Theatres from Willard and Betty Mowbray in 1949. Mr. Mowbray had come to Blue Ridge in the late 1920s or early 1930s and had operated a movie theater on West Main Street before opening the Royal.
The history says that the Royal had been closed after the Mowbrays opened the larger Rialto Theatre in 1947, and it was still closed when it was sold to Jones and the Tilleys. There’s no indication that it ever reopened as a theater, so it probably operated for less than two decades all told. Jones and the Tilleys opened the Swan Drive-In in 1955. The Royal Theatre’s building is still standing, converted for retail use. The current occupant of 777 E. Main is a pet supply shop.
The PSTOS page I linked to says that this house might be the one that got the Wurlitzer organ in 1921, but it couldn’t have been. The organ had to have been installed in the later Star Theatre that was built in 1917. The Knights of Pythias lodge ceased to be the Star Theatre in 1913, when the name was moved to the Wheaton Theatre. The Wheaton returned to its original name after the third Star Theatre opened in 1917.
The Wheaton Theatre is listed in the 1914 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide as a second-floor house with 567 seats. The 1906 guide had listed it with 850 seats. All of the available Cahn guides I’ve seen in which the house is listed call it the Wheaton Theatre, never the Wheaton Opera House. A commemorative spoon seen on this page also calls the house the Wheaton Theatre.
Also, in the photo currently displayed here, the name Wheaton Theater is on the building just below the cornice. I don’t think the place ever operated as the Wheaton Opera House, though an early drawing from before the house was built has “Opera House” on the building where the photo shows “Theater”.
It has been proven that the Star and the Wheaton were different theaters, though the Wheaton operated under the name Star Theatre for a few years before this house was opened. This Star Theatre, Weiser’s third of the name, must also be the one that got the Wurlitzer organ that is discussed on this PSTOS page.
A 1991 NRHP documentation form about theaters in Idaho attributes the design of the 1917 Star Theatre to Salt Lake City architect Frank Moore.
A 1991 NRHP documentation form concerning theaters in Idaho attributes the design of the Panida Theatre to Portland architect Edward A. Miller. Other sources indicate that Miller also designed the Egyptian Theatre in Seattle, the Egyptian Theatre in Portland, and (probably) the Venetian Theatre in Portland.
Other than the announcement of its opening in an issue of Motion Picture News, I’ve been unable to find anything about the Majestic Theatre on the Internet. However, the residential buildings north of McCree Way look like they were built before 1926 themselves, so I’m wondering if the addresses in Rochester might have been shifted at some point after 1926.
The March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News reported that the Campus Theatre in Berkeley had opened on January 20. The item noted that the new Golden State Theatres house was of Moorish design, and that it had been decorated by the Robert E. Powers Studios, but failed to mention architect James E. Narbett.
I suspect that this house is the Needham Theatre listed in the 1927 FDY. Motion Picture News of March 6, 1926, reported that the Needham Theatre had formally opened on February 11. The Paramount-affiliated house had a Robert Morton organ.
A close-up view of the entrance to the Victory Theatre in Salt Lake City appears at the top of this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News.
The California Theatre in Petaluma was on a list of theaters operated by the T&D circuit that was published in April, 1927. The circuit was also operating the Mystic Theatre at that time.
A New Park Theatre is listed as a T&D circuit house at Paso Robles in the 1926 edition of the Film Daily Yearbook. I’ve found a T&D Theatre at Paso Robles mentioned as early as 1924, and one source says that Turner & Dahnken began operating a theater in Paso Robles in the late 1910s. It’s possible that all three referred to the same theater. It’s also possible that the Park Theatre closed when the new T&D Theatre on 12th Street was opened in 1930.
I’ve also found a reference to the Wurlitzer organ from the T&D Theatre being donated to the church in 1931. I suspect that the organ was from the old house, and not the new one. By the time the new T&D was opened, silent movies were pretty much gone, so my guess would be that it never had an organ.
The photo page lostmemory linked to is gone, but it might have been this web page that has two photos of the T&D Theatre(click thumbnails.) Another small photo can be seen on this page.
Page 97 of Gary Lacher and Steve Stone’s Theatres of Portland features two photos of Graeper’s Egyptian Theatre (Google Books preview.) The text attributes the design of the theater to Portland architect Edward A. Miller.
The year after the Portland Egyptian opened, a very similar Egyptian Theatre opened in Seattle. According to the text of this advertisement for Heywood Wakefield seats in the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News, the Seattle Egyptian was also designed by E. A. Miller.
An ad for Heywood Wakefield seats on this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News features a drawing of the Egyptian Theatre’s auditorium. The text calls the house “Warners' Elaborate and Unique new ‘Egyptian’ Theatre in Seattle….” and attributes the design of the house to the Portland, Oregon, architect E. A. Miller.
There is little information available about Edward A. Miller, but Gary Lacher and Steven Stone’s Theatres of Portland attributes the design of the slightly earlier Egyptian Theatre in that city to him as well. The fronts of the two theaters are quite similar, so I have no doubt that the attribution is correct.
When General Drive-In Corporation (which became General Cinema Corporation in 1964) began building indoor theaters in shopping centers throughout the country in the 1960s, the company hired architect William Reisman to design them. There were a handful of basic plans, and virtually all new General Cinema houses for more than a decade were variations on one or another of them.
This weblog post has renderings of six of the the GC houses Reisman designed. I don’t think the house at Capital Plaza is among them, but it might have resembled one of them.
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Ashburn is one of seven projects for the chain that have been designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. A location at Littleton, Colorado, is also open, and locations in Austin, TX, Yonkers, NY, Richardson, TX, Kalamazoo, MI and San Francisco, CA are either under construction or in the bidding stage.
Gallatin Valley Cinema is the name on this theater’s front as seen in a slide show on this page of the web site of Hodges & Associates, the Dallas architectural firm that designed this and several other projects for Hollywood Theatres.
The Metropolitan Cinemas was designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. Three photos can be seen on this page of the firm’s web site.
The Alamo Quarry Cinema was designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. Photos of it are featured on this page of the firm’s web site.
A history of the Swan Drive-In written by Blanche Tilley (PDF here) says that Jack Jones, Sr., Bernice Kiker Tilley, and W. H. Tilley, Jr., bought the Rialto and Royal Theatres from Willard and Betty Mowbray in 1949. Mr. Mowbray had come to Blue Ridge in the late 1920s or early 1930s and had operated a movie theater on West Main Street before opening the Royal.
The history says that the Royal had been closed after the Mowbrays opened the larger Rialto Theatre in 1947, and it was still closed when it was sold to Jones and the Tilleys. There’s no indication that it ever reopened as a theater, so it probably operated for less than two decades all told. Jones and the Tilleys opened the Swan Drive-In in 1955. The Royal Theatre’s building is still standing, converted for retail use. The current occupant of 777 E. Main is a pet supply shop.
The PSTOS page I linked to says that this house might be the one that got the Wurlitzer organ in 1921, but it couldn’t have been. The organ had to have been installed in the later Star Theatre that was built in 1917. The Knights of Pythias lodge ceased to be the Star Theatre in 1913, when the name was moved to the Wheaton Theatre. The Wheaton returned to its original name after the third Star Theatre opened in 1917.
The Wheaton Theatre is listed in the 1914 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide as a second-floor house with 567 seats. The 1906 guide had listed it with 850 seats. All of the available Cahn guides I’ve seen in which the house is listed call it the Wheaton Theatre, never the Wheaton Opera House. A commemorative spoon seen on this page also calls the house the Wheaton Theatre.
Also, in the photo currently displayed here, the name Wheaton Theater is on the building just below the cornice. I don’t think the place ever operated as the Wheaton Opera House, though an early drawing from before the house was built has “Opera House” on the building where the photo shows “Theater”.
It has been proven that the Star and the Wheaton were different theaters, though the Wheaton operated under the name Star Theatre for a few years before this house was opened. This Star Theatre, Weiser’s third of the name, must also be the one that got the Wurlitzer organ that is discussed on this PSTOS page.
A 1991 NRHP documentation form about theaters in Idaho attributes the design of the 1917 Star Theatre to Salt Lake City architect Frank Moore.
A 1991 NRHP documentation form concerning theaters in Idaho attributes the design of the Panida Theatre to Portland architect Edward A. Miller. Other sources indicate that Miller also designed the Egyptian Theatre in Seattle, the Egyptian Theatre in Portland, and (probably) the Venetian Theatre in Portland.
Other than the announcement of its opening in an issue of Motion Picture News, I’ve been unable to find anything about the Majestic Theatre on the Internet. However, the residential buildings north of McCree Way look like they were built before 1926 themselves, so I’m wondering if the addresses in Rochester might have been shifted at some point after 1926.
The March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News reported that the Campus Theatre in Berkeley had opened on January 20. The item noted that the new Golden State Theatres house was of Moorish design, and that it had been decorated by the Robert E. Powers Studios, but failed to mention architect James E. Narbett.
I suspect that this house is the Needham Theatre listed in the 1927 FDY. Motion Picture News of March 6, 1926, reported that the Needham Theatre had formally opened on February 11. The Paramount-affiliated house had a Robert Morton organ.
A close-up view of the entrance to the Victory Theatre in Salt Lake City appears at the top of this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News.
The California Theatre in Petaluma was on a list of theaters operated by the T&D circuit that was published in April, 1927. The circuit was also operating the Mystic Theatre at that time.
A New Park Theatre is listed as a T&D circuit house at Paso Robles in the 1926 edition of the Film Daily Yearbook. I’ve found a T&D Theatre at Paso Robles mentioned as early as 1924, and one source says that Turner & Dahnken began operating a theater in Paso Robles in the late 1910s. It’s possible that all three referred to the same theater. It’s also possible that the Park Theatre closed when the new T&D Theatre on 12th Street was opened in 1930.
I’ve also found a reference to the Wurlitzer organ from the T&D Theatre being donated to the church in 1931. I suspect that the organ was from the old house, and not the new one. By the time the new T&D was opened, silent movies were pretty much gone, so my guess would be that it never had an organ.
The photo page lostmemory linked to is gone, but it might have been this web page that has two photos of the T&D Theatre(click thumbnails.) Another small photo can be seen on this page.
A close-up photo of the Modjeska Theatre’s entrance can be seen at the bottom of this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News.
A nocturnal photo of the American Theatre in Butte can be seen on this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News.
A photo of the Pompeii Theatre’s entrance and marquee can be seen on this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News.
Page 97 of Gary Lacher and Steve Stone’s Theatres of Portland features two photos of Graeper’s Egyptian Theatre (Google Books preview.) The text attributes the design of the theater to Portland architect Edward A. Miller.
The year after the Portland Egyptian opened, a very similar Egyptian Theatre opened in Seattle. According to the text of this advertisement for Heywood Wakefield seats in the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News, the Seattle Egyptian was also designed by E. A. Miller.
An ad for Heywood Wakefield seats on this page of the March 6, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News features a drawing of the Egyptian Theatre’s auditorium. The text calls the house “Warners' Elaborate and Unique new ‘Egyptian’ Theatre in Seattle….” and attributes the design of the house to the Portland, Oregon, architect E. A. Miller.
There is little information available about Edward A. Miller, but Gary Lacher and Steven Stone’s Theatres of Portland attributes the design of the slightly earlier Egyptian Theatre in that city to him as well. The fronts of the two theaters are quite similar, so I have no doubt that the attribution is correct.
When General Drive-In Corporation (which became General Cinema Corporation in 1964) began building indoor theaters in shopping centers throughout the country in the 1960s, the company hired architect William Reisman to design them. There were a handful of basic plans, and virtually all new General Cinema houses for more than a decade were variations on one or another of them.
This weblog post has renderings of six of the the GC houses Reisman designed. I don’t think the house at Capital Plaza is among them, but it might have resembled one of them.
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Ashburn is one of seven projects for the chain that have been designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. A location at Littleton, Colorado, is also open, and locations in Austin, TX, Yonkers, NY, Richardson, TX, Kalamazoo, MI and San Francisco, CA are either under construction or in the bidding stage.
Gallatin Valley Cinema is the name on this theater’s front as seen in a slide show on this page of the web site of Hodges & Associates, the Dallas architectural firm that designed this and several other projects for Hollywood Theatres.
The Metropolitan Cinemas was designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. Three photos can be seen on this page of the firm’s web site.
The Gateway Cinema was designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. Four photos can be seen on this page of the firm’s web site.
Four Photos of the Colleyville Cinema can be seen on this page of the web site of the theater’s architects, Hodges & Associates.
The Alamo Quarry Cinema was designed by the Dallas architectural firm Hodges & Associates. Photos of it are featured on this page of the firm’s web site.
Here is Big Screen Cinema Guide’s photo gallery of this house when it still had the Village Roadshow signage on it.