Comments about Reeves Theatre & Cafe in Elkin, NC

Artbum on June 12, 2018 at 12:47 pm

And yes, the Elk Twin and the Reeves Theater are the same building…The theater was once for movies, now it has been renovated into a live music venue.

Artbum on June 12, 2018 at 12:44 pm

Here is an update on the Reeves Theater in Elkin, North Carolina. Please stop in and enjoy this new and exciting live music venue, which also includes a bar and cafe serving farm to table menu items… learn more at www.reevestheater.com and watch this video that was on UNC-TV recently: https://video.unctv.org/video/reeves-theater-and-cafe-mzcdbb/

Texas2step on October 23, 2017 at 8:11 pm

This one opened as the Elk Theatre on March 1, 1937.

Joe Vogel on September 2, 2015 at 5:20 pm

Renovation is again underway at the Reeves Theatre, and the venue could be opened by summer of 2016, according to this illustrated articleposted by the Elkin Tribune on July 17, 2015.

Joe Vogel on September 2, 2015 at 5:17 pm

This brief item from October 24, 1940, issue of The Elkin Tribune makes it sound as though the Reeves Theatre was not to be built on the same site as the Elk Theatre:

“Of considerable interest was the announcement Monday by Dr. W. B. Reeves, who owns and operates the Elk Theatre, that he is planning to build a new and modern theatre on West Main street next to the Duke Power Company, having purchased that property, and the W. M. Allen property upon which is situated the building housing the law offices of Mr. Allen and Hoke Henderson, and the Elkin-Jonesville Building & Loan Association. This building, it is understood, will be torn down to make room for the new theatre, work on which will start sometime in the near future.”

I’ve been unable to discover if the Reeves Theatre was indeed built at the location announced in this article. If the Elk Theatre was in a different location than the Reeves I don’t know what became of it. I’ve found no references to it after 1940, so if it was a different house it must have closed when the Reeves Theatre opened.

Joe Vogel on September 2, 2015 at 3:44 pm

The NRHP nomination form for the Downtown Elkin Historic District (PDF here) has a paragraph about the Reeves Theatre. It says that Dr. W. B. Reeves built the 300-seat Elk Theatre in 1937, and built the 700-seat Reeves Theatre in 1941 after realizing that the town could support a larger house. It doesn’t say that the Elk Theatre was on the same site as the Reeves, but doesn’t say it wasn’t. It’s possible that part of the original theater was incorporated into the new house.

This article from the July 2, 2012, issue of The Winston-Salem Journal says that the Reeves Theatre had been entirely gutted in preparation for a renovation as a performing arts space. Even the balcony had been removed. The Elk Twin had closed in 1994, after a storm damaged the roof.

A video and a collection of 19 photos accompany the article. Most of the photos show the abandoned building before it was gutted, but a few are after. One after photo shows that the original art modern facade has also been stripped off of the building, leaving bare brick, though the marquee is still intact.

Mike Rogers on June 2, 2012 at 8:32 pm

Thanks Chuck,hope the theatre was saved and not a parking lot.

CSWalczak on October 5, 2010 at 12:54 am

A donations jug that had been on a local bookstore’s counter that had been placed there to collect money to help restore the Reeves was recently stolen: View link

Reeves Theatre & Cafe

129 W. Main Street, Elkin, NC 28621

129 W. Main Street,
Elkin, NC 28621