Royal Theatre
104 W. 2nd Street,
Frankfort,
KS
66427
104 W. 2nd Street,
Frankfort,
KS
66427
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
The Royal Theatre launched March 22, 1918 by William H. Hardman with Mae Marsh in “Polly of the Circus”. Hardman had run the Airdome in the summer of 1917 before purchasing an existing stone building from the State Bank in December of 1917. Hardman converted to sound on April 15, 1929. He ran the theatre until his death in 1947 with the family continuing the theatre thereafter. The Royal Theatre was still open in 1957, but later closed for movies and became a special events venue. It was closed in 1970. It had been demolished by 2008.
Contributed by
dallasmovietheaters
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
According To The Frankfort Index, I Can Find Listings At Dated Throughout The 1960’s In Which In 1965, The Royal Theatre I Believe Didn’t Demonstrate Mainly Movies In The First Place, But Maybe Was Used For Special Events Only. The Royal Theatre Ended Up Closing In 1970. 8 Years Later On April 12th, 1978, Mr. Kennedy And Mrs. Paul Opened Back Up The Royal Theatre As An Antique Shop Called “Royal Antiques”.
It’s hard to tell without a picture, but the antique store is in what I would assume is 102. However, rather than being 100, the building on the corner uses a 200 N Kansas address.
Assuming the theater building is not the empty lot to the west, it was built sometime between 1885 and 1893. Despite appearances, it’s a separate structure from the building on the corner, which is older. The 1911 map shows it as a general store.
Okay, this has definitely been demolished. I found a picture from about 1970, and where the antique store is today was a bar. The building at 104 still existed then. That building was a wide one story stone building which had a tin front. It was also built between 1885 and 1893, and the 1911 map shows it as a drug store. It originally had a nice ornate pediment on the cornice, but the picture I found shows the roof cut flat, and possibly a plaster front above the old storefront. There is a very old vertical sign, which appears to have been painted black.
That building was torn down before 2008. The site is a little garden.