Home Theatre

The town of Crofton, Nebraska had a long-running movie venue beginning as the Star Theatre in 1916. Emory Greenwood opened the Star Theatre there and in its first days, the theatre was struck by lightning causing a fire and Greenwood to make significant repairs.

The theatre’s biggest film was D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” that played there in 1917. Helen Drexler ran the theatre in that late-1910s and 1920’s. It was renamed Sign Theatre from October 1927 until December 1929 when L.E. Ritts was the operator. Helen Drexler then took it back and she made news in 1929 by converting the operation to sound using the Bestone Sound System from Omaha.

C.F. Will took on the venue on March 14, 1930 renaming it as the New Crofton Theatre and then the Crofton Theatre. The Crofton Theatre closed as a victim of the Depression but was reopened in October of 1934 as the Home Theatre. It was expanded and given a major refresh. Final owner, Ray Keiser, closed the Home Theatre on April 21, 1962. For a town of just 600 at that time, the theatre’s longevity was quite impressive.

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