Capitol Theatre
134 N. Main Street,
Shenandoah,
PA
17976
134 N. Main Street,
Shenandoah,
PA
17976
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This was the second Capitol Theatre to be built on this site. The original house was destroyed by a fire on May 22, 1946. A fairly detailed story of the fire can be found in this post at Central PA Fire Forums. From the description, it appears that the new theater was built at least partly within the shell of the old theater.
The Capitol Theatre was listed in the 1926 FDY with only 430 seats, while the description of the fire says it had 1,400 seats in 1946. Either it had been expanded or rebuilt at some point after 1926, or there was an earlier Capitol Theatre at another location in Shenandoah.
I uploaded a picture of what the inside looks like now.
I’m pretty sure this isn’t an old picture of the Capitol Theatre. This cross street is Oak Street looking north into Main Street. There was an stage theatre on that corner where the District Magistrate now. I’m almost certain. I once saw a picture of it when it was playing George Bernard Shaw’s PYGMALION. Plus, this picture looks much older than 1947, when the Capitol opened.
The theatre is completely stripped; all the ornamentation, seats and stage is gone. Huge holes in the roof and the entire thing is a stripped shell.
Somehow the photo’s I posted were deleted. Here they are again. First is front of building. Second shows the depth of the building from the side.
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