The 1930 Sanborn map shows it as movies. I doubt it was ever a live theater. It’s actually not very big. It’s not even as deep as the neighboring building.
Correct address was 114. The Sanborn maps refer to it as the Greenville Opera House, as far back as 1887. The 1905 Cahn guide does call it Trainor’s Opera House. The Odd Fellows hall was originally on the second floor, with the theater on the third, but between 1905 and 1910 they switched places.
As is so often the case, ‘destroyed’ apparently didn’t actually mean destroyed. I think the auditorium must have been damaged, because the 1930 map shows the building now slightly deeper, and it seems that the third floor has been removed over the auditorium. By 1948, the small storefronts that had been there since construction have been removed, leaving a large and spacious lobby.
Either the addresses have changed, or 512 is not the right number. 512 is now the building on the corner, which is obviously not the same. Must have been 516 or higher, where the empty lot is.
Address is wrong. The odd side of the block is the courthouse. Correct address was 124. The theater appears on the 1914 map on the western half of the ground floor of a three store lodge hall. This entire portion of the block, all the way to the corner, is now home to a very cloddish modern hulk.
The theater appears on the Mar. 1940 Sanborn. The building appears on the 1895 map. It was used as a restaurant, and by 1907 was combined with the neighboring buildings to form a hotel, which it still is on the 1926 map. The current occupant is a jewelry store.
Not sure what to make of this, but the Humphreys and Hughes Block appears on the 1895 Sanborn, despite it saying 1899 on the top of the building. Not really important to the theater part of the history, I guess.
Odd that they gave the address as 138. Street addresses appear on the 1895 map, when the building was 36 E Main. The address had changed to 136 by 1901, although the old numbers are in parentheses for each address. 138 was a small one story building. It is a candy store on the Nov. 1907 map.
The Auditorium appears on the Nov. 1907 Sanborn. In Oct. 1901, the lot is vacant. The map shows it was very large, as can be seen on the postcard. Two small storefronts flank a central entrance covered by a large awning. The balcony is extremely deep, and bowed out toward the stage, which was likewise very deep and bowed out. By 1924, the stage had a flat front, and strangely, one of the storefronts had been extended deeper into the building. The theater seems to have been about where the motel is today, or perhaps a bit to the east.
Sorry for the repeated postings, but I had to finagle an OH library card number to access Ohio’s very poorly scanned black and white copies of the Sanborns not available through the LoC site.
Address and status are incorrect. Address is 137 S Main, and the building is not demolished. Current occupant is a tanning/beauty salon. Building first appears on the 1888 Sanborn as a saloon and beer bottling plant, replacing a much smaller building on the back of the lot on the 1884 map. It still appears as a saloon on the 1905 map. To the extent you can read the notes on Ohio’s maps, this was the only theater on the 1911 map, so has to be the same one. It doesn’t appear to have replaced a furniture store, given the awning showing in the photo.
There is a set of buildings in the 100 block of W Butler that still has the same type of iron columns, but the other details don’t match. Most of the rest of downtown has badly mutilated ground floors, so it’s hard to guess where this actually was, or if the building is still there.
The address cannot be right. Both 414 N and S Main are way too far out of downtown. Must have been between the 100 block north and the 200 block south.
Still abandoned, windows covered in black plastic, so I couldn’t see what the lobby looked like. The two pictures from 2012 of the building with the art deco tile are not the theater and should be deleted.
Construction date on the front is 1920, although the March 1920 map shows the house on the lot.
The 1930 Sanborn map shows it as movies. I doubt it was ever a live theater. It’s actually not very big. It’s not even as deep as the neighboring building.
Correct address was 114. The Sanborn maps refer to it as the Greenville Opera House, as far back as 1887. The 1905 Cahn guide does call it Trainor’s Opera House. The Odd Fellows hall was originally on the second floor, with the theater on the third, but between 1905 and 1910 they switched places.
As is so often the case, ‘destroyed’ apparently didn’t actually mean destroyed. I think the auditorium must have been damaged, because the 1930 map shows the building now slightly deeper, and it seems that the third floor has been removed over the auditorium. By 1948, the small storefronts that had been there since construction have been removed, leaving a large and spacious lobby.
Thanks for putting a name to it, Joe!
Either the addresses have changed, or 512 is not the right number. 512 is now the building on the corner, which is obviously not the same. Must have been 516 or higher, where the empty lot is.
Address is wrong. The odd side of the block is the courthouse. Correct address was 124. The theater appears on the 1914 map on the western half of the ground floor of a three store lodge hall. This entire portion of the block, all the way to the corner, is now home to a very cloddish modern hulk.
The theater appears on the Mar. 1940 Sanborn. The building appears on the 1895 map. It was used as a restaurant, and by 1907 was combined with the neighboring buildings to form a hotel, which it still is on the 1926 map. The current occupant is a jewelry store.
Should be listed as demolished.
Correct address is 8100 The Paseo.
I’m pretty sure it was. But I still don’t see how they operated with the same name until the other became the Strand around 1920.
Not sure what to make of this, but the Humphreys and Hughes Block appears on the 1895 Sanborn, despite it saying 1899 on the top of the building. Not really important to the theater part of the history, I guess.
Odd that they gave the address as 138. Street addresses appear on the 1895 map, when the building was 36 E Main. The address had changed to 136 by 1901, although the old numbers are in parentheses for each address. 138 was a small one story building. It is a candy store on the Nov. 1907 map.
So there were two Auditoriums at the same time?
The Auditorium appears on the Nov. 1907 Sanborn. In Oct. 1901, the lot is vacant. The map shows it was very large, as can be seen on the postcard. Two small storefronts flank a central entrance covered by a large awning. The balcony is extremely deep, and bowed out toward the stage, which was likewise very deep and bowed out. By 1924, the stage had a flat front, and strangely, one of the storefronts had been extended deeper into the building. The theater seems to have been about where the motel is today, or perhaps a bit to the east.
None of the pictures appear to be of the Strand. The Van Wert was a different building, and was not demolished.
According to the newspaper article, this closed sometime in the ‘90s.
Need to throw away the useless photo.
Between the 1923 and 1930 maps, this reverts to use as a store.
Sorry for the repeated postings, but I had to finagle an OH library card number to access Ohio’s very poorly scanned black and white copies of the Sanborns not available through the LoC site.
Address and status are incorrect. Address is 137 S Main, and the building is not demolished. Current occupant is a tanning/beauty salon. Building first appears on the 1888 Sanborn as a saloon and beer bottling plant, replacing a much smaller building on the back of the lot on the 1884 map. It still appears as a saloon on the 1905 map. To the extent you can read the notes on Ohio’s maps, this was the only theater on the 1911 map, so has to be the same one. It doesn’t appear to have replaced a furniture store, given the awning showing in the photo.
There is a set of buildings in the 100 block of W Butler that still has the same type of iron columns, but the other details don’t match. Most of the rest of downtown has badly mutilated ground floors, so it’s hard to guess where this actually was, or if the building is still there.
The address cannot be right. Both 414 N and S Main are way too far out of downtown. Must have been between the 100 block north and the 200 block south.
You posted a closing notice back in 2010. Correct to closed, and now we can drop the hokey name and put it back to Plaza.
Website is dead, and the 2018 streetview has barriers on the sidewalk in front of the building, which is never a good sign.
Still abandoned, windows covered in black plastic, so I couldn’t see what the lobby looked like. The two pictures from 2012 of the building with the art deco tile are not the theater and should be deleted.
It has to have been the only one. Downtown is only 2 blocks.