Address or description is wrong. 111 S Maple would have been in the middle of the block, south of 1st. There is indeed a vacant lot south of 107, which might have been where the theater was. The 1920 Sanborn shows a bunch of small wooden shops there, but of course they might have been demolished to be replaced by a theater.
Is it possible that the older Royal mentioned by Joe was the opera house? That building was at 105 W Newton. The current structure is either a remodel or a replacement.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Aug 6, 2019 at 8:53 am
This may have been named the Girard. There may also have been a Grand in town, although this may be another name for the opera house, which I already submitted.
If the identification as the Rex is indeed correct, it also presented stage acts. A 1912 issue of ‘The Player’ lists it among ‘Houses which Book Independently’. It was then managed by a Mr. McNamara. The section containing the stage did protrude beyond the east side of the building, so perhaps this contained dressing rooms.
The ‘Bank Hall’ could have been the bank at the SE corner of Stover and 2nd. The 1916 Sanborn shows it having a hall on the second floor, which had a stage and scenery. Building is still there, with a really nasty modern façade.
I suggest 126 N Maple, built as a hardware store around 1898. The NRHP listing notes that it contained a movie theater on the second floor in the 40s. It still exists, as some sort of business. I don’t understand the constant street errors. There are so many tools to verify, but people seem to think they should rush as many listings onto the page as possible.
If this really was on S Maple, it has almost certainly been demolished. The NRHP listing makes no mention of any building on S Maple having been a theater, but there are a few vacant lots.
Chris had the wrong address. This error was pointed out years ago. The 1913 Sanborn map shows the theater. The correct current address is 110. Either the listing had an error, or the number changed after 2001. Appears to currently be an antique store.
Should really be listed as demolished. Everything behind the first few feet of the building is new, and the interior bears no resemblance to a theater.
Actually, it appears to face Mt. Clare, and the border runs down the middle of Hardroad, which is behind the theater, although the address is on Hardroad. For some reason, the church, and all the businesses on 138/4, even further into Mt. Clare, have Benld mailing addresses, while the main section of Mt. Clare has Gillespie addresses. Google also thinks the street behind the church, and IL 138/4 are both called Hardroad, although if you drop a marker on the larger road, it calls it Staunton Rd. The street behind the church is definitely hardroad, since you can see some street signs in streetview. We may be able to change this to Mt. Clare and still have the map work. On Google at least, searching for 305 finds the same place, no matter what town you select.
I think I see the problem. Mt. Clare Dr runs to the north of the parking lot, and is actually a much better way to enter than coming up Hardroad from the back. Must have gotten garbled in the listing.
There’s a lot of confusing/conflicting information here. There is a church in a cheap metal shed at 305 N Hardroad in Benld, and it does look a bit like a barn. Maybe it was a theater? Could have been a small chain.
Address is wrong, and this never served as the civic center. It was at 309 E Central, and was demolished many years ago. Would have been roughly across from the present library. If you go to: http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/ and search for ‘Benld’, you can see a picture of it rotting away in the ‘70s.
The opera house is already shown with film equipment on the 1917 Sanborn. The projection was from an iron-clad wooden box at the rear of the second floor building, with stage and scenery on the front (Sturgeon St) side. Ground floor occupants were a hardware store on the north side, and the post office on the south. The lot is empty on the 1909 map, and current usage is a Masonic Lodge and a laundromat.
Theater was not on the corner, but was somewhere north of the senior housing.
Address or description is wrong. 111 S Maple would have been in the middle of the block, south of 1st. There is indeed a vacant lot south of 107, which might have been where the theater was. The 1920 Sanborn shows a bunch of small wooden shops there, but of course they might have been demolished to be replaced by a theater.
Is it possible that the older Royal mentioned by Joe was the opera house? That building was at 105 W Newton. The current structure is either a remodel or a replacement.
This may have been named the Girard. There may also have been a Grand in town, although this may be another name for the opera house, which I already submitted.
If the identification as the Rex is indeed correct, it also presented stage acts. A 1912 issue of ‘The Player’ lists it among ‘Houses which Book Independently’. It was then managed by a Mr. McNamara. The section containing the stage did protrude beyond the east side of the building, so perhaps this contained dressing rooms.
The photo dates are misleading. The posts were up when I saw this theater in February of 2010.
For research/general interest, on maps up to 1913, Main is also known as Alton.
For research/general interest, on maps up to 1913, Main is also known as Alton.
Added a picture. The street number is indeed 205, and it appears to be a residence.
The 1921 Sanborn credits the theater with 782 seats, and notes 2 rows of iron columns, presumably holding up the second floor.
Does not show movies.
Terrible street view picture of a church. This never was a theater.
The ‘Bank Hall’ could have been the bank at the SE corner of Stover and 2nd. The 1916 Sanborn shows it having a hall on the second floor, which had a stage and scenery. Building is still there, with a really nasty modern façade.
I suggest 126 N Maple, built as a hardware store around 1898. The NRHP listing notes that it contained a movie theater on the second floor in the 40s. It still exists, as some sort of business. I don’t understand the constant street errors. There are so many tools to verify, but people seem to think they should rush as many listings onto the page as possible.
If this really was on S Maple, it has almost certainly been demolished. The NRHP listing makes no mention of any building on S Maple having been a theater, but there are a few vacant lots.
Chris had the wrong address. This error was pointed out years ago. The 1913 Sanborn map shows the theater. The correct current address is 110. Either the listing had an error, or the number changed after 2001. Appears to currently be an antique store.
Should really be listed as demolished. Everything behind the first few feet of the building is new, and the interior bears no resemblance to a theater.
As Joe pointed out many years ago, the theater itself is just the Geauga. I don’t see any movies listed on their calendar.
I decided not to take a picture of this before I realized it had been a theater. Hope to be back through town soon.
Actually, it appears to face Mt. Clare, and the border runs down the middle of Hardroad, which is behind the theater, although the address is on Hardroad. For some reason, the church, and all the businesses on 138/4, even further into Mt. Clare, have Benld mailing addresses, while the main section of Mt. Clare has Gillespie addresses. Google also thinks the street behind the church, and IL 138/4 are both called Hardroad, although if you drop a marker on the larger road, it calls it Staunton Rd. The street behind the church is definitely hardroad, since you can see some street signs in streetview. We may be able to change this to Mt. Clare and still have the map work. On Google at least, searching for 305 finds the same place, no matter what town you select.
I think I see the problem. Mt. Clare Dr runs to the north of the parking lot, and is actually a much better way to enter than coming up Hardroad from the back. Must have gotten garbled in the listing.
There’s a lot of confusing/conflicting information here. There is a church in a cheap metal shed at 305 N Hardroad in Benld, and it does look a bit like a barn. Maybe it was a theater? Could have been a small chain.
Address is wrong, and this never served as the civic center. It was at 309 E Central, and was demolished many years ago. Would have been roughly across from the present library. If you go to: http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/ and search for ‘Benld’, you can see a picture of it rotting away in the ‘70s.
The address is wrong. Should be 200-202. 209 is a narrow one-story building, which was used as stores, and is now a restaurant.
The opera house is already shown with film equipment on the 1917 Sanborn. The projection was from an iron-clad wooden box at the rear of the second floor building, with stage and scenery on the front (Sturgeon St) side. Ground floor occupants were a hardware store on the north side, and the post office on the south. The lot is empty on the 1909 map, and current usage is a Masonic Lodge and a laundromat.