Roxy Theatre
116 W. Main Street,
Rogersville,
TN
37857
116 W. Main Street,
Rogersville,
TN
37857
1 person
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Part of the Rockwood Amusement Company, the Roxy Theatre opened as a single screen theatre on April 24, 1947 with June Haver in “Three Little Girls in Blue”. It was later twinned. It was closed in October 1988 and was demolished.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Could this be the former Roxy Theatre? The address is listed as 9543 Kingsport Hwy, Rogersville.
The photo in your link is indeed of the Roxy marquee, however, it is not the building. That photo was taken fairly recently at the marquee’s new home Memory Lane, a privately-owned 1950s ‘town’ near Rogersville.
Here is a link to photos of the ‘town,’ but not the marquee: http://www.randomrods.com/memorylane.html
The property encompasses several acres filled with vintage property such as signs and a few replica and original buildings from the area. The Roxy marquee was set up on the side of a former storage barn â€" hence the wooden siding visible in the photo. The original Roxy was a simple, yet stately Art Deco structure in downtown Rogersville and the town’s only piece of true Art Deco which stood uniquely in a sea of Federal-style architecture.
The Roxy, a replacement for the Rogersville Theatre which burned in the 1930s, was demolished in the late 1980s or early 1990s to make room for a garden courtyard at the adjacent Hale Springs Inn.
At the time, the demolition was justified by the fact the inn was Tennessee’s oldest, continually-operating hotel. The Roxy was deemed to be out of character with the surrounding styles which date back to the 1830s through early 1900s. However, in recent years the inn was closed, purchased by the local historical society and has been the center of a slow restoration. This has resulted in a great deal of disrepair to the inn, as well as the gardens where Roxy once stood.
It is considered by many who remember the Roxy to be one of Main Street’s (the former Kingsport / Lee Highway) greatest losses due to ‘progressive’ thinking.
That is definitely the Roxy I remember, although 1952 is 26 years before my time. :) Thanks for the post! It’s always great to remember these things of the past.
Thanks for the photos.
Great art deco facade and marquee.
This theater closed in October 1988, shortly after Heritage Days. I saw several films here as a boy. The marquee was always impressive to me when my parents drove down Main St. It was desperately outdated by the time it closed, but was still a tragic loss for the town.
Rogersville, by Randy Ball and Rodney Ferrell (Google Books preview), has a photo of the Roxy on page 22, the caption of which says the house was built in 1946 and demolished in 1988.
The April 17, 1947, issue of the Rogersville Review had this item saying that the new Roxy would open the next week:
Here is a a 1952 photo of Rogersville’s Main Street with the Roxy Theatre in the foreground.