The picture is wrong. It shows the Star at 626. The Star at 506 had no columns in the entry.
This entry is also garbled. It should say that the Star opened at 626, and moved here in 1913. I think the theater may have been a new build, as it does not match the building shown on the 1909 map. The Star was damaged in the August 4th, 1914 fire that destroyed the center of the block, including the building just to the north. The building today has a midcentury storefront belonging to Lasater’s, the first retail tenant after the theater closed. It is in good shape, but vacant.
Actually, as an extra poke in the eye, the little spike and urns have been removed from the roofline, and the ornamental opening in the center has been ruined and filled with cement. It’s much uglier than it was a few years ago.
Now a urology clinic. The marquee has gone from white to some nasty house-flipper putty color, and the ugly storefront has been replaced by a new ugly storefront with a chintzy fake tile canopy. The original pent tile ornamentation on the roofline has also been replaced by cheap plastic fakes.
The building is the Nelson & Ostenberg building, which was constructed sometime between 1905 and 1911 along with the identical T.W. Roach building to the south. It appears from the night photo that the theater entry was about where today’s streetview shows the door between 141 and 143. The building is in good shape, with a lame HGTV storefront for some boutiques replacing a rather battered 1960s (?) storefront sometime around 2020. The theater was apparently on the ground floor. The maps which would show it operating are not available online.
SethG
commented about
Air Domeon
Mar 22, 2026 at 4:46 pm
Wasn’t there, but I did find it. I’ll add a listing.
The 1938 remodel was fairly cheap, considering the demolition of the three story building which fronted the auditorium, and its replacement by a ‘modern’ one story storefront section.
The original building behind which the auditorium was constructed was the Grand Central Hotel, the northern half of which appears on the 1884 map, with the rest completed by 1887. It was oddly shallow, and divided into quite a few narrow storefronts. It appears to have been deepened to connect it to the auditorium.
The auditorium was behind the storefronts, and is now a parking lot, like about 2/3 of the old downtown. Can anyone explain the significance of the F.C.-A.O. flanking the York name on the facade? Sadly, some of the streamline ornamentation was removed between 2013 and 2018. I don’t know why, but I never got a picture of this. The storefronts are now a grocery store.
It seems that this replaced an earlier Dixie/Opera House of 100 seats. It may have been listed in the 1930 Yearbook as the Trickett, which was wired for sound.
According to information on a Flickr photo from 2016, this served as the community center before the new one was built across the street, and was used as a theater, run by volunteers. Not sure how accurate that is.
This had to have been in the Township Hall, which was built by the WPA in 1936. Address is 501 Main St. Probably didn’t last long, considering the town peaked at around 250. Not listed in the Yearbooks I checked (1948, ‘49, '51).
SethG
commented about
Theateron
Mar 17, 2026 at 6:19 am
It’s also possible that this may have been the Novelty Theatre, which is listed in the AMPD with an impossible 1317 address, which would have put it on the courthouse lawn.
This address is impossible. The ‘even’ side of 4th is the town square park. The Odd Fellows was at 105. It was a two story brick building. A market and grocery appears on the 1908 map, and the 1914 map shows furniture and stoves. The current structure is a replacement. The only surviving piece of the old building is the stone tablet on the facade. Status should be demolished.
This theater was located in the Richland Block, a large and ornate three story brick commercial block with metal bay windows. It was built sometime between August 1886 and November 1887, since it only appears on the later map. In 1931, the western half of the building was demolished to construct a large Montgomery Ward on the corner. That is apparently still there under a criminally ugly ‘70s remodel. The rest of the building, comprising 409 and 411, was still there in 1950, but was likely demolished by the '70s.
Taken before 1931, when the building on the corner was demolished to be replaced by a Montgomery Ward. The three story building between that and the theater is the Richland Block, which was briefly home to the early Elite theater.
As can be seen from the photo, the building was an old three story brick commercial building with bay windows. It was constructed in 1887, and was originally the Packers' Hotel, later the Topeka Avenue Hotel. A hotel operated here through at least 1950, but this building was lost at some point thereafter. The 1903 map shows that the conversion of the ground floor to the Pastime hadn’t taken place yet.
Considering this theater had a balcony, the capacity seems very small. We should change the photo to one actually of the theater, rather than a very blurry newspaper.
The picture is wrong. It shows the Star at 626. The Star at 506 had no columns in the entry.
This entry is also garbled. It should say that the Star opened at 626, and moved here in 1913. I think the theater may have been a new build, as it does not match the building shown on the 1909 map. The Star was damaged in the August 4th, 1914 fire that destroyed the center of the block, including the building just to the north. The building today has a midcentury storefront belonging to Lasater’s, the first retail tenant after the theater closed. It is in good shape, but vacant.
This is the wrong Star. This is the 506 location.
Actually, as an extra poke in the eye, the little spike and urns have been removed from the roofline, and the ornamental opening in the center has been ruined and filled with cement. It’s much uglier than it was a few years ago.
Now a urology clinic. The marquee has gone from white to some nasty house-flipper putty color, and the ugly storefront has been replaced by a new ugly storefront with a chintzy fake tile canopy. The original pent tile ornamentation on the roofline has also been replaced by cheap plastic fakes.
The building is the Nelson & Ostenberg building, which was constructed sometime between 1905 and 1911 along with the identical T.W. Roach building to the south. It appears from the night photo that the theater entry was about where today’s streetview shows the door between 141 and 143. The building is in good shape, with a lame HGTV storefront for some boutiques replacing a rather battered 1960s (?) storefront sometime around 2020. The theater was apparently on the ground floor. The maps which would show it operating are not available online.
Wasn’t there, but I did find it. I’ll add a listing.
The 1938 remodel was fairly cheap, considering the demolition of the three story building which fronted the auditorium, and its replacement by a ‘modern’ one story storefront section.
The original building behind which the auditorium was constructed was the Grand Central Hotel, the northern half of which appears on the 1884 map, with the rest completed by 1887. It was oddly shallow, and divided into quite a few narrow storefronts. It appears to have been deepened to connect it to the auditorium.
The auditorium was behind the storefronts, and is now a parking lot, like about 2/3 of the old downtown. Can anyone explain the significance of the F.C.-A.O. flanking the York name on the facade? Sadly, some of the streamline ornamentation was removed between 2013 and 2018. I don’t know why, but I never got a picture of this. The storefronts are now a grocery store.
The building was built as a drug store sometime between 1912 and 1917. Still retail in 1985. I assume the theater is fairly recent.
Status needs to be corrected. This was demolished sometime around 1945 and replaced by a Neisner’s department store. That building is still there.
The address is right on the front of the building.
It seems that this replaced an earlier Dixie/Opera House of 100 seats. It may have been listed in the 1930 Yearbook as the Trickett, which was wired for sound.
According to information on a Flickr photo from 2016, this served as the community center before the new one was built across the street, and was used as a theater, run by volunteers. Not sure how accurate that is.
This had to have been in the Township Hall, which was built by the WPA in 1936. Address is 501 Main St. Probably didn’t last long, considering the town peaked at around 250. Not listed in the Yearbooks I checked (1948, ‘49, '51).
It’s also possible that this may have been the Novelty Theatre, which is listed in the AMPD with an impossible 1317 address, which would have put it on the courthouse lawn.
Possibly earlier known as the Dickinson or Plaza, both of which are listed in the 1936 Yearbook.
The 1914 map shows this building as a fruit stand. It’s now a flea market. The history should be updated with Joe’s information.
History and aka needs an update per Joe’s information. This is now a coffee shop.
Probably on the SW corner, where the ugly bank is.
This address is impossible. The ‘even’ side of 4th is the town square park. The Odd Fellows was at 105. It was a two story brick building. A market and grocery appears on the 1908 map, and the 1914 map shows furniture and stoves. The current structure is a replacement. The only surviving piece of the old building is the stone tablet on the facade. Status should be demolished.
Address was 103 E 4th Ave. Now the site of an office in a building which might be from about 1920.
This theater was located in the Richland Block, a large and ornate three story brick commercial block with metal bay windows. It was built sometime between August 1886 and November 1887, since it only appears on the later map. In 1931, the western half of the building was demolished to construct a large Montgomery Ward on the corner. That is apparently still there under a criminally ugly ‘70s remodel. The rest of the building, comprising 409 and 411, was still there in 1950, but was likely demolished by the '70s.
Taken before 1931, when the building on the corner was demolished to be replaced by a Montgomery Ward. The three story building between that and the theater is the Richland Block, which was briefly home to the early Elite theater.
As can be seen from the photo, the building was an old three story brick commercial building with bay windows. It was constructed in 1887, and was originally the Packers' Hotel, later the Topeka Avenue Hotel. A hotel operated here through at least 1950, but this building was lost at some point thereafter. The 1903 map shows that the conversion of the ground floor to the Pastime hadn’t taken place yet.
Considering this theater had a balcony, the capacity seems very small. We should change the photo to one actually of the theater, rather than a very blurry newspaper.
The address is wrong. It was 120-122.