Theatre
214 W. 1st Street,
Dixon,
IL
61021
214 W. 1st Street,
Dixon,
IL
61021
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This theatre appears on the 1910 Sanborn, operating in a 3-story brick building originally constructed sometime between 1891 and 1897 as the offices of the Sun, a newspaper which appears to have folded in 1909.
The theatre remains in operation on the 1918 map. It was likely limited to the ground floor, but this is unclear. No later maps are available, but this has doubtless been commercial and office space for many years.
The building has been pretty well cared for, and is now home to a Thai restaurant, although the upper stories appear vacant.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
One possible name of this house is the Princess Theatre, which is mentioned in a few issues of trade journals in the 1910s. The July 13, 1912 issue of Moving Picture World had this item:
The May, 1911 issue of Motography told of Mr. Slothower’s acquisition of the house:The Princess was also mentioned in the December 6, 1913 MPW, which said that George Slothower had given up the Family Theatre and resumed management of the Princess. George Slothower and the Princess Theatre were also mentioned in the April 7, 1917 issue of The Dramatic Mirror, which also mentioned the Opera Theatre and the Family Theatre.Sounds like a good fit, dates-wise.
I found an obituary for George Slothower published on April 24, 1942. It didn’t mention the theater business, but said that the lifelong-resident of Dixon had for the last 23 years been employed at the Borden (the milk company) condensory. It might be that the Princess had closed by 1919, when he began working for Borden.
If no other theaters than the Opera House, the Family, and this one appear on the Sanborn maps, it does seem very likely that the one at 214 W. 1st was the Rose/Princess.