Paramount Theatre
107 E. Williams Street,
Wyoming,
IL
61491
107 E. Williams Street,
Wyoming,
IL
61491
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Opened by Marion Bodwell on October 24, 1923, this first location was in the old dance hall space on the second floor of the Harty building, a large brick structure built sometime between 1899 and 1907.
This served as a home for the Paramount Theatre name until 1934, when the operation was moved into the current location.
The building is well kept today, with a bar and offices on the ground floor (using the addresses 109 and 111), and apartments upstairs.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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The left side (111 E. Williams) of the first floor is the Illinois Driver Services Facility and the right side (109) is The Edge Salon.
Opened by Marion Bodwell on October 24, 1923 in the existing Harty’s Hall as the Paramount Theatre with “When Knighthood was in Flower.”
Opened by Marion Bodwell on October 24, 1923 in the existing Harty’s Hall as the Paramount Theatre with Marion Davies in “When Knighthood was in Flower.” Bodwell started his theatre work at age 12 as the projectionist at the Lyceum Theatre in town. After opening the Paramount, pipe organist Vera McCluen married Bodwell and they ran both this Paramount and the New Paramount.
Bodwell installed sound in 1930 to remain commercially viable. He said that 1,600 theaters had closed without converting to sound in similar sized towns. Bodwell then went to new digs on August 17, 1934 with the New Paramount Theatre.