Comments from SethG

Showing 801 - 825 of 1,670 comments

SethG
SethG commented about Lee Theatre on Mar 7, 2022 at 1:19 pm

Not demolished, but mutilated by a bad remodel. If it was ever a sporting goods store, that was gone by 2007, when it was vacant. Most recent streetview shows a furniture/lighting store. Best to just say retail.

SethG
SethG commented about Auditorium on Feb 18, 2022 at 7:12 pm

The only good candidates for anything demolished on Main would be the little telephone building south of the old city hall, the ugly thing on the southeast corner with 8th, the lot next to the grocery store, and the bank. I wonder, given the dates, if both weren’t in the same building.

SethG
SethG commented about Grand Theatre on Feb 10, 2022 at 10:11 am

The theater is listed on both the 1950 and 1956 maps with no note of closure. Perhaps it was only used for stage performances?

SethG
SethG commented about Grand Theatre on Feb 10, 2022 at 10:04 am

Building demolished in 1975, after being damaged in a fire in 1961. The building was remodeled a few times. I’ve added a map view with the later appearance.

SethG
SethG commented about Picture Theatre on Feb 4, 2022 at 8:01 am

This might well have been called the Empire and then the Pastime. Or the Pastime may have been what later became the Radio. Not enough information to say for sure. This was always a small town, and there aren’t that many choices for buildings that could have held a theater.

SethG
SethG commented about Melba Theater on Feb 3, 2022 at 1:50 pm

The part of this entry about the opera house is completely wrong. Adler’s Opera House was much further down the block, toward what was then Chestnut (now State). It’s still there, a very well preserved structure with an ‘A’ in the keystone above the central window.

The Melba building does seem to have begun as a store, but the building does not appear until the 1923 map, replacing some small wooden shops on the 1914 map.

SethG
SethG commented about Independent Theatre on Feb 3, 2022 at 11:48 am

On the 1919 map, 816 is a auto storage building that had earlier been used as a bottling plant. Given the small size and nearly square shape, the theater was most likely a replacement. On the 2013 streetview, there is one building left on this block, but the whole thing is now vacant lots.

SethG
SethG commented about Dome Theatre on Jan 30, 2022 at 11:58 am

It’s not clear whether this was the actual name, or a generic title by the surveyor. The grocery store building is still there.

SethG
SethG commented about Radio Theatre on Jan 29, 2022 at 1:41 pm

Added a photo of the actual building.

SethG
SethG commented about Radio Theatre on Jan 29, 2022 at 12:42 pm

Finally, the building at 408 first appears on the 1917 map as a garage. The section at the rear (facing Jackson) was originally two stories.

SethG
SethG commented about Ritz Theatre on Jan 28, 2022 at 1:00 pm

The building says Harris at the top, over the date 1927. Any idea if he was the investor who built the theater?

SethG
SethG commented about Majestic Theatre on Jan 27, 2022 at 8:16 pm

I wonder if this theater was remodeled or reconstructed at some point? As shown on the 1921 map, it’s a wooden building with stucco coating. Only the small commercial space off to the side is brick.

SethG
SethG commented about Majestic Theatre on Jan 27, 2022 at 11:36 am

Just to clarify, there is no remnant of the older building. What can be seen in the picture of the bank is a little penthouse on the roof, probably a mechanical room.

In addition, someone has posted a newspaper photo showing that the theater building was razed completely. The back wall of the bank may have been reused, since the alley windows look pretty old-fashioned.

SethG
SethG commented about Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith, via the George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs via the Library of Congress Collection. on Jan 27, 2022 at 11:26 am

That’s not part of an older building, it’s a little penthouse on the roof, probably a mechanical room.

SethG
SethG commented about Cinema Theatre on Jan 27, 2022 at 11:22 am

Definitely needs to be listed as demolished. Looks like the church put up that ugly addition sometime right after the theater closed, judging by the architecture.

SethG
SethG commented about Pastime Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 3:08 pm

No, but he could have taken over a vacant operation just to get the equipment and seats, or bought it to reopen it. At any rate, there is definitely only one theater in town in 1921.

SethG
SethG commented about Rialto Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 2:31 pm

Atlanta Ave south of the railroad, and especially the portion between Ashe and Cohen (then known as B through D Streets), seem to have been the black neighborhood. The only businesses shown at all on the 1921 map were a tiny group of wooden stores on the east side, north of 20th. I doubt this was further south. The map ends at about the intersection with 17th, and there are very few structures.

SethG
SethG commented about Carver Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 2:31 pm

Possibly what is now a Masonic lodge at 200 S Atlanta Ave?

SethG
SethG commented about Fields Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 2:30 pm

Atlanta Ave south of the railroad, and especially the portion between Ashe and Cohen (then known as B through D Streets), seem to have been the black neighborhood. The only businesses shown at all on the 1921 map were a tiny group of wooden stores on the east side, north of 20th. I doubt this was further south. The map ends at about the intersection with 17th, and there are very few structures.

SethG
SethG commented about Pastime Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 2:14 pm

It may have been vacant, since there are several spaces with that note. Definitely wasn’t anywhere else. The map only shows the Strand.

SethG
SethG commented about Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 11:26 am

Note that while this theater was operating, the address was 105. Sometime before 1921, odds and evens switched sides.

SethG
SethG commented about Pastime Theatre on Jan 21, 2022 at 11:12 am

This theater had to have closed before May of 1921. Must have been in the 100 block of either East or West 6th. There was quite a bit of new construction on both blocks between the 1910 map and the 1921 map.

SethG
SethG commented about Strand Theatre on Jan 20, 2022 at 1:13 pm

Location today is a dull blocky structure being used by a church, but which looks like the sort of thing a bank would have built in the late ‘50s.

SethG
SethG commented about Strand Theatre on Jan 20, 2022 at 1:09 pm

This listing is wrong. The Strand is already operating on the May 1921 Sanborn. This location has only a few small wooden shops and homes on the 1910 map.

SethG
SethG commented about Tuscumbian Theatre on Jan 20, 2022 at 12:59 pm

The address cannot be right. 117 is a small commercial building on the south corner of the block. The mutilated remains of the theater got a terrible remodel to ‘match’ the old bank on the north corner. Looks like the address was 103 or 105 S Main. Still vacant on the 2016 streetview.