Rutherford Theatre

DavidZornig on August 2, 2020 at 7:58 am

Dropping this from the Gibson County Tennessee Historical Society here, until I can figure out what is what with which theatre in Rutherford.

“Rutherford had two theatres I believe, one on Main St that burned down and one on Trenton St that was turned into the Masonic Lodge bldg. I’ll see what I can’t find out about the one on Main St. The Fire of 1946 – On January 1, 1946, a fire in the Gem Theatre was discovered at 3:50 AM, by Miss Tiny Starkes, an employee of the theatre, who lived near by. She ran to the telephone office, awakened the night operator, Mrs. Nell Peel, who turned on the siren and fled her building, which also was burning.

With telephone communication gone, Blaine Karnes drove to Dyer and summoned the fire departments from Trenton and Humboldt. The blaze was finally contained by 6:00 AM.

The top two floors of the three-story building which housed the John W. Akins Dry Goods Store were destroyed, and Mr. Akins’ merchandise was badly damaged by smoke and water. The Gem Theatre and Horne’s Variety Store were completely destroyed. Only a heavy fire wall prevented the spread of the blaze to the Rutherford Barber Shop.

Less than five months later, work was well underway replacing the two burned buildings and modernizing the John W. Akins store-front. A new and larger theatre was built back of the Akins store, where the Masonic Lodge now stands. Page 40"