The Opera House in Gowanda, which stood on the site of the Hollywood Theatre until it burned down in 1924, is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. It had 800 seats and was on the ground floor. Its proscenium opening was 26.5 feet wide X 18 feet high, and the stage was almost 26 feet deep. J. VanDensen was the Mgr. There were 2 weekly newspapers and 3 hotels for show folk. Town served by the Erie RR. The 1897 population of Gowanda was 2,500. I don’t know if the Opera House ever showed movies – it certainly may have.
I think that when the St. James Th. was built, the auditorium for Chickering Hall may have been demolished for the new theater. Peabody and Stearns kept the original front building on Huntington Avenue and built the theater entrance and lobby in it. The external appearance of the auditorium and stage-house as seen from in back certainly looked to me at the time (circa-1960) like new construction and not an adaptation of the old Chickering Hall.
dickneeds- are you sure you’re thinking of the Uptown? It was gone by 1970-71, and was never twinned. Also, was never a true porno house.
I have been told that this theater was part of a small circuit of movie theaters named “Scenic Temple”. There were some others in various New England towns.
I-Silva- yes, it appears to be the Keith’s in Lowell. The marquee is not the same as in the 1941 MGM Report photo, but the windows above are the clue. The large center window is the same, with small windows on either side. Look at the photos which JV Roy posted above on April 14, 2010.
I went by the Aldo shoe store yesterday. It occupies the Washington Street entrance of the Orpheum. It appears to have been enlarged at some point recently (?)– it now looks much deeper than formerly. This means that the marble staircase going up to the theater, which was in back of the store’s former rear wall, has been removed, at least its lower end. The store’s exterior sign almost certainly uses the frame of the Orpheum marquee, while above it, now blank, is another sign perpendicular to the facade which dates to Aquarius Theater days.
The Burritt Opera House in Weedsport is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The seating capacity was 620, tickets were 25 cents to 75 cents, and the theater was on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 25 feet wide X 18 feet high, and the stage was 24 feet deep. There were 7 musicians in the house orchestra. House managed by Brown, Durbin & Sturge. There was a weekly newspaper, the Cayuga Chief; and hotels for show folk were the Willard House and Congress Hall. The 1897 population of Weedsport was 3,000.
The Lyceum in Duluth is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. L. Scott and T. Marsh, Mgrs. 1,664 seats. Ticket prices 25 cents to $1.25; electric illumination, auditorium on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 30 feet wide X 39 feet high, and the stage was 45 feet deep. There were 12 in the house orchestra. Duluth had 2 daily newspapers and 3 weeklies; and there were 4 hotels for show folk. The 1897 population of Duluth was 75,000.
Due to an odd error an ad for the Patriot Cinemas Nickleodeon 6 in Portland ME ran on the entertainment page of yesterday’s Quincy Patriot Ledger in Quincy MA (just south of Boston). The ad did not mention Portland ME, so I could not figure it out and had to go to the Patriot Cinemas website. What a waste of advertising funds!
There is a Hartford Opera House listed under Hartford in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Is it this theater? There are no street addresses in this Guide. It had 2,150 seats and was supposedly on the second floor. Managed by H. Jennings and E. Graves; ticket prices 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 41 feet wide X 40 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There were 8 in the house orchestra, led by “Professor” Dooley. Another theater listed for Hartford was the Parsons Theatre, 1817 seats. The 1897 population of Hartford was 75,000.
Congrats to Cinema Treasures, my favorite website, on reaching this milestone. And special thanks and regards to Ken, a tireless worker if ever there was one. It’s good to know that his contributions and talents are appreciated here at CT and also in the Cinema Theatre Association in the U.K.; it’s always nice when dedicated workers are recognized, and not insulted as they are in certain organizations.
In the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide, there is a “Bagby’s Opera House”. Is it this theatre, the Rex? The Mgr. was A. Gunzendorfer, it had 500 seats and was located on the second floor. Admission prices 25 cents to 75 cents; electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 22 feet wide X 14 feet high, and the stage was 18 feet deep. There were 4 musicians in the pit band. There were 2 weekly newspapers and 3 hotels for show folk. Town served by the Southern Pacific RR. The 1897 population of Monterey was 3,000.
In the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook, there are no listings for Braintree MA, but there is a “Town Hall” cinema listed for South Braintree, with 900 seats, open 1 day per week. dwodeyla says that in the 1934 FDY, the Town Hall in South Braintree, 900 seats, is listed as “Closed”; and that there is a Lyric Theatre listed for Braintree, with 750 seats. Is “Lyric” an older name for the Braintree Theatre?
Thanks for your responses. I now know that the 1976 photo is facing east toward Boston. This rail line was used only for freight trains to and from the west; however, I rode over it on an excursion train many years ago. The train was behind schedule and it was getting dark; we raced down the line and Davis Square was just a blur!
Did the Somerville Th. in 1976 have signage at the right end of the building which overlooked the Boston & Maine RR line thru Davis Square? There is a nice photo, taken in 1976, in the new 3rd edition of the book “Lost Railroads of New England” by Ronald Dale Karr (Branch Line Press, Pepperall MA) which seems to show the edge of a theater marquee. The photo caption merely says “Davis Square, Somerville, 1976” and illustrates the B&M freight line which was obliterated by the extension of the MBTA Red Line. I can’t tell if the photographer was facing east or west (probably east). The track crosses the street, protected by gates and flashers; the “SOM—” sign is up on the extreme right- there is space for 6 lines of lettering. Across the street is a 2-story brick RR signal tower and beyond it is another grade crossing. Where was the Somerville Theatre is relation to this track back then?
The North Station cinemas which Ron Newman mentions were store-front operations, similar to ancient store-front nickleodeons of the 1905-era. They operated in the 1980 period. I went into one of them once and it was definitely a XXX venue.
The Boston & Maine RR Historical Society recently ran a long time-line of events in B&M history spread over a number of issues of its magazine. If it had mentioned a cinema being built within the North Station, I would have instantly noticed, that’s for sure!
I wonder if it was actually built. The new (at the time) North Station dates to about 1927 or so. It had a long concourse, as Ian states, which went clear westward to the Manger (Madison) Hotel. I was in this station in the 1940s and especially the 1950s, often, and there was no movie theater there then. It probably would have been a “newsreel” theater, similar to the South Station Theatre. I have no memory of it, nor do I recall reading about it in any of the local “railfan” publications. I think that if there had been a little theater in there that it would have been mentioned in Donald King’s book (he passed through North Station often in the 1930s and 1940s.) As Ian says, when they removed about half of the tracks on the west side of the station circa-1960, the west half of the station concourse was removed also.
There is a short item in the business news of the Quincy Patriot Ledger today which reports that there will be a “massive makeover” of the Regal cinema at Independence Mall. The cinema will get larger screens and stadium seating. The property will increase from 42,000 square feet to 58,000. There will be one new RPX screen, and several screens will have 3D capability. The work will begin in early-2011 and take about 8 months to complete.
A friend owns copies of the Film Daily Yearbook for 1934 and 1942. He says that in 1934 the movie venue in Orange was the Town Hall, with 700 seats. In 1942, it was the Orange Theatre, 700 seats. In 1927, it was the Town Hall, with 700 seats; and in 1941, the MGM Report is for the Orange Theatre, (700-plus seats), and with a photo of a building which is today’s Town Hall.
On the CT news page, in the news about the recent fire, it says that the State was originally the Grand Opera House from 1897. Under Washington Iowa in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide, there is a “Graham Opera House” – is it this theater? It says that the Graham was on the ground floor, had 783 seats, and ticket prices from 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 32 feet wide X 29 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There were 6 musicians in the house orchestra. There were 3 newspapers in town and 4 hotels for show folks. The 1897 population of Washington was 5,000.
The Opera House in Gowanda, which stood on the site of the Hollywood Theatre until it burned down in 1924, is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. It had 800 seats and was on the ground floor. Its proscenium opening was 26.5 feet wide X 18 feet high, and the stage was almost 26 feet deep. J. VanDensen was the Mgr. There were 2 weekly newspapers and 3 hotels for show folk. Town served by the Erie RR. The 1897 population of Gowanda was 2,500. I don’t know if the Opera House ever showed movies – it certainly may have.
I think that when the St. James Th. was built, the auditorium for Chickering Hall may have been demolished for the new theater. Peabody and Stearns kept the original front building on Huntington Avenue and built the theater entrance and lobby in it. The external appearance of the auditorium and stage-house as seen from in back certainly looked to me at the time (circa-1960) like new construction and not an adaptation of the old Chickering Hall.
dickneeds- are you sure you’re thinking of the Uptown? It was gone by 1970-71, and was never twinned. Also, was never a true porno house.
I have been told that this theater was part of a small circuit of movie theaters named “Scenic Temple”. There were some others in various New England towns.
Looks like a band-stand rather than a true theater stage. Note the acoustic shell. Perhaps part of an amusement park somewhere???
I-Silva- yes, it appears to be the Keith’s in Lowell. The marquee is not the same as in the 1941 MGM Report photo, but the windows above are the clue. The large center window is the same, with small windows on either side. Look at the photos which JV Roy posted above on April 14, 2010.
I went by the Aldo shoe store yesterday. It occupies the Washington Street entrance of the Orpheum. It appears to have been enlarged at some point recently (?)– it now looks much deeper than formerly. This means that the marble staircase going up to the theater, which was in back of the store’s former rear wall, has been removed, at least its lower end. The store’s exterior sign almost certainly uses the frame of the Orpheum marquee, while above it, now blank, is another sign perpendicular to the facade which dates to Aquarius Theater days.
The Burritt Opera House in Weedsport is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The seating capacity was 620, tickets were 25 cents to 75 cents, and the theater was on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 25 feet wide X 18 feet high, and the stage was 24 feet deep. There were 7 musicians in the house orchestra. House managed by Brown, Durbin & Sturge. There was a weekly newspaper, the Cayuga Chief; and hotels for show folk were the Willard House and Congress Hall. The 1897 population of Weedsport was 3,000.
The Lyceum in Duluth is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. L. Scott and T. Marsh, Mgrs. 1,664 seats. Ticket prices 25 cents to $1.25; electric illumination, auditorium on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 30 feet wide X 39 feet high, and the stage was 45 feet deep. There were 12 in the house orchestra. Duluth had 2 daily newspapers and 3 weeklies; and there were 4 hotels for show folk. The 1897 population of Duluth was 75,000.
Due to an odd error an ad for the Patriot Cinemas Nickleodeon 6 in Portland ME ran on the entertainment page of yesterday’s Quincy Patriot Ledger in Quincy MA (just south of Boston). The ad did not mention Portland ME, so I could not figure it out and had to go to the Patriot Cinemas website. What a waste of advertising funds!
The comments posted above by Thomas H. Moore III constitute as fine a history of a small-town cinema as I have ever read anywhere.
I went by the site yesterday and there was a crew grading the empty lot.
There is a Hartford Opera House listed under Hartford in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Is it this theater? There are no street addresses in this Guide. It had 2,150 seats and was supposedly on the second floor. Managed by H. Jennings and E. Graves; ticket prices 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 41 feet wide X 40 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There were 8 in the house orchestra, led by “Professor” Dooley. Another theater listed for Hartford was the Parsons Theatre, 1817 seats. The 1897 population of Hartford was 75,000.
Congrats to Cinema Treasures, my favorite website, on reaching this milestone. And special thanks and regards to Ken, a tireless worker if ever there was one. It’s good to know that his contributions and talents are appreciated here at CT and also in the Cinema Theatre Association in the U.K.; it’s always nice when dedicated workers are recognized, and not insulted as they are in certain organizations.
In the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide, there is a “Bagby’s Opera House”. Is it this theatre, the Rex? The Mgr. was A. Gunzendorfer, it had 500 seats and was located on the second floor. Admission prices 25 cents to 75 cents; electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 22 feet wide X 14 feet high, and the stage was 18 feet deep. There were 4 musicians in the pit band. There were 2 weekly newspapers and 3 hotels for show folk. Town served by the Southern Pacific RR. The 1897 population of Monterey was 3,000.
In the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook, there are no listings for Braintree MA, but there is a “Town Hall” cinema listed for South Braintree, with 900 seats, open 1 day per week. dwodeyla says that in the 1934 FDY, the Town Hall in South Braintree, 900 seats, is listed as “Closed”; and that there is a Lyric Theatre listed for Braintree, with 750 seats. Is “Lyric” an older name for the Braintree Theatre?
dwodeyla says that in the 1934 Film Daily Yearbook, the Weymouth Theatre is listed, with 678 seats.
dwodeyla says that in the 1934 FDY only the Regent is listed for Norfolk Downs, although there is a notation that it’s “closed”. 800 seats.
Thanks for your responses. I now know that the 1976 photo is facing east toward Boston. This rail line was used only for freight trains to and from the west; however, I rode over it on an excursion train many years ago. The train was behind schedule and it was getting dark; we raced down the line and Davis Square was just a blur!
Did the Somerville Th. in 1976 have signage at the right end of the building which overlooked the Boston & Maine RR line thru Davis Square? There is a nice photo, taken in 1976, in the new 3rd edition of the book “Lost Railroads of New England” by Ronald Dale Karr (Branch Line Press, Pepperall MA) which seems to show the edge of a theater marquee. The photo caption merely says “Davis Square, Somerville, 1976” and illustrates the B&M freight line which was obliterated by the extension of the MBTA Red Line. I can’t tell if the photographer was facing east or west (probably east). The track crosses the street, protected by gates and flashers; the “SOM—” sign is up on the extreme right- there is space for 6 lines of lettering. Across the street is a 2-story brick RR signal tower and beyond it is another grade crossing. Where was the Somerville Theatre is relation to this track back then?
The North Station cinemas which Ron Newman mentions were store-front operations, similar to ancient store-front nickleodeons of the 1905-era. They operated in the 1980 period. I went into one of them once and it was definitely a XXX venue.
The Boston & Maine RR Historical Society recently ran a long time-line of events in B&M history spread over a number of issues of its magazine. If it had mentioned a cinema being built within the North Station, I would have instantly noticed, that’s for sure!
I wonder if it was actually built. The new (at the time) North Station dates to about 1927 or so. It had a long concourse, as Ian states, which went clear westward to the Manger (Madison) Hotel. I was in this station in the 1940s and especially the 1950s, often, and there was no movie theater there then. It probably would have been a “newsreel” theater, similar to the South Station Theatre. I have no memory of it, nor do I recall reading about it in any of the local “railfan” publications. I think that if there had been a little theater in there that it would have been mentioned in Donald King’s book (he passed through North Station often in the 1930s and 1940s.) As Ian says, when they removed about half of the tracks on the west side of the station circa-1960, the west half of the station concourse was removed also.
What a great night shot! Especially in view of the date.
There is a short item in the business news of the Quincy Patriot Ledger today which reports that there will be a “massive makeover” of the Regal cinema at Independence Mall. The cinema will get larger screens and stadium seating. The property will increase from 42,000 square feet to 58,000. There will be one new RPX screen, and several screens will have 3D capability. The work will begin in early-2011 and take about 8 months to complete.
A friend owns copies of the Film Daily Yearbook for 1934 and 1942. He says that in 1934 the movie venue in Orange was the Town Hall, with 700 seats. In 1942, it was the Orange Theatre, 700 seats. In 1927, it was the Town Hall, with 700 seats; and in 1941, the MGM Report is for the Orange Theatre, (700-plus seats), and with a photo of a building which is today’s Town Hall.
On the CT news page, in the news about the recent fire, it says that the State was originally the Grand Opera House from 1897. Under Washington Iowa in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide, there is a “Graham Opera House” – is it this theater? It says that the Graham was on the ground floor, had 783 seats, and ticket prices from 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 32 feet wide X 29 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There were 6 musicians in the house orchestra. There were 3 newspapers in town and 4 hotels for show folks. The 1897 population of Washington was 5,000.