Venango Theatre
228 Seneca Street,
Oil City,
PA
16301
228 Seneca Street,
Oil City,
PA
16301
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The Venango Theatre was opened on March 22, 1920. It was still open in 1929, but had closed by 1931.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
The April 17, 1920 issue of Moving Picture World reported that the formal grand opening of the Venengo Theatre in Oil City had taken place on March 22. As the item specifies that this was the formal opening, it’s possible that the house had already been informally opened to the public earlier.
An Oil City Derrick article says that the Venango Theatre was at 228 Seneca Street. The well-maintained brick building is still standing, currently shared by a hair styling salon and an office. It’s right next door to the I.O.O.F. building.
The tile in the entry, obscured by the ugly storefront and cheap aluminum door, indicates that this was a J.C. Penney store for some time.
The 1950 map claims that this building was built in 1914-15. If that’s true, this may originally have been the Plaza or Hippodrome, both of which are listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. There is an infuriating 37 year gap in the Sanborns, which is inexplicable given the many buildings constructed between 1913 and 1950.