Since the old picture is missing, I uploaded one I took years ago, while remodeling was nearly complete. All I’m willing to say is that it’s a picture of the theater at 150 E Thomas. Pretty sure it’s the Manhattan, but it might be the Ritz, or maybe they really were the same thing?
I should note that the NRHP listing only calls this the Manhattan, and that Chuck’s listings are often riddled with errors.
The NRHP listing makes no mention of a Ritz at all, and Joe’s information suggests it was on the south side of the street.
The E/W conflict is strange, as this was never W Thomas. It’s shown simply as Thomas in 1896-1901, and by 1907, the E/W division is at the railroad.
118 W Thomas on the 1917 Map is a house, which by 1956 had become 122, there then being no 118 at all. A 133 W Thomas address never existed. 101 was the only address on W Thomas at all in 1917, and it was a small garage likely belonging to a house at 198 N Main. In 1956, that garage had become a little shop with a 125 address, and the rest of the block belonged to the church on N Church St. Even on the 1956 map, W Thomas is almost entirely residential. The south side of the block of E Thomas where the Manhattan and Booker-T are was a huge tobacco warehouse.
Things have been moved around a lot, or rather the numbers have. Both the 1956 map and the 2008 NRHP listing have the address as 122, but it was changed when the theater was remodeled. It’s currently a computer repair business, with small business spaces in the rear of the building, which have their own entrances in the east wall. If anyone can find the original 1980 NRHP photos, they apparently show it with a marquee, which had been torn off by 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, nearly the entire block, which was composed of derelict one story commercial buildings of no particular architectural value, was demolished, and the theater was restored and given the 150 address.
Due to the coverage gap in maps, all I can offer to the Manhattan/Ritz issue is that the block was almost entirely empty on the 1917 map. The 1956 map shows 118, just west of the theater, to be a large one story restaurant, wider than the theater, with an awning on the front. It’s possible this was the original (only?) Manhattan.
The correct current address is 218 S West Main. The theater was located in the northernmost of three storefronts in a two story commercial building that was part of a rapid building out of this block between 1907 (when there was one building at each end and almost nothing between) and 1912, when it is shown on the Sanborn as an ‘Electric Theatre’. It appears on the 1917 map as a ‘Picture Show’, with an address of 212. By 1956, long after it closed, it had the current address. The building today is abandoned, and this section has the storefront boarded over.
Assuming that the address is correct, this was located in a building constructed sometime between 1896 and 1901, when it is shown as a hardware store. The 1917 map shows it as a jewelry store. There’s a big gap, with the 1956 update to the 1923 map being the next available online. The theater’s existence would have fallen in this gap. At any rate, by 1956, it is shown as two stores, a very small storefront having been added on the north side. Judging from the style, this may date from the early ‘20s. The main storefront to the south is definitely postwar, probably the '50s.
750 seems a bit large for this building, even assuming that a balcony was added. Looking at the rear from Howard St, it’s not nearly as deep as its neighbors, and the rear wall appears original to the 1900-ish construction.
As far as I can tell, all that happened in the switch from having one Main St to two was that all the evens ended up on West Main, and the odds became East Main. The address numbers only made slight changes to accommodate new construction. This building originally had a 128 S Main address. If anyone can confirm that this is the correct current address, I’ll add a picture.
The address is rendered incorrectly. There is a West and East Market on either side of the railroad tracks, and they each have N or S addresses. Therefore, this should be N West Market.
Here’s the new website: https://thereidsvilleshowcase.com/
We should update the listing to show when it originally opened. The 1929 remodel was pretty extensive. I’ve added the 1922 Sanborn. It replaced an older store on the 1914 map. Note that the original address was 105-107.
Just a reminder to fix the address. While it originally was 126, this was changed, likely around the late ‘40s. This theater is noted on the 1922 Sanborn as being 'operated occasionally’. It was constructed some time after 1914, along with neighboring buildings to the north and south, replacing a small church.
If, as seems almost certain, this was the old Gem/Penn, the building was a two story brick commercial building built sometime between 1901 and 1908. The ground floor was split into two storefronts, and the theater was in the southern one. The 1914 map shows a general store there, but the theater appears on the 1922 map. Given the seating increase, it may have been expanded to take the entire building at some later date.
By the way, the ‘power plant’ is an American Tobacco Company factory, which makes or made Lucky Strikes. There was an existing factory to the north, but it was expanded, probably just after the theater closed.
I had already added the Opera House, which is now an appallingly ugly church. Weldon’s downtown is pretty small, so I agree that 4 theaters seems like too much.
I’ve added views of the original and 1919 structures. Note that the original address was 1009-1011, but between 1915 and 1919 odds and evens switched sides.
The opening date is wrong. This opened as the Imperial on December 21, 1931, but had originally opened on June 6, 1914 as the Rosemary (Rosemary Manufacturing Co. operated several large textile mills in town). This theater was operated by the J.P. Robinson Co., who also ran the People’s much further north. The Rosemary burned in 1916, and was only rebuilt and reopened in 1919, but burned again in January 1921. It was extensively remodeled after that fire, and then again into the Imperial.
According to the NRHP listing for Roanoke Rapids: The theater was built in 1911 by the Robinson brothers. The auditorium was expanded and modified sometime between 1919 and 1925. The present entry dates to the ‘50s, and the theater operated until the early ‘70s.
I have added a Sanborn view showing the original configuration.
This is a very poor listing. We need to add some information.
The theater was already in operation by April 1915, when it appears on the Sanborn map. I’m not sure how much earlier it opened. The building originally had a facade matching the portion to the right of the ‘new’ entrance. The original central entrance was a long, narrow hallway between two storefronts, and was located where the abandoned jewelry store with the purple vitrolite is shown on streetview.
The original number was 47-49, but this had changed to the current address by 1919. When the theater was remodeled at some later date, the entrance was moved to the northern storefront, and the auditorium was changed to a transverse format. In the process, this seems to have eaten into the rear portion of the small storefronts facing 2nd St. The result was an almost entirely new theater.
The marquee was removed sometime before 2018, and the building remains in a derelict state.
Since the old picture is missing, I uploaded one I took years ago, while remodeling was nearly complete. All I’m willing to say is that it’s a picture of the theater at 150 E Thomas. Pretty sure it’s the Manhattan, but it might be the Ritz, or maybe they really were the same thing?
Correct address should be 184 N West Main. There is no 180 at all on the 1956 map.
I should note that the NRHP listing only calls this the Manhattan, and that Chuck’s listings are often riddled with errors.
The NRHP listing makes no mention of a Ritz at all, and Joe’s information suggests it was on the south side of the street.
The E/W conflict is strange, as this was never W Thomas. It’s shown simply as Thomas in 1896-1901, and by 1907, the E/W division is at the railroad.
118 W Thomas on the 1917 Map is a house, which by 1956 had become 122, there then being no 118 at all. A 133 W Thomas address never existed. 101 was the only address on W Thomas at all in 1917, and it was a small garage likely belonging to a house at 198 N Main. In 1956, that garage had become a little shop with a 125 address, and the rest of the block belonged to the church on N Church St. Even on the 1956 map, W Thomas is almost entirely residential. The south side of the block of E Thomas where the Manhattan and Booker-T are was a huge tobacco warehouse.
Things have been moved around a lot, or rather the numbers have. Both the 1956 map and the 2008 NRHP listing have the address as 122, but it was changed when the theater was remodeled. It’s currently a computer repair business, with small business spaces in the rear of the building, which have their own entrances in the east wall. If anyone can find the original 1980 NRHP photos, they apparently show it with a marquee, which had been torn off by 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, nearly the entire block, which was composed of derelict one story commercial buildings of no particular architectural value, was demolished, and the theater was restored and given the 150 address.
Due to the coverage gap in maps, all I can offer to the Manhattan/Ritz issue is that the block was almost entirely empty on the 1917 map. The 1956 map shows 118, just west of the theater, to be a large one story restaurant, wider than the theater, with an awning on the front. It’s possible this was the original (only?) Manhattan.
No address, no nothing. This is a really terrible listing.
The correct current address is 218 S West Main. The theater was located in the northernmost of three storefronts in a two story commercial building that was part of a rapid building out of this block between 1907 (when there was one building at each end and almost nothing between) and 1912, when it is shown on the Sanborn as an ‘Electric Theatre’. It appears on the 1917 map as a ‘Picture Show’, with an address of 212. By 1956, long after it closed, it had the current address. The building today is abandoned, and this section has the storefront boarded over.
This may have opened a bit earlier. The July 1912 map shows it (rather simplified) with a note ‘To Be Vaudeville Theatre (From Plans)’.
Assuming that the address is correct, this was located in a building constructed sometime between 1896 and 1901, when it is shown as a hardware store. The 1917 map shows it as a jewelry store. There’s a big gap, with the 1956 update to the 1923 map being the next available online. The theater’s existence would have fallen in this gap. At any rate, by 1956, it is shown as two stores, a very small storefront having been added on the north side. Judging from the style, this may date from the early ‘20s. The main storefront to the south is definitely postwar, probably the '50s.
750 seems a bit large for this building, even assuming that a balcony was added. Looking at the rear from Howard St, it’s not nearly as deep as its neighbors, and the rear wall appears original to the 1900-ish construction.
As far as I can tell, all that happened in the switch from having one Main St to two was that all the evens ended up on West Main, and the odds became East Main. The address numbers only made slight changes to accommodate new construction. This building originally had a 128 S Main address. If anyone can confirm that this is the correct current address, I’ll add a picture.
The address is rendered incorrectly. There is a West and East Market on either side of the railroad tracks, and they each have N or S addresses. Therefore, this should be N West Market.
Here’s the new website: https://thereidsvilleshowcase.com/
We should update the listing to show when it originally opened. The 1929 remodel was pretty extensive. I’ve added the 1922 Sanborn. It replaced an older store on the 1914 map. Note that the original address was 105-107.
Just a reminder to fix the address. While it originally was 126, this was changed, likely around the late ‘40s. This theater is noted on the 1922 Sanborn as being 'operated occasionally’. It was constructed some time after 1914, along with neighboring buildings to the north and south, replacing a small church.
If, as seems almost certain, this was the old Gem/Penn, the building was a two story brick commercial building built sometime between 1901 and 1908. The ground floor was split into two storefronts, and the theater was in the southern one. The 1914 map shows a general store there, but the theater appears on the 1922 map. Given the seating increase, it may have been expanded to take the entire building at some later date.
By the way, the ‘power plant’ is an American Tobacco Company factory, which makes or made Lucky Strikes. There was an existing factory to the north, but it was expanded, probably just after the theater closed.
This listing needs to be combined with the Booker T. It’s the same building.
This has reopened as a performing arts place. There were posters for a show in Jan. ‘23.
Not sure if this was demolished to be replaced by the current building, or if it’s just a really ugly remodel.
This has been an empty lot since well before 2009. Need the address corrected to 230.
We should update the listing with the information Joe found. I’ll add the ‘other’ Levon. This one was never called the Enfield.
I had already added the Opera House, which is now an appallingly ugly church. Weldon’s downtown is pretty small, so I agree that 4 theaters seems like too much.
Must have been constructed or converted after 1915, when the map shows an assortment of commercial buildings in this area.
I’ve added views of the original and 1919 structures. Note that the original address was 1009-1011, but between 1915 and 1919 odds and evens switched sides.
The opening date is wrong. This opened as the Imperial on December 21, 1931, but had originally opened on June 6, 1914 as the Rosemary (Rosemary Manufacturing Co. operated several large textile mills in town). This theater was operated by the J.P. Robinson Co., who also ran the People’s much further north. The Rosemary burned in 1916, and was only rebuilt and reopened in 1919, but burned again in January 1921. It was extensively remodeled after that fire, and then again into the Imperial.
According to the NRHP listing for Roanoke Rapids: The theater was built in 1911 by the Robinson brothers. The auditorium was expanded and modified sometime between 1919 and 1925. The present entry dates to the ‘50s, and the theater operated until the early ‘70s.
I have added a Sanborn view showing the original configuration.
This is a very poor listing. We need to add some information.
The theater was already in operation by April 1915, when it appears on the Sanborn map. I’m not sure how much earlier it opened. The building originally had a facade matching the portion to the right of the ‘new’ entrance. The original central entrance was a long, narrow hallway between two storefronts, and was located where the abandoned jewelry store with the purple vitrolite is shown on streetview.
The original number was 47-49, but this had changed to the current address by 1919. When the theater was remodeled at some later date, the entrance was moved to the northern storefront, and the auditorium was changed to a transverse format. In the process, this seems to have eaten into the rear portion of the small storefronts facing 2nd St. The result was an almost entirely new theater.
The marquee was removed sometime before 2018, and the building remains in a derelict state.
Possibly remodeled into the bank, which uses a 1340 address.
I’ve added a picture of the newer building. The older one should have a separate listing.