Trail Theatre

Just an observation: It looks as if the vertical neon sign is older than the actual theater building. The building looks to be of 50s vintage—late 50s at that—but the sign looks to be of late 30s through 40s vintage. Perhaps there was an earlier Trail Theatre, at this location or another, and the sign was salvaged from the earlier building? The chocolate tones of both building and sign are of course from the 70s.

The Trail Theatre would not have opened until sometime the 1950s, as construction on New Town itself wasn’t begun until early that decade. New Town was built to replace three small towns that were inundated by Lake Sakakawea, the reservoir behind Garrison Dam. It’s possible that there was an earlier Trail Theatre in Van Hook, Legion Park, or Sanish, the towns drowned by the lake, and that its signage was moved to New Town.

This page at CinemaTour Forums has a photo of the back of the Trail Theatre, which shows that it was a bit unconventional for a quonset hut. Most quonsets have a semi-circular roof, but the Trail’s roof has a slight peak to it, like a Gothic arch. Perhaps this form made it easier for the roof to withstand North Dakota’s heavy snowfalls?