Star Theatre

Talk about a challenge. Try opening a movie theatre before the town even has electrical service. That’s the dilemma that J.H. Cory had when he opened the Star Theatre on the second floor - technically the town’s second theatre. That is if you count the Laurel Opera House on the same block which had a movie theatre for less than a month in 1912.

The Star Theatre ran with the assistance of a generator and ran without competition from 1913 to April of 1916 when the Auditorium Theatre opened in the International Order of Odd Fellows Building which was a period in which the city got electrical service as well as a theatre in the auditorium. In the short term, the Star Theatre vanquished the competition but only until May of 1919 when T.L. Grabe opened the Laurel Auditorium Theatre. It proved to be the winner operating until a projection booth fire in January of 1936 in its original location and another 20 years in a new location.

But the Star Theatre faded and the building was used for other purposes.

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