Oasis Theater
182 E. Main Street,
Hermiston,
OR
97838
182 E. Main Street,
Hermiston,
OR
97838
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The May 5, 1923 Moving Picture World had this item, which might reveal another aka for this house: “The Playhouse, Hermiston, Oregon, formerly operated by J. L. Morfitt, has been reported closed.”
However, I’m skeptical of the 1910 opening date. This item is from the September 11, 1920 Exhibitors Herald: “HERMISTON, ORE.— A new, modern $12,000 motion picture house, built by local capital, is nearing completion here.” If a town as small as Hermiston (the population never topped 1000 until the 1940s) already had a substantial theater built in 1910, I doubt another would have been built in 1920.
The 1927 FDY lists for Hermiston only a 300-seat house called the Legion Theatre, probably also an aka for this place. Given the name it also seems likely that the house doubled as the local American Legion hall.
I am positive the address is wrong. The picture that shows the theater closer up is looking at the back of the building at 201 E Main. Downtown is so ugly, and nearly everything in both pictures has been torn down, but I think the address is somewhere around 239-243 E Main.
I don’t see a blacksmith on the May 1910 map. ‘Downtown’ is tiny, and the area where the theater was is vacant. I suspect it was just a little wooden shack if it existed at all.
The Oasis Theatre closed in 1975