Coudersport Theatre
11 N. Main Street,
Coudersport,
PA
16915
11 N. Main Street,
Coudersport,
PA
16915
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 52 comments
The Coudersport Theatre opened its doors on April 9, 1928 with Harold Bell Wright in “The Shephards of the Hills”.
On November 2, 1945, the theater survived a fire, caused by someone throwing a cigarette inside near the balcony causing the theater to burst in flames. It was later rebuilt and reopened a bit less than a week later.
Coudersports is also known for the name, Eliot Ness. He lived the last 2 years of his life there. A book entitled Eliot Ness The Real Story was written by Paul Heimel. Paul was born and raised in the small town. He also helped write the history of the theatre on their website.
Classic example of a small town theatre treasure. Thank you John Regis.
drove by the other day ( i was on vacation) and was surprised to see a theater in such great condition,wish I could have went in
yes,tisloews it is a classic theatre and thanks for the pictures and of course the great stories.
Very nice looking theatre.
Now that’s a great idea and I’m sure David wouldn’t mind what color it is. ;)
David wrote to me and said that the theatre had a pipe organ, but it was destroyed in the flood of 1942.
Lost: I haven’t heard back from David at the Coudersport Theatre, but when I do I will let you know or he may just post his comments here.
I’m sure he would so I’ll cut and paste your above post into an email to him and wait for his answer.
LOL! Love your humor though I don’t think it ever had an organ. There was a flood many years ago in the town and it might have been destroyed then as damage did occur to the Coudersport Theatre at that time…will have to ask my tour guide, David to give a definitive answer….whether an organ ever existed and if so, what color it was! LOL!
Lost: Lovely photo showing main street in a pictureque PA town. I will always remember my tour of this one for many reasons and look forward to returning to Coudersport in the Spring.
MPol: There are sweet-looking photos on the theatre website
www.coudersporttheatre.com
What a sweet-looking theatre! Are there any photos of the interior?
During my tour I saw and sat in one of the theatre seats, but also saw and sat in one of the original seats that were much more ornate on the sides. It was in the basement and, I believe, is the only one. I suggested to our tour guide, David that perhaps they put it on display, but the lobby area isn’t big enough.
My recent trip to Coudersport was a pleasant experience having met friends for lunch and meeting new friends at the Potter County Historical Society, Kay and Leon Reed. Leon graduated from high school with CT member, Edith Wingate. Leon took us on a 45 minute tour of the town which included seeing the Scottish Rite Consistory, Lewis Mansion, Old Hickory, Dr. Othmers former summer home and other interesting sites. At 2:00 we were greeted by the manager of the theatre and taken on a full tour of that lovely theatre. Thank you David and thank M/M Reed.
Edith: Please email me at and put Coudersport Theatre in the subject line. Thanks.
LOL! Thanks so much!
Contact info for John Rigas: Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. According to Wikipedia, his release date is 09-04-2017.
Could the name, John Rigas who is mentioned in previous posts be of help to me during a Coudersport Theatre visit? Through an internet search I found more than one Coudersport residents listed under that name.
I plan to be in Coudersports next week to visit friends and will certainly go by this hometown theatre. Does anyone have a contact # that I can call to perhaps get a tour???
Hi, I just found a ticket for the Coudersport theatre but no date on it. I do know it is from the 1950’s. It cost 20 cents to go to the theatre.
Hi, I just received an e-mail from the Historical Society in Coudersport, PA. The balcony was closed in 1970 & then removed.
I do not know much about the office building you are talking about but I do know that Adelphia used the school building(corner of Main & water St.) for their offices at one time. The high school I went to is the one on the corner of Main Street & Water Street. We use to go to the theatre in the 1950’s & if I remember correctly there was a balconey. I just e-mailed someone to see if I can find out for sure & what happened to the balconey if there was one. Some of the people in Coudersport still do not believe that it was John Regis who did wrong. They feel there were others but since they did not want to go to jail they did not talk. Who know’s? It is a shame because when I lived there we only had one stop light & no 24 hr. store. A lot changes in 50 yrs. It was a great town to be in during your teen yrs. At least I thought so. There are also a lot of $150,000+ homes sitting empty & will probably remain that way because there are no jobs that will pay you enough to make payments. It would be a great place for a warm weather home if you had lots of money for the upkeep & taxes. When I was there on Sept. 15th for my class reunion of 50 yrs. they were talking about the building. There is a possibility Penn State University may buy it. I believe there is a religious organization that is interested also. It would be great for the town if the university bought it & it became a college town. Only time will tell.
Just saw Stardust there on 9/21/07. What a wonderful experience. $5.25 for a ticket and $1 for candy. I haven’t seen those prices in many years. The interior is very clean. I didn’t notice any stairs so I doubt that there ever was a balcony in this theatre. The theatre’s small size and shape (square, not long and narrow) probably spared it from twinning. So sad to think of the potentially tainted funding from Adelphia. Their former headquarters is just down the street. Looks like a huge courthouse – very out of place in this simple town. Locals say it was built for $30M and now it is for sale for a steal at $1M.