Princess Theatre

50sSNIPES on August 6, 2026 at 6:02 pm

This is the second Princess Theatre that opened on April 1, 1914 by John C. Miller. The earlier Princess Theatre that opened on September 1, 1911 would eventually become the Strand Theatre afterward.

Right after the Princess closure in early 1927, the original Princess building was demolished that Spring to make way for Miller’s new Miller Theatre, a 62x120ft buff-colored pressed-brick house (with cut-stone base and pilasters alongside a tile roof) that was partially built on the site of both the Princess Theatre and the E.J. Fields Hardware Company store. And a little fun fact here is that the Miller Theatre was originally planned to open as the Princess Theatre as well, but sometime later in its construction, he decided to use his last name as his business and opened as the Miller Theatre.

Joe Vogel on May 25, 2022 at 9:01 pm

An interesting item from the March 4, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World says: “Woodstock, Ill.-J. C. Miller, owner of the Princess theater at Woodstock, will open about March 1 his new theater north of his present location, using it about three nights a week for the overflow crowds from the Princess”

This annex was most likely the house called the Strand Theatre. The April 15 issue of MPW said “Woodstock, Ill.-J. C. Miller of the Princess and Strand theaters has booked ‘The Battle Cry of Peace’ for April 30 and May 1.”

The Princess and the Municipal Opera House are the only theaters listed at Woodstock in the 1926 FDY, so the Strand was probably closed by then.