Knickerbocker Theatre
86 E. 8th Street,
Holland,
MI
49423
86 E. 8th Street,
Holland,
MI
49423
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The June 11, 1910 issue of American Contractor said that the theater being built at Holland, Michigan for Tim Slagh and A. Smith had been designed by Fred Jonkman. Jonkman must have been a local architect, as the only other reference to him I’ve been able to find is a 1930 newspaper article noting that he was a member of the Holland Common Council.
It still says Knickerbocker on top of the building and on the marquee now.This naming thing is confusing since many theatres have have many names.AKA are good for people trying to look up a theatre by the name they know it as.
I think Holland should be the primary name with Knickerbocker as an AKA.
Here is a 2/6/54 ad from the Holland Evening Sentinel:
http://tinyurl.com/co5thj
Great photo and will forward it to a friend of mine whose daughter will be attending Hope College in Holland MI next Fall.
What a lovely theatre in Holland MI, home of the Tulip Festival and Hope College. I happened upon this link as I was researching another Knickerbocker that was in Columbus Ohio. In a recent magazine called Reminisce Extra there is a page entitled When Movies Were Magic and it mentions that the Knickerbocker in Columbus Ohio was owned by the Pancake Brothers. They offered the kids “The Free Show” and sometimes a free bottle of Pepsi or Royal Crown cola. In another article it says that during the 40’s in Lawrence, MA was the only city in the country that had 5 theatres in a one-block area, the Modern, the Broadway and the Palace with the Victoria across the street. Around the corner from “theatre row” was the Premier Theatre on Essex Street. About a quarter mile off Essex on Lawrence Street was the Warner, where Dorothy Lamour once led a war-bond rally. About a mile north of “theatre row” on Broadway was the Star Theatre, where free dishware was given out during Saturday matinees featuring the Buck Rogers serials starring Buster Crabbe. There were also the Capital Theatre on Common Street and the Central Theatre on Haverhill Street. Movies were the main attraction for most of us in those days, and there certainly were many theatres to choose from. These memories were contributed by Bill Guay of Salem, NH and Dale Stone of West Jefferson, OH.