The theater’s original home was an old two-story wood frame building which was constructed before 1885, and had most recently been a jeweler. It survived until sometime before 1942. I’ll add a picture of the second location.
I don’t think the location is accurate. Comparing the 1907 and 1913 maps, the block of E 9th across from the courthouse looks nearly identical. Nothing is missing, one shed has been expanded. The other side of the intersection is the same.
Since this listing is very uninformative, here’s a little history from the theater’s web page. The theater opened October 1, 1936. It was the successor to three previous theaters at other locations, and there had been an Isis since 1913. The current Isis was purpose-built as a theater. I’m not sure when it got that amazingly ugly remodel.
The address is wrong. A building just about across the street is 316. The senior center, the ugly little thing on the left of the photo, is 329. The theater was gone by 2012, and the old bank and hotel have now joined it to create a huge expanse of dirt.
I don’t think the history is accurate. Reviewing the Sanborn maps, here is what I have come up with:
1893 – Two-story wood-frame feed store on the corner, only on the south lot.
1899 – Building is now the Stever Hotel, with the notation that it is to be brick veneered.
1908 – Building now shown as brick with wooden interior structure (named Grand Central Hotel), northern section added completely in brick, housing a vacant bar and hotel rooms upstairs.
1913 – Hotel now called Pete’s Home Hotel, movie theater in northern section (which I imagine would be 11 Main), which also contains part of the hotel office and a bathroom.
1926 – Theater now in southern section, which is shown entirely in brick. Old theater is two storefronts. Very deep balcony with square cutout in the front. Stage and scenery shown, and two small brick rooms have been added at the back which may have been dressing rooms. Marquee is a small metal rectangular structure.
I can’t swear that the old feed store structure was part of the theater on the 1926 map. Fires were very frequent, but the footprint is roughly the same. At any rate, extensive reconstruction of the hotel area would have been required to create the theater. The architecture of the present facade looks no later than about 1915 to me.
I’m not sure why it was necessary to vandalize the stone nameplate (or to paint the brick that ugly reddish brown), but it originally said ‘Kresler’. Frank Kresler was a local businessman who constructed this building.
Address was 225 W Washington. This theater was located in the easternmost portion of the Nowel’s House block. Coincidentally, this section of the building housed an opera house on the third floor from at least 1886 to sometime before 1899. By 1921, it was a furniture store. The 1942 map shows nothing else in that section, so it’s possible it occupied all three floors. There was a large rectangular marquee extending the entire width of the theater frontage. Now replaced by a parking lot.
Fowler was a very popular name. Prior to its extensive remodel, the Masonic Temple at 219 E 5th was home to a Fowler theater, previously the Mathews, which seems to have been an opera house.
The only other possibility for this is that either the Dixie or Palace have the wrong address. At any rate, nothing on any corner of Main and Jefferson has been demolished. The closest empty lot to that corner on Main is approximately 126 S Main, which is separated from the corner by a very large building.
Since all the others have an address, this must have been the derelict shell of a building at 303 S Main. It’s got some sort of sad little park in it, with wooden bleachers where the seats would have been.
Currently a pizza place. The address is 209 N Main. The building dates to sometime before 1895, likely well before. It was a hardware store at least up to 1910, and the Knights of Pythias met on the third floor.
The theater appears on the 1913 map. The space was a saloon in 1907, and the building predates 1887. It must have been a cramped theater, the building is deep but very narrow.
This theater was at 221 E Main. It appears on the 1907 map as a ‘5 cent theatre’. It did not remain operating long. By 1913, the space is a drugstore. The original structure was a two story brick commercial building, built before 1887. The theater occupied the eastern half. This building has been demolished and replaced by a cheap modern bank.
Since this listing has no information at all, I’ll add what I can. The building predates 1887. It was not yet a theater in 1913, when it housed a novelty store, and offices upstairs. Unfortunately, the 1925 map is not available. It must have closed some time before 1983, when it was deeded to the theater group.
View of the auditorium here: http://www.trestlewood.com/photo/6498/
The 1914-15 Gus Hill guide gives a capacity of 900. From other photos, the building seems to have survived until at least the mid-‘70s. The opera house was apparently opened August 14, 1886.
I added the Grand. It was not labeled as showing movies. I usually skip opera houses, because I’m never sure on older maps what their activity included.
Proper address for the Lido is 124 S Lebanon. This theater was located in the Tyre Building, which was an extensive 1915 remodel of a pre-1887 building. Originally, it was a shallow (about half the depth of the lot) two-story building with a wide central retail space flanked by two narrower ones. On the 1909 map, the southern storefront is a ‘5 cent theatre’. Sometime after or concurrent with the remodel, the theater took over the central space, and a large auditorium was added. This is slightly lower than the original structure, and slopes down to be one story tall at the rear. The original name was the Olympic, and it became the Lido in the ‘30s.
The Colonial appears on the 1919 Sanborn. At this point, the front of the theater is a 2-story brick building, with the auditorium behind being slightly lower. The entrance address is 218, while 216 is a music store that takes up the southern half of the front. On the 1909 map, this lot is home to a boarding house.
I’m not sure where the Rural Loan Assoc. building was. There were several banks in the area around the square. Searching for it did turn up this great full-page ad for a 1917 show at the Colonial: https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=LDR19171020.1.5 It’s clear that at least up to 1917, the theater was also presenting vaudeville.
Appears on the 1902 map as Pittinger Grand Opera House. That name seems to be a misspelling. Address was 128. Originally, there were three storefronts (sharing the address of 124) with the entrance on the north end. A wooden awning extends the length of the building.
The original structure may have been a conversion of a large brick building that occupied nearly an identical footprint. It appears on the 1886 map as a skating rink, and was then a fruit drying warehouse and a box factory. It was only one story.
On the 1924 map, it is still shown as a opera house, with stage and scenery. A dressing room section has been added on the rear of the south side, and the awning has disappeared (sometime after 1916). The stage was very deep, and the balcony was a large horseshoe. The address for the entrance is now 132.
The theater’s original home was an old two-story wood frame building which was constructed before 1885, and had most recently been a jeweler. It survived until sometime before 1942. I’ll add a picture of the second location.
I don’t think the location is accurate. Comparing the 1907 and 1913 maps, the block of E 9th across from the courthouse looks nearly identical. Nothing is missing, one shed has been expanded. The other side of the intersection is the same.
Since this listing is very uninformative, here’s a little history from the theater’s web page. The theater opened October 1, 1936. It was the successor to three previous theaters at other locations, and there had been an Isis since 1913. The current Isis was purpose-built as a theater. I’m not sure when it got that amazingly ugly remodel.
The address is wrong. A building just about across the street is 316. The senior center, the ugly little thing on the left of the photo, is 329. The theater was gone by 2012, and the old bank and hotel have now joined it to create a huge expanse of dirt.
The address cannot be right. The bank at the other end of the block is 502. Must be at least 518.
I don’t think the history is accurate. Reviewing the Sanborn maps, here is what I have come up with: 1893 – Two-story wood-frame feed store on the corner, only on the south lot. 1899 – Building is now the Stever Hotel, with the notation that it is to be brick veneered. 1908 – Building now shown as brick with wooden interior structure (named Grand Central Hotel), northern section added completely in brick, housing a vacant bar and hotel rooms upstairs. 1913 – Hotel now called Pete’s Home Hotel, movie theater in northern section (which I imagine would be 11 Main), which also contains part of the hotel office and a bathroom. 1926 – Theater now in southern section, which is shown entirely in brick. Old theater is two storefronts. Very deep balcony with square cutout in the front. Stage and scenery shown, and two small brick rooms have been added at the back which may have been dressing rooms. Marquee is a small metal rectangular structure.
I can’t swear that the old feed store structure was part of the theater on the 1926 map. Fires were very frequent, but the footprint is roughly the same. At any rate, extensive reconstruction of the hotel area would have been required to create the theater. The architecture of the present facade looks no later than about 1915 to me.
Appeared to be abandoned as of this past weeekend. There are plastic bags taped to the inside of the doors, so I couldn’t see in.
Was not refitted. It was torn down, and there’s an ugly little bank on the corner today.
I’m not sure why it was necessary to vandalize the stone nameplate (or to paint the brick that ugly reddish brown), but it originally said ‘Kresler’. Frank Kresler was a local businessman who constructed this building.
Address was 225 W Washington. This theater was located in the easternmost portion of the Nowel’s House block. Coincidentally, this section of the building housed an opera house on the third floor from at least 1886 to sometime before 1899. By 1921, it was a furniture store. The 1942 map shows nothing else in that section, so it’s possible it occupied all three floors. There was a large rectangular marquee extending the entire width of the theater frontage. Now replaced by a parking lot.
On the 1921 map, the theater is shown having a capacity of 350.
No problem. The building that was at 330 is demolished as well, so it all would have looked right. I’ll move the picture to the proper listing.
Fowler was a very popular name. Prior to its extensive remodel, the Masonic Temple at 219 E 5th was home to a Fowler theater, previously the Mathews, which seems to have been an opera house.
The only other possibility for this is that either the Dixie or Palace have the wrong address. At any rate, nothing on any corner of Main and Jefferson has been demolished. The closest empty lot to that corner on Main is approximately 126 S Main, which is separated from the corner by a very large building.
Since all the others have an address, this must have been the derelict shell of a building at 303 S Main. It’s got some sort of sad little park in it, with wooden bleachers where the seats would have been.
Currently a pizza place. The address is 209 N Main. The building dates to sometime before 1895, likely well before. It was a hardware store at least up to 1910, and the Knights of Pythias met on the third floor.
The theater appears on the 1913 map. The space was a saloon in 1907, and the building predates 1887. It must have been a cramped theater, the building is deep but very narrow.
This theater was at 221 E Main. It appears on the 1907 map as a ‘5 cent theatre’. It did not remain operating long. By 1913, the space is a drugstore. The original structure was a two story brick commercial building, built before 1887. The theater occupied the eastern half. This building has been demolished and replaced by a cheap modern bank.
Since this listing has no information at all, I’ll add what I can. The building predates 1887. It was not yet a theater in 1913, when it housed a novelty store, and offices upstairs. Unfortunately, the 1925 map is not available. It must have closed some time before 1983, when it was deeded to the theater group.
View of the auditorium here: http://www.trestlewood.com/photo/6498/
The 1914-15 Gus Hill guide gives a capacity of 900. From other photos, the building seems to have survived until at least the mid-‘70s. The opera house was apparently opened August 14, 1886.
I added the Grand. It was not labeled as showing movies. I usually skip opera houses, because I’m never sure on older maps what their activity included.
Proper address for the Lido is 124 S Lebanon. This theater was located in the Tyre Building, which was an extensive 1915 remodel of a pre-1887 building. Originally, it was a shallow (about half the depth of the lot) two-story building with a wide central retail space flanked by two narrower ones. On the 1909 map, the southern storefront is a ‘5 cent theatre’. Sometime after or concurrent with the remodel, the theater took over the central space, and a large auditorium was added. This is slightly lower than the original structure, and slopes down to be one story tall at the rear. The original name was the Olympic, and it became the Lido in the ‘30s.
The Colonial appears on the 1919 Sanborn. At this point, the front of the theater is a 2-story brick building, with the auditorium behind being slightly lower. The entrance address is 218, while 216 is a music store that takes up the southern half of the front. On the 1909 map, this lot is home to a boarding house.
I’m not sure where the Rural Loan Assoc. building was. There were several banks in the area around the square. Searching for it did turn up this great full-page ad for a 1917 show at the Colonial: https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=LDR19171020.1.5 It’s clear that at least up to 1917, the theater was also presenting vaudeville.
According to the history, this theater opened in 1948. It was built by Albert Smith and Alpha Hisey.
Appears on the 1902 map as Pittinger Grand Opera House. That name seems to be a misspelling. Address was 128. Originally, there were three storefronts (sharing the address of 124) with the entrance on the north end. A wooden awning extends the length of the building.
The original structure may have been a conversion of a large brick building that occupied nearly an identical footprint. It appears on the 1886 map as a skating rink, and was then a fruit drying warehouse and a box factory. It was only one story.
On the 1924 map, it is still shown as a opera house, with stage and scenery. A dressing room section has been added on the rear of the south side, and the awning has disappeared (sometime after 1916). The stage was very deep, and the balcony was a large horseshoe. The address for the entrance is now 132.