Governor Theatre
110 E. Main Street,
Somerset,
PA
15501
110 E. Main Street,
Somerset,
PA
15501
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It actually opened on April 25, 1938, with Andy Devine in “In Old Chicago” along with a cartoon. The cartoon actually reads “SKIPPY”, which kinda makes sense. I don’t know what the title for the actual cartoon is called.
The Governor Theatre apparently closed in April 1977. Farewell To The Governor photo added credit Robert Kovack.
Long shot here, but wondering if commenter JEC is still associated with this thread. My husband is one of the Blatt grandsons and would be interested in sharing info about the theaters
The first movie I saw at the Governor was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”-Disney in Cinemascope. Over the years I came to be acquainted with Mr. Crowley the manager of the theater. He told me the first movie ran at the Governor was “In Old Chicago” 1938, Tyrone Power. The last one ran was “Bonnie Scotland” Laurel & Hardy, a 35mm print owned by a friend of mine. I was told that the WIFE of Mr. Crowley was a SISTER of the BLATT Bros., whose everyone “called' the GOVERNOR…. :–)
As JEC noted, the theatre across the street from the Governor was the Par-K NOT the Park. Also, the Governor did not sit on the site pictured above which is now PNC Bank(108 W Main St) but rather the next site to the east (130 W. Main St)which is now a parking lot.
Somerset no longer uses one and two digit addresses, so the modern address of the Governor Theatre’s site was most likely 110 E. Main Street. There is a modern bank on the site now, so the Governor has been demolished.
Andrew: This is a bit late, but I just came across an item from the September 4, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World that mentions a Mr. Pascoe in Somerset:
The March 11, 1922, issue of The American Contractor also mentions Pascoe in connection with a theater project in Somerset:The comment by Mark Ware says that the Grand and Park Theatres were across the street from the Governor. The Park was rather small, so the Grand is more likely to have had an organ.Mr. Ware, was there a “Pasco Theatre” in Somerset, Pennsylvania at any time?
The book “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ”, pg. 631, lists a Smith theatre pipe organ as having been installed at a “Pasco Theatre” in Somerset at some point, with no other details known at the time of publication (such as size of the organ, year of installation, blower info, etc.).
If anybody knows more about this theatre and/or organ, I’d love to know, thanks!
Patsy and JEC, I am the Executive Director of the Somerset Co. Historical Society and am doing research for a story on movie theaters in Somerset. We have numerous photos of the Governor, inside and outside. Looking for info and other photos. We have numerous cards for the Par K and Grand across the street from the Governor and owned by the Blatts. Would love to correspond with descendants of the Blatt Bros.
The April 9, 1938, issue of The Film Daily listed the Blatt Brothers' Governor Theatre in Somerset among the new theaters under construction in Pennsylvania. The 1,000-seat house was to cost $65,000, and was set to open on April 20.
The item says that the theater was designed by an architectural firm called Walker & Mong, but I think it might have been a Pennsylvania architect who appears in the American Institute of Architects database as George L. Walker Mong. The AIA might have made a mistake, but it seems more likely that it would have been the magazine that made it.
My family owned and operated the Governor as well as the Par-K across Main St. Patsy my uncles Chuck, Jake and Bill were the Blatt brothers. Their operations started in East Brady with the purchase of the theatre there. It expanded to 45 theatres that I can recall. Unfortunately with the passing of time all these theatres are gone. Chuck1231 I have 1 photo of the markee at night in 1966 and 3 from inside the lobby if interested
I wish I had the name of that nice attorney whom I met while at the courthouse (Somerset is the county seat), but I didn’t get it nor his business card as I figured I wouldn’t need it…until now! Somerset is along the PA Turnpike and is a fairly large community so when I asked if the town had a theatre and was told they didn’t I was shocked and saddened. They do have a lovely inn by the name of Georgian Inn which was onced owned by a Mr. Zimmerman.
Lost: And I should have located the address of this former theatre at 10 E. Main just to see what is there now….probably another parking lot. I wonder why under Status it gives “closed” and I was told of it being demolished…20 years ago? And if the 945 seats is correct it was larger than most small to medium populated towns.
Lost: And at one time the Blatt Bros. owned and operated my hometown theatre, the Grand in Westfield NY.
Lost: Ah, you remembered…how sweet and I shall save the calendar by printing it out.
Lost: In fact, the July 1946 program calendar was my birth month and year!
I was recently in Somerset PA and was told by a local attorney that I met in the county courthouse that there was a theatre, but it had been torn down 20 years ago.