Mount Hope Theater
725 Main Street,
Mount Hope,
WV
25880
725 Main Street,
Mount Hope,
WV
25880
1 person
favorited this theater
The Mount Hope Theater opened on April 11, 1947 with Errol Flynn in “San Antonio”. It replaced the Royal Theater, which had burned to the ground in an arson fire on September 30, 1945.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
I think the Royal was a separate theater that burned down. I wouldn’t agree that Royal was an aka for Mount Hope.
In the 1941 & 1943 editions of Film Daily Yearbook, the Royal Theater is listed with 500 seats.
The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists the Royal Theater with 450 seats. It must have opened as the Royal Theater, and was renamed Mount Hope Theater at a later stage.
There was also a Princess Theatre with 500 seats, also located on Main Street and operating prior to 1941 thru to 1950 and beyond….
Here is an article from the Raleigh Register dated 4/11/47:
MOUNT HOPE-The Mount Hope Theater, erected in the same location as the Royal, which burned recently, will open today. Owned by a syndicate known as the Oak Hill Theater Company, the new theater is considered one of the best equipped in the states.
Charles Taylor, Jr., of Mount Hope, is serving three one to ten year sentences in the state penitentiary at Moundsville after confessing to setting fire to the Royal Theater, predecessor of the Mount Hope. The Royal Theater building was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning, September 30, 1945, the blaze being the largest in the history of Fayette County.
Construction of the new building started early in 1947. Edward Pasley is the new manager of the theater. Formerly of Bramwell, Pasley assumed managership of the Oak Hill Theater last August following his discharge from the Marine Corps.
Is this theater still around? I am in the process of buying and rehabbing the Philippi Grand and if it proves profitable I want to work on reopening other theaters in WV, KY, OH, PA, MD, and VA. There are so many wonderful old theaters with more character than any modern cookie cutter places.
Yes it is still around!!! Are you still interested?
The April 10, 1947, issue of The Raleigh Register (published in Beckley, Raleigh County, West Virgina) contained many advertisements congratulating the new Mount Hope Theatre. One of the ads was placed by the architect of the theater, Alex B. Mahood of Bluefield, West Virginia.
Wondering if the theater is still for sale?
Opened on April 10th, 1947. Grand opening ad posted.
Found on Newspaperarchive.com
Correction: April 11th.
On a recent new episode of the American Pickers television show, Mike Wolf and his brother Rob, talked to relatives of the Mt. Hope Theater and near by Princess Theater. Mike found items from the Princess Theater and purchased them. Some good history about the theaters is talked about n this episode. (See Photo section for related scenes)