Princess Theatre
123 E. Williams Street,
Wyoming,
IL
61491
123 E. Williams Street,
Wyoming,
IL
61491
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
This theatre appears on the 1913 map, sharing a long wooden building with a restaurant. The basic structure dated to before 1886, and had been an implement dealership. Gradually modified over the years, by 1907 the western half was a saloon. The Princess was opened November 2, 1912 by “Doc” Harvey and Lawrence Higbee.
A stage and scenery were provided at the rear for live performances. The rear section was quite a bit wider, which must have made sightlines from the rear seats quite poor. By 1914, the theater was operated by Armentrout & Jacobus, who added a second projector to avoid delays in reel changes. The theater appears to have closed in 1915.
Although the disappearance of the railroad tracks makes placement a bit confusing, this building was later used as an auto dealership, and demolished in 1931.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The Princess Theatre is listed (without an address) in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. I haven’t found the Princess mentioned in the trade journals, though two other houses in Wyoming, the Lyceum and the Paramount, were. The Lyceum last appears in 1923, but Marion Bodwell’s Paramount is still appearing in Boxoffice in the 1960s. I suspect that the Princess was a very short-lived theater.
The first movies in town were shown in the Wyoming Opera House. But three nickelodeon-era theaters soon co-existed in town. Frank Warren and Pauline Terwilliger operated four theatres in the area - one in the Swan Building in Wyoming, one in Toulon, one in Princeville, and the Airdome in Wyoming. L.A. Castle operated another nickelodeon. This entry is about the other venue: The Princess Theatre.
Here, on Williams Street, “Doc” Harvey and Lawrence Higbee operated the Princess Theatre in the existing Liggett Building on East Williams Street launching on November 2, 1912 just west of the Hoover Restaurant. Roy Evans was the singer with advertising slides behind him between one reel films. Armentrout & Jacobus assumed control of the Princess by 1914 and appear to have installed a second projector - they advertised “no delays,” which was a constant issue for one projector operations. The venue stopped advertising in 1915 - likely at the end of her reign.
The Liggett Building was used for other purposes including for the Graves Motor Cars Sales and Service. It appears to have been demolished in 1931.