Website needs to be corrected to: https://peerlesstheatre.com/
This theater was open by 1921. The building does not appear on the 1911 map. The auditorium was originally quite a bit narrower than the front. Looking at the back on streetview, it seems quite modern, and the roofline is definitely a different shape than on the ‘50s postcard.
Address is 210 Main Ave. This theater appears on the 1937 Sanborn (but not 1913). It is a small and simple concrete or cinder block building. Still there, with a very drab white facade using a lot of sheet metal.
At least up to 1937 Main was Greely, and this was just north of the intersection with Franklin (now 2nd). Not sure when they changed all the street names to the dullest possible generic ones.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Apr 16, 2023 at 8:19 pm
Of course there would be choices! Oh, well… Thanks for the information.
The theater (and the adjoining building seen in a few of the photos) appears on the 1913 map, so the 1916 date is not accurate. Nearly the entire block is empty on the 1907 map.
This was open by the February 1909 Sanborn. It appears the building was constructed in 1902 (the last digit has fallen off the cornice), but it doesn’t appear on the July 1902 map.
Status needs to be changed to demolished. The photo is from 1950, not 1915.
If the history is accurate, this building would have been on the second empty lot south of the alley on the east side of 2nd St between Main and Elm, perhaps with an address somewhere around 324.
Pretty sparse area on the 1915 map. Nothing between 415 and 435. This whole part of town has a massive loss of structures between 1908 and 1915. Numerous wooden houses and businesses are replaced by a few scattered brick buildings. Massacres and race riots were a popular Arkansas pastime, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case here.
The website needs to be changed to: https://www.centraltheatrehs.com/
They seem to have dropped the incredibly clumsy name, and gone back to Central Theatre.
Joe is absolutely right that this theater cannot have opened in 1910. There was almost nothing on this block at that point.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Apr 3, 2023 at 1:31 pm
420 on the 1915 map is an undertaker. There is no 420 on the 1908 map. Almost all the buildings are different, which makes me think there was a serious fire, or perhaps a tornado. In 1915, the building that is in the space which would have been 420 in 1908 is 424, and is a restaurant with a boarding house or SRO above.
Perhaps this earlier theater was the Lyric? The address would have been wrong, since that belonged to a large commercial building just to the south at 622-626. A tiny bit of this still exists at the southern corner.
It’s odd that the name would have been moved. 622-624 was a 5 and dime on the 1915 map, which is from June. The building is also stores on the 1908 map.
The dates are all wrong on this. The front portion was not built until sometime between 1901 and 1908. It was a commercial building, likely with apartments above. The auditorium does not appear until the 1915 map, which shows the entrance in the southern portion of what is now the Colonial Hotel, with an 821 address. 817 belonged to an unrelated building to the north.
The dates are also wrong. This appears on the April 1908 map, and one of the photos is supposedly a program from 1906. In 1901, the city hall was at the corner of Prospect and Exchange. By 1908, that had become a newspaper office, and is now gone.
Almost certainly a remodel of a much older theater. Sometime between 1886 and 1890, a pair of narrow two story brick storefronts were constructed at what were then 512 and 514. They separated by a very narrow court, and a large single story space at the rear was occupied by a plumber and gas fitter, with a 311 Exchange St address. By 1908, the addresses were 616 and 618.
By 1915, the space at the rear had been drastically remodeled to create an auditorium. The entrance was now in the southern half, at 620 (due to the filling of the court by a very narrow little store). Oddly, the stage was toward the front of the building. I’ve attached a Sanborn view.
This must have had a very brief existence. It’s not on the 1908 Sanborn, nor the 1915 edition. I assume it was upstairs, since the bar has been untouched since it was installed.
Website needs to be corrected to: https://peerlesstheatre.com/
This theater was open by 1921. The building does not appear on the 1911 map. The auditorium was originally quite a bit narrower than the front. Looking at the back on streetview, it seems quite modern, and the roofline is definitely a different shape than on the ‘50s postcard.
That 1913 mention has to be the Akron.
Note that Main was called Greely until at least 1937.
Address is 210 Main Ave. This theater appears on the 1937 Sanborn (but not 1913). It is a small and simple concrete or cinder block building. Still there, with a very drab white facade using a lot of sheet metal.
At least up to 1937 Main was Greely, and this was just north of the intersection with Franklin (now 2nd). Not sure when they changed all the street names to the dullest possible generic ones.
Of course there would be choices! Oh, well… Thanks for the information.
The theater (and the adjoining building seen in a few of the photos) appears on the 1913 map, so the 1916 date is not accurate. Nearly the entire block is empty on the 1907 map.
This was open by the February 1909 Sanborn. It appears the building was constructed in 1902 (the last digit has fallen off the cornice), but it doesn’t appear on the July 1902 map.
We should also add the AKA information supplied long ago by Joe.
Status needs to be changed to demolished. The photo is from 1950, not 1915.
If the history is accurate, this building would have been on the second empty lot south of the alley on the east side of 2nd St between Main and Elm, perhaps with an address somewhere around 324.
This looks like it was just west of the alley on the north side, where the bank parking lot is. Needs to be listed as demolished.
Pretty sparse area on the 1915 map. Nothing between 415 and 435. This whole part of town has a massive loss of structures between 1908 and 1915. Numerous wooden houses and businesses are replaced by a few scattered brick buildings. Massacres and race riots were a popular Arkansas pastime, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case here.
Safe to say that this has been demolished. Nothing on the 1915 map, but plenty of empty space for it to have been built.
The website needs to be changed to: https://www.centraltheatrehs.com/ They seem to have dropped the incredibly clumsy name, and gone back to Central Theatre.
Joe is absolutely right that this theater cannot have opened in 1910. There was almost nothing on this block at that point.
420 on the 1915 map is an undertaker. There is no 420 on the 1908 map. Almost all the buildings are different, which makes me think there was a serious fire, or perhaps a tornado. In 1915, the building that is in the space which would have been 420 in 1908 is 424, and is a restaurant with a boarding house or SRO above.
This can’t have been the Central, since that seems to have operated well into the ‘30s, at which point this building was gone.
Perhaps this earlier theater was the Lyric? The address would have been wrong, since that belonged to a large commercial building just to the south at 622-626. A tiny bit of this still exists at the southern corner.
It’s odd that the name would have been moved. 622-624 was a 5 and dime on the 1915 map, which is from June. The building is also stores on the 1908 map.
No reason to think it was somewhere else. Any time after late 1908 is perfectly plausible.
The dates are all wrong on this. The front portion was not built until sometime between 1901 and 1908. It was a commercial building, likely with apartments above. The auditorium does not appear until the 1915 map, which shows the entrance in the southern portion of what is now the Colonial Hotel, with an 821 address. 817 belonged to an unrelated building to the north.
The dates are also wrong. This appears on the April 1908 map, and one of the photos is supposedly a program from 1906. In 1901, the city hall was at the corner of Prospect and Exchange. By 1908, that had become a newspaper office, and is now gone.
The address is wrong. This was at what was then 233-235 Benton, and is now 133 Convention.
Needs to be listed as demolished.
Almost certainly a remodel of a much older theater. Sometime between 1886 and 1890, a pair of narrow two story brick storefronts were constructed at what were then 512 and 514. They separated by a very narrow court, and a large single story space at the rear was occupied by a plumber and gas fitter, with a 311 Exchange St address. By 1908, the addresses were 616 and 618.
By 1915, the space at the rear had been drastically remodeled to create an auditorium. The entrance was now in the southern half, at 620 (due to the filling of the court by a very narrow little store). Oddly, the stage was toward the front of the building. I’ve attached a Sanborn view.
Hey, a picture of the Gaines Block! Built 1881, destroyed for a parking lot for the hulking federal building.
This must have had a very brief existence. It’s not on the 1908 Sanborn, nor the 1915 edition. I assume it was upstairs, since the bar has been untouched since it was installed.