I suppose the stores could have operated while the theater built out. Otherwise, I would expect those spaces to have generic labels. At any rate, in 1921, there was no other building that was being used as a theater, so they must have done without for a while. It sounds like the old theater was relocated, not replaced. There was one building which has a hall on the 3rd floor on the 1909 map, but was remodeled in 1920. That might have been the location of either the Vaudeville, or Barney’s (or maybe they’re the same thing). It would be nice if there were a map from around 1915.
I figured it stayed open longer. I didn’t put that sentence about 1929 in. Usually I’m grateful for the added information, but here it’s wrong.
The July ‘21 map specifically labels it Barney’s. The interior, with the outline of the balcony, does have a ‘From Plans’ notation, but since the tenants of the storefronts are specifically labeled, they must have been extant. Even if we assume the building was incomplete, that’s nearly a year and a half before the article you found.
I’m not sure what’s up with the ‘Port’ stuff. There’s no evidence the name of the town was ever ‘Port Marion’. There is no ‘Port Marion’ anywhere in the world. People must have garbled the name. I doubt the opera house used that name.
Jane (no ’s’ on the maps at least) St, which had been renamed Railroad by 1921, does have a large concrete building at the corner with Freeling. In 1909, it is labeled ‘Skating Rink’, and in 1921 ‘Public Auditorium & Dance Hall’. I suppose it could have been the opera house.
I think it’s really misleading to list these as demolished just because the auditorium is gone. I don’t want anyone to miss seeing this because they think the building isn’t there anymore. You can almost never see the inside of these older theaters, and most of them were gutted long ago, even if they technically still have walls and a roof over the location of the seats/screen.
According to the 1991 NRHP listing, this was built in the ‘20s sometime and may have originally been called the Hippodrome. Michael Collins built the neighboring Hotel Collins in 1910, and this larger structure may have replaced a small wood-frame Hippodrome that operated previously. Although the NRHP listing says this is 128 S Maple, '136’ is clearly visible on the ticket booth. The auditorium was demolished long ago, and the lobby was being used to store junk by the public works department in 2012. The 2015 streetview shows it spruced up a bit.
When the theater was built, the basement was a furniture warehouse. When I visited in 2012, the entire street in front had been torn out, and you could see the windows in the front. I assume there were plentiful sidewalk lights at one point.
The 1992 NRHP listing has a photo with the theater bearing the Stonewall name, but that name came much later. It was definitely built for the Masons. The third floor was intended for their use.
See it before the hideous tacky remodel (although years past closing) in a picture from the ‘70s at http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/ Enter 'Altamont’ in the search bar, and look for 112 W Washington in the ‘Location’ field. Can’t tell which storefront it was. Probably the left hand one. For research purposes, until at least 1911, Washington was called Grove St.
Unless something has changed, there is no such address. The even side of N Walnut is the courthouse lawn. Odds and evens switch sides on S Walnut, and where 124 might have been is a parking lot.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Aug 30, 2019 at 7:01 am
The Wikipedia page for Green Castle has a photo of Lincoln St in the 1890s. The theater is on the left end of the brick buildings. Although the water tower, city limit sign, etc. all say ‘Green Castle’, google and Wikipedia render it ‘Greencastle’.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Aug 30, 2019 at 6:58 am
The Sanborn map notes the theater as having a ‘Standard Booth’. Not sure what this means, and I’ve never seen it before. Perhaps a fireproof projection room?
The address and some of the other information are wrong. The 1916 map shows only one theater, on the no longer extant Court (Street?). Unless there has been renumbering, 118 was a house on the corner, and is now an empty lot. Even if the current 116 was also 118, the 1916 map shows it as a dry goods store.
There was an opera house in a 2 story building across from the courthouse, but no mention is made of movies. Address would have been on the odd side of the 100 block of S Main. It was constructed by 1884. The 2008 streetview shows the butchered remains of the ground floor, but the building has since been demolished.
I don’t think this was ever called the Summers. It was owned by a Mr. Summers. The first building was completely different, and quite a bit smaller, at least width-wise. It, along with most of the rest of the block, was destroyed by fire.
The library has a picture of the old Royal ablaze. It was taken from the courthouse roof, and you can see the fire was huge, with smoke and flame pouring out of the roofs of all the buildings along the block. Mr. Summers and fellow businessmen rebuilt the block in 1951. All of these buildings look fairly similar. The library also displays a few seats, a rewinder, and several pictures of the ‘new’ theater.
One final note, the building is not as wide as it appears. The façade on the right is a false front over a one story section.
The 1905 Cahn guide lists it as the ‘Butler Opera House’, managed by J.A. Trimble, and with a capacity of 1,000. Obviously, this is well before movies, but Fisk is not identified for sure as the owner until the 1914 map.
The Fisk and the opera house are the same building. It was constructed by 1885, and the 1914 map shows a capacity of 900. The auditorium occupied the second floor. By 1892, no businesses are listed on the ground floor. It’s likely the auditorium remained where it was, but the ground floor storefronts were replaced by a lobby. The balcony was very deep, with a curved front, and wings extending along the side. By 1914, the stage had been remodeled to a flat front. No mention is made on the 1914 map of movies being shown.
The description isn’t accurate. The Hotel Pennell, aka the Fraternal Inn, was constructed in 1906. It’s a C-shaped structure with the opening facing Ohio. The Courtney cannot have occupied the lobby since the grand staircase still exists.
The building is only three stories. There were lodge rooms for the Masons and Odd Fellows on the third floor, but as those were used until the ‘80s, they can’t have been the location of the theater. I suggest that the theater may have been in retail space on the ground floor. There is no marquee on the building. There may have been, but it was gone by 2010. Current usage is a hotel and restaurant.
There may be some apartments, and there is retail on the east side and the SE corner.
Must have been in the block across from the courthouse. There’s no really obvious theater there, but a few existing buildings might have been the location.
Picture of the Kellogg should be removed, it’s a totally different building. Not sure if it ever showed movies, it seems to have become a church pretty early on.
Obviously no-one was doing art deco in 1948. I’m not sure what I’d call the facade, and the auditorium was likely done in a budget streamline style. The website is dead, and they are now using FB: https://www.facebook.com/PleasantHillPlayersCommunityTheatre/
I suppose the stores could have operated while the theater built out. Otherwise, I would expect those spaces to have generic labels. At any rate, in 1921, there was no other building that was being used as a theater, so they must have done without for a while. It sounds like the old theater was relocated, not replaced. There was one building which has a hall on the 3rd floor on the 1909 map, but was remodeled in 1920. That might have been the location of either the Vaudeville, or Barney’s (or maybe they’re the same thing). It would be nice if there were a map from around 1915.
I figured it stayed open longer. I didn’t put that sentence about 1929 in. Usually I’m grateful for the added information, but here it’s wrong.
The July ‘21 map specifically labels it Barney’s. The interior, with the outline of the balcony, does have a ‘From Plans’ notation, but since the tenants of the storefronts are specifically labeled, they must have been extant. Even if we assume the building was incomplete, that’s nearly a year and a half before the article you found.
I’m not sure what’s up with the ‘Port’ stuff. There’s no evidence the name of the town was ever ‘Port Marion’. There is no ‘Port Marion’ anywhere in the world. People must have garbled the name. I doubt the opera house used that name.
Jane (no ’s’ on the maps at least) St, which had been renamed Railroad by 1921, does have a large concrete building at the corner with Freeling. In 1909, it is labeled ‘Skating Rink’, and in 1921 ‘Public Auditorium & Dance Hall’. I suppose it could have been the opera house.
In 2012, this was a thrift store.
I think it’s really misleading to list these as demolished just because the auditorium is gone. I don’t want anyone to miss seeing this because they think the building isn’t there anymore. You can almost never see the inside of these older theaters, and most of them were gutted long ago, even if they technically still have walls and a roof over the location of the seats/screen.
I suggest 331 W Main as a possibility. Big arched windows on the second floor, obviously once had a vertical sign.
According to the 1991 NRHP listing, this was built in the ‘20s sometime and may have originally been called the Hippodrome. Michael Collins built the neighboring Hotel Collins in 1910, and this larger structure may have replaced a small wood-frame Hippodrome that operated previously. Although the NRHP listing says this is 128 S Maple, '136’ is clearly visible on the ticket booth. The auditorium was demolished long ago, and the lobby was being used to store junk by the public works department in 2012. The 2015 streetview shows it spruced up a bit.
Not sure when it got the cheapo marquee and the dull name, but it was still the Visulite in 1991, and still had the original marquee.
When the theater was built, the basement was a furniture warehouse. When I visited in 2012, the entire street in front had been torn out, and you could see the windows in the front. I assume there were plentiful sidewalk lights at one point.
Added a photo. It was for sale in 2012. Looks vacant in the 2018 streetview.
The 1992 NRHP listing has a photo with the theater bearing the Stonewall name, but that name came much later. It was definitely built for the Masons. The third floor was intended for their use.
See it before the hideous tacky remodel (although years past closing) in a picture from the ‘70s at http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/ Enter 'Altamont’ in the search bar, and look for 112 W Washington in the ‘Location’ field. Can’t tell which storefront it was. Probably the left hand one. For research purposes, until at least 1911, Washington was called Grove St.
If this really was the Ritz, and the photo is correct, there was an extensive remodel, probably post-WWII.
This hasn’t been demolished. It was a sad little church for some time, but looks abandoned.
This address cannot be right. 103 N Walnut is a very old one story commercial building. 103 S Walnut is a tiny little bar.
Unless something has changed, there is no such address. The even side of N Walnut is the courthouse lawn. Odds and evens switch sides on S Walnut, and where 124 might have been is a parking lot.
The Wikipedia page for Green Castle has a photo of Lincoln St in the 1890s. The theater is on the left end of the brick buildings. Although the water tower, city limit sign, etc. all say ‘Green Castle’, google and Wikipedia render it ‘Greencastle’.
The Sanborn map notes the theater as having a ‘Standard Booth’. Not sure what this means, and I’ve never seen it before. Perhaps a fireproof projection room?
The address and some of the other information are wrong. The 1916 map shows only one theater, on the no longer extant Court (Street?). Unless there has been renumbering, 118 was a house on the corner, and is now an empty lot. Even if the current 116 was also 118, the 1916 map shows it as a dry goods store.
There was an opera house in a 2 story building across from the courthouse, but no mention is made of movies. Address would have been on the odd side of the 100 block of S Main. It was constructed by 1884. The 2008 streetview shows the butchered remains of the ground floor, but the building has since been demolished.
I don’t think this was ever called the Summers. It was owned by a Mr. Summers. The first building was completely different, and quite a bit smaller, at least width-wise. It, along with most of the rest of the block, was destroyed by fire.
The library has a picture of the old Royal ablaze. It was taken from the courthouse roof, and you can see the fire was huge, with smoke and flame pouring out of the roofs of all the buildings along the block. Mr. Summers and fellow businessmen rebuilt the block in 1951. All of these buildings look fairly similar. The library also displays a few seats, a rewinder, and several pictures of the ‘new’ theater.
One final note, the building is not as wide as it appears. The façade on the right is a false front over a one story section.
The 1905 Cahn guide lists it as the ‘Butler Opera House’, managed by J.A. Trimble, and with a capacity of 1,000. Obviously, this is well before movies, but Fisk is not identified for sure as the owner until the 1914 map.
The Fisk and the opera house are the same building. It was constructed by 1885, and the 1914 map shows a capacity of 900. The auditorium occupied the second floor. By 1892, no businesses are listed on the ground floor. It’s likely the auditorium remained where it was, but the ground floor storefronts were replaced by a lobby. The balcony was very deep, with a curved front, and wings extending along the side. By 1914, the stage had been remodeled to a flat front. No mention is made on the 1914 map of movies being shown.
The description isn’t accurate. The Hotel Pennell, aka the Fraternal Inn, was constructed in 1906. It’s a C-shaped structure with the opening facing Ohio. The Courtney cannot have occupied the lobby since the grand staircase still exists. The building is only three stories. There were lodge rooms for the Masons and Odd Fellows on the third floor, but as those were used until the ‘80s, they can’t have been the location of the theater. I suggest that the theater may have been in retail space on the ground floor. There is no marquee on the building. There may have been, but it was gone by 2010. Current usage is a hotel and restaurant. There may be some apartments, and there is retail on the east side and the SE corner.
Must have been in the block across from the courthouse. There’s no really obvious theater there, but a few existing buildings might have been the location.
I’ll also point out that the vertical sign is not a restoration but a replacement.
Picture of the Kellogg should be removed, it’s a totally different building. Not sure if it ever showed movies, it seems to have become a church pretty early on.
Obviously no-one was doing art deco in 1948. I’m not sure what I’d call the facade, and the auditorium was likely done in a budget streamline style. The website is dead, and they are now using FB: https://www.facebook.com/PleasantHillPlayersCommunityTheatre/