Odd that they gave the address as 138. Street addresses appear on the 1895 map, when the building was 36 E Main. The address had changed to 136 by 1901, although the old numbers are in parentheses for each address. 138 was a small one story building. It is a candy store on the Nov. 1907 map.
The Auditorium appears on the Nov. 1907 Sanborn. In Oct. 1901, the lot is vacant. The map shows it was very large, as can be seen on the postcard. Two small storefronts flank a central entrance covered by a large awning. The balcony is extremely deep, and bowed out toward the stage, which was likewise very deep and bowed out. By 1924, the stage had a flat front, and strangely, one of the storefronts had been extended deeper into the building. The theater seems to have been about where the motel is today, or perhaps a bit to the east.
Sorry for the repeated postings, but I had to finagle an OH library card number to access Ohio’s very poorly scanned black and white copies of the Sanborns not available through the LoC site.
Address and status are incorrect. Address is 137 S Main, and the building is not demolished. Current occupant is a tanning/beauty salon. Building first appears on the 1888 Sanborn as a saloon and beer bottling plant, replacing a much smaller building on the back of the lot on the 1884 map. It still appears as a saloon on the 1905 map. To the extent you can read the notes on Ohio’s maps, this was the only theater on the 1911 map, so has to be the same one. It doesn’t appear to have replaced a furniture store, given the awning showing in the photo.
There is a set of buildings in the 100 block of W Butler that still has the same type of iron columns, but the other details don’t match. Most of the rest of downtown has badly mutilated ground floors, so it’s hard to guess where this actually was, or if the building is still there.
The address cannot be right. Both 414 N and S Main are way too far out of downtown. Must have been between the 100 block north and the 200 block south.
Still abandoned, windows covered in black plastic, so I couldn’t see what the lobby looked like. The two pictures from 2012 of the building with the art deco tile are not the theater and should be deleted.
Should be listed as demolished. The current building is only one story. The 1924 Sanborn shows the theater as a two-story brick building. On that map, the address is 108. Not sure why the renumbering, 104 already was skipped to make this 108.
On the 1909 map, the address is 106. The theater is sharing the building with a millinery, at about 60/40 in favor of the theater. The stage section is also smaller on this map.
The building was originally a tin front, constructed sometime between 1886 and 1892, and occupied by a dry goods store until the theater moved in. The tin front is not noted after the 1902 map.
I don’t know why the sentences in my submission needed to be moved around. In 1906, the building was still the hotel, which was built sometime between 1893 and 1898. I was just stating that the space which became the theatre was offices in 1906.
That’s the wrong 4th St. The Pershing was at 109 SW 4th St, which was called 10th St until before 1923, and was called Walnut before 1901.
The 1923 Sanborn shows the Pershing on the corner of W 4th St and W Delaware St. It was a brick building, one to two stories tall, with the screen in a concrete section at the rear. The building seems to have been a conversion of the Fairfield Ice & Coal Co., which occupied a building with the same footprint and concrete rear section on the 1913 map. The wooden front section was replaced, possibly during the conversion. This corner was home to industrial enterprises at least as far back as 1901.
The lot is now home to a cheap prefab shed which houses the local American Legion post.
The building you’re talking about is very shallow, and is a store on the 1923 map. Before that, it may have been the offices of a livery stable, but it’s been remodeled so much it’s hard to tell how old it is.
Status needs to be listed as demolished. The 1909 Sanborn shows a 2-story tin front in the middle of the 100 block of W Chestnut on the south side (so an odd number). This is two wooden stores joined by one front with a central stair. The deeper east half is a bowling alley. By 1912, this space is shown as a ‘picture show’. Presuming the address to be correct, this was likely a forerunner of the Anatole.
The good news is that the chintzy ‘Showtime’ boxes went off to the dump by 2016, revealing the sides of the marquee again. They’re only a bit rusty after years of being covered. The upper story windows have been replaced by cheapo white plastic frames, which really don’t match the style. That ugly wooden ticket booth is history as well (although I wonder what was under the wood), and the doors moved to the center.
The Cinematour thread linked to by Joe is confusing. Konrad had the wrong address for the Casino (it was likely at 103 W North), and one of the earlier posters suggests the Orpheum and Florine were both in operation in 1946, along with a Roxy, which Konrad claims was built on the site of the Casino. The building at 103 W North was never demolished, although the location of 103 E North became a parking lot as far back as 2009 (and probably well before that).
Joe is right about the probable location. The May 1912 map shows a wooden theater building on this site. On the March 1906 map, there are some small wooden stores. The theater building runs the whole depth of the block, and has a deep stage at the rear. The entire building was tin clad, with an ornate front featuring a double-arched entry. The front wall of the lobby was concrete block (doubtless the stuff patterned to look like stone), and the ticket booth was in a bowed-out central portion. From the article above, it appears this building was replaced in 1921.
There is however, a problem with the Opera House ID. The 1906 map shows the opera house across the street, at 117. This building still exists, with an ugly windowless flat front from sometime post-WWII. That building appears at least as early as 1894. By 1912, it appears to have closed, and only the ground floor stores are noted. The structure appearing on the 1912 map is much less substantial. It is noted on the map only as ‘Moving Picture Show’, although the stage is noted as having scenery.
I could only find Cahn guides online for 1897 and 1905, and neither mention Flora at all.
Odd that they gave the address as 138. Street addresses appear on the 1895 map, when the building was 36 E Main. The address had changed to 136 by 1901, although the old numbers are in parentheses for each address. 138 was a small one story building. It is a candy store on the Nov. 1907 map.
So there were two Auditoriums at the same time?
The Auditorium appears on the Nov. 1907 Sanborn. In Oct. 1901, the lot is vacant. The map shows it was very large, as can be seen on the postcard. Two small storefronts flank a central entrance covered by a large awning. The balcony is extremely deep, and bowed out toward the stage, which was likewise very deep and bowed out. By 1924, the stage had a flat front, and strangely, one of the storefronts had been extended deeper into the building. The theater seems to have been about where the motel is today, or perhaps a bit to the east.
None of the pictures appear to be of the Strand. The Van Wert was a different building, and was not demolished.
According to the newspaper article, this closed sometime in the ‘90s.
Need to throw away the useless photo.
Between the 1923 and 1930 maps, this reverts to use as a store.
Sorry for the repeated postings, but I had to finagle an OH library card number to access Ohio’s very poorly scanned black and white copies of the Sanborns not available through the LoC site.
Address and status are incorrect. Address is 137 S Main, and the building is not demolished. Current occupant is a tanning/beauty salon. Building first appears on the 1888 Sanborn as a saloon and beer bottling plant, replacing a much smaller building on the back of the lot on the 1884 map. It still appears as a saloon on the 1905 map. To the extent you can read the notes on Ohio’s maps, this was the only theater on the 1911 map, so has to be the same one. It doesn’t appear to have replaced a furniture store, given the awning showing in the photo.
There is a set of buildings in the 100 block of W Butler that still has the same type of iron columns, but the other details don’t match. Most of the rest of downtown has badly mutilated ground floors, so it’s hard to guess where this actually was, or if the building is still there.
The address cannot be right. Both 414 N and S Main are way too far out of downtown. Must have been between the 100 block north and the 200 block south.
You posted a closing notice back in 2010. Correct to closed, and now we can drop the hokey name and put it back to Plaza.
Website is dead, and the 2018 streetview has barriers on the sidewalk in front of the building, which is never a good sign.
Still abandoned, windows covered in black plastic, so I couldn’t see what the lobby looked like. The two pictures from 2012 of the building with the art deco tile are not the theater and should be deleted.
It has to have been the only one. Downtown is only 2 blocks.
Building has been gutted, and is just a brick shell. Work going on inside, so it’s not being torn down.
Long gone, if the address is correct. Site now the parking lot for an ugly bank.
1906 Cahn guide gives the seating as 1,200. Still doing stage shows as well at that point. Prices $.25 to $1.50 (or about $7.10 to $42.60 today).
Should be listed as demolished. The current building is only one story. The 1924 Sanborn shows the theater as a two-story brick building. On that map, the address is 108. Not sure why the renumbering, 104 already was skipped to make this 108.
On the 1909 map, the address is 106. The theater is sharing the building with a millinery, at about 60/40 in favor of the theater. The stage section is also smaller on this map.
The building was originally a tin front, constructed sometime between 1886 and 1892, and occupied by a dry goods store until the theater moved in. The tin front is not noted after the 1902 map.
I don’t know why the sentences in my submission needed to be moved around. In 1906, the building was still the hotel, which was built sometime between 1893 and 1898. I was just stating that the space which became the theatre was offices in 1906.
Might as well put a copy of this on the Uptown page.
That’s the wrong 4th St. The Pershing was at 109 SW 4th St, which was called 10th St until before 1923, and was called Walnut before 1901.
The 1923 Sanborn shows the Pershing on the corner of W 4th St and W Delaware St. It was a brick building, one to two stories tall, with the screen in a concrete section at the rear. The building seems to have been a conversion of the Fairfield Ice & Coal Co., which occupied a building with the same footprint and concrete rear section on the 1913 map. The wooden front section was replaced, possibly during the conversion. This corner was home to industrial enterprises at least as far back as 1901.
The lot is now home to a cheap prefab shed which houses the local American Legion post.
The building you’re talking about is very shallow, and is a store on the 1923 map. Before that, it may have been the offices of a livery stable, but it’s been remodeled so much it’s hard to tell how old it is.
Status needs to be listed as demolished. The 1909 Sanborn shows a 2-story tin front in the middle of the 100 block of W Chestnut on the south side (so an odd number). This is two wooden stores joined by one front with a central stair. The deeper east half is a bowling alley. By 1912, this space is shown as a ‘picture show’. Presuming the address to be correct, this was likely a forerunner of the Anatole.
The good news is that the chintzy ‘Showtime’ boxes went off to the dump by 2016, revealing the sides of the marquee again. They’re only a bit rusty after years of being covered. The upper story windows have been replaced by cheapo white plastic frames, which really don’t match the style. That ugly wooden ticket booth is history as well (although I wonder what was under the wood), and the doors moved to the center.
The Cinematour thread linked to by Joe is confusing. Konrad had the wrong address for the Casino (it was likely at 103 W North), and one of the earlier posters suggests the Orpheum and Florine were both in operation in 1946, along with a Roxy, which Konrad claims was built on the site of the Casino. The building at 103 W North was never demolished, although the location of 103 E North became a parking lot as far back as 2009 (and probably well before that).
Joe is right about the probable location. The May 1912 map shows a wooden theater building on this site. On the March 1906 map, there are some small wooden stores. The theater building runs the whole depth of the block, and has a deep stage at the rear. The entire building was tin clad, with an ornate front featuring a double-arched entry. The front wall of the lobby was concrete block (doubtless the stuff patterned to look like stone), and the ticket booth was in a bowed-out central portion. From the article above, it appears this building was replaced in 1921.
There is however, a problem with the Opera House ID. The 1906 map shows the opera house across the street, at 117. This building still exists, with an ugly windowless flat front from sometime post-WWII. That building appears at least as early as 1894. By 1912, it appears to have closed, and only the ground floor stores are noted. The structure appearing on the 1912 map is much less substantial. It is noted on the map only as ‘Moving Picture Show’, although the stage is noted as having scenery.
I could only find Cahn guides online for 1897 and 1905, and neither mention Flora at all.