DuBois Opera House
40 S. Grove Street,
Elgin,
IL
60120
40 S. Grove Street,
Elgin,
IL
60120
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The DuBois Opera House (later known as the Grand Theater) was built in 1886 and frequently showed short motion pictures starting in 1897, and sometimes shown along with vaudeville acts. This continued until at least 1914 despite the Globe Theater opening down the street in 1907. In 1910 it was renamed Grand Theater.
The building was destroyed by a tornado on Palm Sunday, March 1920. Two performers were killed as they were preparing for that evenings show. The Rialto Theatre was built on the site, opening in April 1921 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures).
Contributed by
Brendan
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
I wouldn’t think that this building would be listed under the Rialto because the DuBois was a totally different building.
Actually, when the original DuBois Opera House burned down in 1886, it was rebuilt using the same name but was later changed to the Grand. So the DuBois Opera House that I have listed and the Grand Theater are the same building.
I suppose I could have listed it as “The Grand Theater” but the reason why I chose to list it as the DuBois Opera House is because that is what most of the people in Elgin refer to it as.
I suppose it wouldn’t be a problem if this information was listed under the Rialto, but I still think it would be better to leave it as is since it is a different building.
You are very welcome.
This theater is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory as the Grand Opera House, and the address is given as 40 Grove Ave.