Bijou Theatre
21 N. Augusta Street,
Staunton,
VA
24401
21 N. Augusta Street,
Staunton,
VA
24401
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The Bijou Theatre was an early nickelodeon theatre which opened on September 5, 1907 with “Ben Hur”. It was operated by J. Frank Tannehill and had 10 shows a day in its 250-seat auditorium. E.F. Hoover was the last operator who closed the Bijou Theatre on December 29, 1909.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
This was almost certainly closed by 1909. There are three theaters on the 1909 map, and we’ve accounted for all of them (Princess/New Lyric/Wonderland).
The Bijou opened September 5, 1907. “Ben Hur (1907)” was a big hit for the venue. E.F. Hoover was the last operator closing permanently on December 29, 1909. The “for sale” listing hit the local paper’s classified section the very next day running through January of 1910.
Should have appeared on the 1909 map then. Do you have any idea on the address? Was it perhaps an aka for one of the three already listed?
According to the local phone directory and newspaper, the Bijou was located at 21 North Augusta and was replaced by the Camp Shooting Gallery in 1910 before, itself, going out of business.
On the 1904 map, the building that later housed the Princess is 21-23, but on the 1909 map, which shows the theater there, the address is 23-25, and 17-21 belongs to a pre-1886 building to the south that has now been demolished. That northern storefront (21) was shown as vacant in 1904 and 1909. It’s a china shop in 1914, and a barber in 1921. The Bijou can’t have been an aka for the Princess, since there’s overlap with the Arcadia’s tenure there.
The 1909 map is from September, well before closure, so I don’t know why this wouldn’t appear.