Center Theatre
Wilson Avenue at Center Street,
Youngstown,
OH
44506
Wilson Avenue at Center Street,
Youngstown,
OH
44506
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The actual date for the opening of this theater is in the photo dection for this theater so regardless of name changes the Milliken Theater was the original name for the record, therefore the opening date was 1915. When it reopened as the Center theatre it was an old building.
The “New Corporations” column of The National Corporation Reporter for May 13, 1915, listed: “Milliken Theater Company, Youngstown; $5,000; T. R. Milliken, J. J. Hardgrove. F. R. Eistler.” The “R” for Milliken’s middle initial was probably a mistake. A more reliable source has an “E” instead.
A death notice from October 4, 1930, appears on this page at Vindy.com, and says: “Thomas E. ‘Ed’ Milliken, 71, former sheriff of Mahoning County, dies at the home of J.J. Hardgrove, 46 Ellenwood Ave., where he had made his home for many years.”
Motion Picture Yearbook listed the Center Theatre as open in 1941 with 300 seats. No longer listed after 1948. So this should be listed as the Center Theatre with an aka of Milliken Theatre.
In the mid 1940’s this theater seems to have undergone a name change to Center Theater. In all fairness, this was not one of the best areas of the city, therefore this little theater was no movie palace, but served it’s purpose.