Loyall Theatre

The town of Shonn, Kentucky popped up almost overnight as a railroad town created just about three miles away from the southeastern Kentucky coal-rich town of Harlan. Railway executive George R. Loyall took on the Louisville Southern division of the Southern Railway Company and was integral in establishing and modernizing coal rail hubs and routes in Kentucky’s southeastern coal industry. So much was his influence that when a coal marshaling rail yard was established in 1921, it was named for Mr. Loyall upon completion as the Loyall Yard on December 1, 1921.

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of the Loyall Yard to Harlan County history and the coal industry’s train routes within the State of Kentucky. The Loyall Yard served as the hub of the Louisville and Nashville’s Cumberland Valley operation. That activity gave rise to the incorporation of the town of Shonn, Kentucky in 1922 just months after the completion of Loyall Yard and brought a population boom. One of the elements such a town needed was a movie theatre.

In 1926, B.E. Gaddie opened the venue timing out with the upgraded and modernized electrification of the town’s infrastructure. The new theatre was named for the rail yard that built the town, The Loyall (mostly commonly pronounced as a single syllable and certainly not three - there was nothing in common between “Loyall” and “Loyal”). The High School was named not for the town but also for the Loyall after the rail yard. Some began to simply refer to the town as Shonn (Loyall), Kentucky or just as Loyall Kentucky. Everyone knew why the town was referred to as “Loyall” but not so much the origination of “Shonn.” So when local postmaster officially declared Shonn “out” and Loyall “in” as the official town name on May 1, 1932, the theatre had selected its name well. Unfortunately, it had closed at least three times - once failing to convert to sound pictures in 1930 and twice again in 1931 and 1933 due to the downturned economy.

Despite the short closures - and another in 1928 caused by a flu pandemic - the Loyall Theatre had a remarkable 45-year life span and its halcyon days were under the operation of O.G. Roaden who operated the Loyall Theatre and around 26 other small town Kentucky theatres. Roaden was based in Loyall, was a school principal, and operated the Loyall Theatre from 1947 to 1966. The theatre existed until January 16, 1966 when it appears to have closed with James Stewart in “Shenandoah” and Ann-Margaret in “Kitten with a Whip”. The ability for small-town theatres to compete in that era was almost over. Roaden still had other theatre interests along with being a school principal until his passing in 1983. The former Loyall Theatre has since been demolished.

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