Madera Theatre
2986 Main Street,
Madera,
PA
16661
2986 Main Street,
Madera,
PA
16661
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Mid-State Theaters Inc.
Previous Names: Liberty Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Apparently opened in 1921 or 1922. The Clearfield Progress reported the following on November 19, 1921: CLEARFIELD PROGRESS, Clearfield, PA, November 10, 1921
INJURY RECEIVED IN FALL FATAL TO PLASTERER
Oscar Lawhead Falls To Death From Scaffold On New Theatre Building At Madera
SCAFFOLD CHAIN LINK GIVES WAY
Dies Despite Attempt Of Physicians To Save His Life - Brother Workman Also Hurt
Oscar Lawhead, aged 34 years, and son of Milton Lawhead of Hyde City, formerly of Clearfield, died in the Cottage State Hospital at Philipsburg at 1:55 o'clock Wednesday afternoon as the result of injuries received in a fall from a scaffold at the new Liberty Theatre building in Madera.
Chain Gives Way
The deceased, who was a plasterer by trade, in company with his nephew, John Lawhead, was working from a swinging scaffold plastering the ceiling of the theatre building. A link in the chain supporting one end of the scaffold gave way and when the end dropped down the men were dropped to the concrete floor below, a distance of about forty feet.
The Liberty Theatre had closed by 1933. By 1941 it had 1941 it had reopened as the Madera Theatre. As early as July 3, 1952 the Madera Girl Scout Troop was holding a bake sale in the Novelty Shop at the “Madera Theater Building”. It was still open screening movies in 1958. By 1961 surplus food was being distributed at the “Madera Theatre Building” but not sure if it was still open as a movie theatre. The theatre has been demolished.
Contributed by
Gary Nance
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
This has definitely been demolished, likely many years ago. Most of downtown is gone. It’s hard to say where it was. I found an old photo that looks like it might have been across from a gas station. The name had changed from Liberty to Madera by the early ‘40s. It was run by Mid-State Theatres.
From the ads, this definitely stayed longer than 30 years. I’ve added a small photo of the theater.
I didn’t expect to find a Sanborn for such a dinky town, but there were several. I am almost positive this was at about 2986 Main, which is now a parking lot for the fire station. The odd thing is that this building, which definitely matches the plan of the Liberty from the photo, is not shown as a theater on the 1923 map. There is a theater in a one story building to the east.
This item from the October 10, 1940 issue of Film Daily is clearly wrong in its headline claim, but this still might have been a different building than the the one the Liberty had been in, perhaps the one next door: “First House for Madera
“Madera, Pa.—Opening of the new 500 seat Madera Theater, owned and constructed by Mid-West Theaters, Inc., gives this town its first motion picture house.” (“Mid-West Theaters” obviously a typo for “Mid-State Theaters.”)
Other than the mention of a house called the Pastime in a 1911 Billboard item, this is the only mention of Madera I’ve been able to find in the trade journals. Two houses were listed there in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but they were the Pastime and a house called the Royal. Locations weren’t provided for either.
Joe, the photo of the Madera does show the Liberty name still up top, so they must have been the same. Perhaps it was built in 1921 as the article indicates, but not opened for some reason until a few years later.