Arnett Theatre

216 Barnes Avenue,
Arnett, OK 73832

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Arnett, OK

Located on Barnes Avenue between S. Washington Street and S. Adams Street. The Arnett Theatre was operating by October 1909. It was destroyed by a fire on January 29, 1950. It was rebuilt, reopening in April 1950. On June 24, 1958 it suffered another fire which badly damaged the theatre. It was repaired and reopened and was still open in April 1963.

Contributed by Cactus Jack

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

Lauren Durbin
Lauren Durbin on July 13, 2011 at 8:49 pm

Fire insurance map of 1916 shows a small “moving pictures” house at the NW corner of Barnes & Washington. Approximate location of Arnett fire department.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on May 31, 2020 at 9:16 am

The Arnett Theatre Opened Sometime In The Mid-1900’s. The Earliest Information I Can Find About The Arnett Theatre In Back When The Arnett Theatre Did A 4-Night Engagement In Mid-Late October 1909.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on July 9, 2022 at 6:23 pm

On June 24, 1958, the Arnett Theatre was heavily damaged by a fire. It was rebuilt and reopened later on. It was still in operation in the 1960s.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 10, 2022 at 2:57 am

The destruction of the Arnett Theatre by fire was reported in Boxoffice of March 4, 1950. The reopening was reported in the same journal’s issue of April 8, which said that the new brick building with glass tile front had been built in a record 30 days. The Arnett was still in operation at least as late as April, 1963, when manager Elben E. Ingram submitted capsule movie reviews to the April 15 issue of Boxoffice. The town then had a population of only 800.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on July 10, 2022 at 9:03 am

The first fire occurred on January 29, 1950 according to the Ellis County Capital. It was suggested to be rebuilt as a new “fireproof” theater, but the “fireproof” process failed as the theater was once again devastated in another fire on the evening of June 24, 1958.

The comparison between both fires is that the 1950 fire destroyed the theater entirely, and the 1958 fire heavily damaged the building and the projection booth, but the projector was not damaged at all.

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