According to a note at the bottom of page 47 of the Sanborn Fire Map of 1906, the theater had a capacity of 950. it also appears to have had a balcony and box seats.
The theater at this address is listed as “The Nickle” in the 1908 and 1909 city directories, and listed as the Casino from 1910 onward, so it most likely opened in 1908.
An interesting tidbit: According to the 1904 City Directory, the theater was called “Sheedy’s” but in 1905 it’s listed as Hathaway’s. It appears as such in every city directory up till 1913, as it was sold in 1914, making this theater a short lived one at just 10 years.
So after a lot of digging I finally came up with an address. The World was listed in the 1909 Directory as 236 Purchase. HOWEVER this was before the road was re-numbered. Following the original numbering puts it on Purchase between Hillman and North St, on the east side of the road, where Melville Towers is now. The theater only shows up in the 1909 directory, and I checked from 1907 to 1915, so I’m tempted to think this place only ran for a year or two. Flower Theater wasn’t listed in any directory under theater, so that’s still a mystery. The 1911 atlas shows a different owner of the building than mentioned above, leading to my theory it was short lived (unless they just leased). Mr Hesse lived 2 blocks down purchase, and Mr Auger lived on Pleasant just north of the park, and had offices listed in 228 Purchase, the building next to the theater. The theater building was 110x30 feet, so it would have had a very low capacity, maybe 200-250 tops.
So, a few things. First the description about X-rated movies seems to be wrong, as it looks like that stems from the comment made by Bsilva. However he is referring to the Strand theater, which was operated as a porn theater through the 70s and 80s. Maybe the Royal did run porn, but if so it wasn’t for long. According to historical aerial photos of the city, the Royal was standing in 71 and demolished by 74. Also it was a really small theater. According to the 1911 city atlas, which shows the theater building, it was barely 30 feet wide by 146 feet long. A similarly sized theater, The Strand over on Martha’s Vinyard, only seats just over 200, with only a center aisle and rows of 7 seats on either side. Even if the Royal had smaller seats for an extra row, and was a little longer, and had a balcony, I do not see how it could have 900+ seats. I figure, just going off of the size of the lot it could have no more than 500 to 600 seats tops. Hope you all find these tidbits interesting.
The theater is currently undergoing a massive 32 million renovation (impressive since that’s nearly triple what it cost to build to begin with). The renovation coincides with the theater’s 100th anniversary.
The Fall river Herald did a write-up about this theater in 2016 when it was auctioned off (well, they tried to. No one bid on it). It appears that the attempt from 2005 to restore it has long since been abandoned. It should be moved out of the restoring category.
article link here:
https://www.heraldnews.com/news/20160803/side-streets-piecing-together-history-of-royal-theater-building-no-one-wants
Further investigation reveals this to be the Strand Theater. It was built in the mid-late 1930s and was closed in 1970. Currently no known photos exist of the original theater and the interior’s condition is unknown.
According to a note at the bottom of page 47 of the Sanborn Fire Map of 1906, the theater had a capacity of 950. it also appears to have had a balcony and box seats.
Listed as “The Majestic” in the 1908 City Directory, and then changed to “Columbia” in the 1913 Directory, so it was operating as early as 1908.
Further research reveals it to first appear in the 1907 City Directory, leading me to believe this was it’s first year of operation.
The theater at this address is listed as “The Nickle” in the 1908 and 1909 city directories, and listed as the Casino from 1910 onward, so it most likely opened in 1908.
The Savoy is listed in the City Directories from 1906 through 1919, so it operated at least between these years.
An interesting tidbit: According to the 1904 City Directory, the theater was called “Sheedy’s” but in 1905 it’s listed as Hathaway’s. It appears as such in every city directory up till 1913, as it was sold in 1914, making this theater a short lived one at just 10 years.
So after a lot of digging I finally came up with an address. The World was listed in the 1909 Directory as 236 Purchase. HOWEVER this was before the road was re-numbered. Following the original numbering puts it on Purchase between Hillman and North St, on the east side of the road, where Melville Towers is now. The theater only shows up in the 1909 directory, and I checked from 1907 to 1915, so I’m tempted to think this place only ran for a year or two. Flower Theater wasn’t listed in any directory under theater, so that’s still a mystery. The 1911 atlas shows a different owner of the building than mentioned above, leading to my theory it was short lived (unless they just leased). Mr Hesse lived 2 blocks down purchase, and Mr Auger lived on Pleasant just north of the park, and had offices listed in 228 Purchase, the building next to the theater. The theater building was 110x30 feet, so it would have had a very low capacity, maybe 200-250 tops.
So, a few things. First the description about X-rated movies seems to be wrong, as it looks like that stems from the comment made by Bsilva. However he is referring to the Strand theater, which was operated as a porn theater through the 70s and 80s. Maybe the Royal did run porn, but if so it wasn’t for long. According to historical aerial photos of the city, the Royal was standing in 71 and demolished by 74. Also it was a really small theater. According to the 1911 city atlas, which shows the theater building, it was barely 30 feet wide by 146 feet long. A similarly sized theater, The Strand over on Martha’s Vinyard, only seats just over 200, with only a center aisle and rows of 7 seats on either side. Even if the Royal had smaller seats for an extra row, and was a little longer, and had a balcony, I do not see how it could have 900+ seats. I figure, just going off of the size of the lot it could have no more than 500 to 600 seats tops. Hope you all find these tidbits interesting.
The description is wrong. The address was 958 Acushnet Ave, 2 blocks north of Hicks between Cedar grove and Kenyon.
The theater is currently undergoing a massive 32 million renovation (impressive since that’s nearly triple what it cost to build to begin with). The renovation coincides with the theater’s 100th anniversary.
This is the wrong theater. this is the Olympia on Purchase
The Fall river Herald did a write-up about this theater in 2016 when it was auctioned off (well, they tried to. No one bid on it). It appears that the attempt from 2005 to restore it has long since been abandoned. It should be moved out of the restoring category.
article link here: https://www.heraldnews.com/news/20160803/side-streets-piecing-together-history-of-royal-theater-building-no-one-wants
Further investigation reveals this to be the Strand Theater. It was built in the mid-late 1930s and was closed in 1970. Currently no known photos exist of the original theater and the interior’s condition is unknown.