It’s just a vacant lot. Doubt anything will ever replace the buildings that were there, although the church has built an addition on the site of the little building that was to the left of the theater (maybe a telephone exchange?). Between church parking lots, drive through banks, and general neglect, downtown has shrunk quite a bit.
Apologies, but Electric may not be the name. It appears to be a classification used by this particular surveyor. There is another ‘electric’ on the same block.
I’m not sure how destroyed it was in the fire. Old photo is from 1940, and aside from the loss of the tile roof, the structure appears identical. I imagine the structure was gutted, but was able to be reused. At some later point, the ground floor got an ugly remodel with cheap aluminum doors and tacky dryvit covering the shop windows. Not sure when it closed, but the 2009 streetview shows the marquee already gone, and the building clearly vacant.
Should be listed as demolished. This entire side of the block has been destroyed with a few dreary prefab buildings and an indifferent bank replacing them.
This should be listed as demolished. Building is vacant on the 1909 Sanborn, but the 1916 map shows the Grand Opera House showing movies, with a seating capacity of 304. It’s a deep but narrow one story brick building, almost certainly a converted storefront.
Can we clarify which corner? The 1916 Sanborn shows a “Moving Picture Theatre” on the north side of the 300 block (perhaps 320-something), in a one story stone building. Only a fragment of that structure survives as steps and part of a wall with a metal shed built on top. Second from the corner on the north side of the 400 block (probably 402) is the town hall, which is noted as having a stage. This building is visible (just barely) on the crummy 2008 streetview, but the satellite view shows that it has collapsed in a heap.
If it was on the corner, there must have been renumbering. The current 119 is the second from the corner. The corner building makes more sense. It’s an old Knights of Pythias hall, and fairly well kept, aside from some ugly window covers. It’s a fair bit deeper than the present 119. In 2010, it was a closed grocery store, and might now be residential.
Given that the street names on these listings aren’t terribly reliable, one suggestion for either of the two theaters in town would be the sad old derelict on 3rd, just north/east of the alley. As a note, the 1911 Sanborn has a ‘cheap theatre’ located on the other side of 3rd, in a small brick building (long gone), that is also labeled as ‘grocery warehouse’. Not sure how that worked.
Given that the street names on these listings aren’t terribly reliable, one suggestion for either of the two theaters in town would be the sad old derelict on 3rd, just north/east of the alley. As a note, the 1911 Sanborn has a ‘cheap theatre’ located on the other side of 3rd, in a small brick building (long gone), that is also labeled as ‘grocery warehouse’. Not sure how that worked.
Must have been a short-lived theater. 1911 Sanborn shows it as a pool hall. It’s been very poorly treated over the years, and has a generous helping of plastic siding and boarded-up windows. 2013 streetview shows it as and insurance office.
Theater has been demolished. It’s on the 1917 Sanborn, 2nd building from the corner of 6th on Main (south side). Looks like it’s been gone for many years, since that’s just weeds on the 2009 streetview. The map credits the town with a population of 600, brick and stone buildings for a full block on either side of Main, with half a block more on the north side past the railroad. Current population is 93, and only 2-3 buildings appear to remain on the latest satellite view.
I’ve uploaded a picture of the building at 108 E Vermont. I’m pretty confident that it was the Lucille. The lot is empty on the 1911 map, which matches a 1912 construction.
On the 1906 and earlier maps, the street is called Water. By 1914, it is Tisman (sic), with ‘Water’ in parentheses. Street names seem to be pretty fluid on these maps, and I’m sure most people used the old name until they got used to the new one.
SethG
commented about
Theateron
Mar 9, 2019 at 7:05 am
The one theater you couldn’t find a name for is of course the only one I have a picture of! Thanks for listing it.
The September 1911 Sanborn, which is unfortunately the latest available, does not show a theater. The NRHP listing for the opera house says the Lucille was built in 1912.
Two suggestions for possible locations: 121 (corner), which is listed as dry goods on the map. It is much deeper than it appears on the map, suggesting a conversion. It also appears to have poster cases on the front, although they may be covered windows. The building is now apartments.
Another possibility is the yellow brick building in the middle of the block on the other side of the street. It is likewise quite deep, and has an odd recessed entry on one side. That building is a business.
1916 Sanborn gives the capacity as 764, and notes that it offers ‘moving pictures & vaudeville’. February 1909 map shows the lot occupied by a wooden single-story opera house, which faces W 2nd St. The lot is empty on the 1900 map, so perhaps this ‘opera house’ was a temporary structure?
1916 Sanborn shows a capacity of 666, and notes that it offers ‘moving pictures & vaudeville’. The stone that bears the name also has a small note ‘Reed & Hutch’ with ‘W.H.H.’ below that. I assume Reed & Hutch were the builders or perhaps owners, and “W.H.H.‘ is either some acronym I can’t decipher, or the initials of the stonemason.
This theater appears on the December 1892 Sanborn, where it is labeled ‘not finished’. The name on this and subsequent maps up to 1916 is ‘Auditorium’. The theater occupied the second and third stories of a large brick building which had an iron front and a large wooden porch covering the two storefronts as well as the neighboring buildings to the east. The stage was deep and bowed out in the center, and the large balcony was U-shaped. Capacity must have been above 550 at this point.
This has been demolished. It was likely one of the two ugly, sheet metal covered buildings visible in the blurry 2008 street view, or it may have been what was replaced by the grocery store on the corner. Anyway, address must have been in the 100 block.
Building was constructed in 1916. It was still there in 2010. At that point it was completely derelict, and looked like it might have been used as a library. It seems to have collapsed or been demolished by late 2011. Address would have been in the upper 300s on the odd side of the street. It was the second building south of Washington.
Robert Boller was born in 1887, so he obviously wasn’t the architect of the opera house. He was the architect of either a 1923 remodel, or a 1923 replacement structure, which may have had a reduced capacity, given the information Chris originally had.
This theater didn’t burn in 1943, it was the Tivoli/New Globe which did.
It’s just a vacant lot. Doubt anything will ever replace the buildings that were there, although the church has built an addition on the site of the little building that was to the left of the theater (maybe a telephone exchange?). Between church parking lots, drive through banks, and general neglect, downtown has shrunk quite a bit.
If it hasn’t been demolished, a few of the buildings on the west side of the 400 block could be candidates.
Apologies, but Electric may not be the name. It appears to be a classification used by this particular surveyor. There is another ‘electric’ on the same block.
I added a photo from just before demolition.
I’m not sure how destroyed it was in the fire. Old photo is from 1940, and aside from the loss of the tile roof, the structure appears identical. I imagine the structure was gutted, but was able to be reused. At some later point, the ground floor got an ugly remodel with cheap aluminum doors and tacky dryvit covering the shop windows. Not sure when it closed, but the 2009 streetview shows the marquee already gone, and the building clearly vacant.
Should be listed as demolished. This entire side of the block has been destroyed with a few dreary prefab buildings and an indifferent bank replacing them.
This should be listed as demolished. Building is vacant on the 1909 Sanborn, but the 1916 map shows the Grand Opera House showing movies, with a seating capacity of 304. It’s a deep but narrow one story brick building, almost certainly a converted storefront.
Can we clarify which corner? The 1916 Sanborn shows a “Moving Picture Theatre” on the north side of the 300 block (perhaps 320-something), in a one story stone building. Only a fragment of that structure survives as steps and part of a wall with a metal shed built on top. Second from the corner on the north side of the 400 block (probably 402) is the town hall, which is noted as having a stage. This building is visible (just barely) on the crummy 2008 streetview, but the satellite view shows that it has collapsed in a heap.
If it was on the corner, there must have been renumbering. The current 119 is the second from the corner. The corner building makes more sense. It’s an old Knights of Pythias hall, and fairly well kept, aside from some ugly window covers. It’s a fair bit deeper than the present 119. In 2010, it was a closed grocery store, and might now be residential.
Given that the street names on these listings aren’t terribly reliable, one suggestion for either of the two theaters in town would be the sad old derelict on 3rd, just north/east of the alley. As a note, the 1911 Sanborn has a ‘cheap theatre’ located on the other side of 3rd, in a small brick building (long gone), that is also labeled as ‘grocery warehouse’. Not sure how that worked.
Given that the street names on these listings aren’t terribly reliable, one suggestion for either of the two theaters in town would be the sad old derelict on 3rd, just north/east of the alley. As a note, the 1911 Sanborn has a ‘cheap theatre’ located on the other side of 3rd, in a small brick building (long gone), that is also labeled as ‘grocery warehouse’. Not sure how that worked.
Must have been a short-lived theater. 1911 Sanborn shows it as a pool hall. It’s been very poorly treated over the years, and has a generous helping of plastic siding and boarded-up windows. 2013 streetview shows it as and insurance office.
Theater has been demolished. It’s on the 1917 Sanborn, 2nd building from the corner of 6th on Main (south side). Looks like it’s been gone for many years, since that’s just weeds on the 2009 streetview. The map credits the town with a population of 600, brick and stone buildings for a full block on either side of Main, with half a block more on the north side past the railroad. Current population is 93, and only 2-3 buildings appear to remain on the latest satellite view.
I’ve uploaded a picture of the building at 108 E Vermont. I’m pretty confident that it was the Lucille. The lot is empty on the 1911 map, which matches a 1912 construction.
On the 1906 and earlier maps, the street is called Water. By 1914, it is Tisman (sic), with ‘Water’ in parentheses. Street names seem to be pretty fluid on these maps, and I’m sure most people used the old name until they got used to the new one.
The one theater you couldn’t find a name for is of course the only one I have a picture of! Thanks for listing it.
The September 1911 Sanborn, which is unfortunately the latest available, does not show a theater. The NRHP listing for the opera house says the Lucille was built in 1912. Two suggestions for possible locations: 121 (corner), which is listed as dry goods on the map. It is much deeper than it appears on the map, suggesting a conversion. It also appears to have poster cases on the front, although they may be covered windows. The building is now apartments. Another possibility is the yellow brick building in the middle of the block on the other side of the street. It is likewise quite deep, and has an odd recessed entry on one side. That building is a business.
1916 Sanborn gives the capacity as 764, and notes that it offers ‘moving pictures & vaudeville’. February 1909 map shows the lot occupied by a wooden single-story opera house, which faces W 2nd St. The lot is empty on the 1900 map, so perhaps this ‘opera house’ was a temporary structure?
1916 Sanborn shows a capacity of 666, and notes that it offers ‘moving pictures & vaudeville’. The stone that bears the name also has a small note ‘Reed & Hutch’ with ‘W.H.H.’ below that. I assume Reed & Hutch were the builders or perhaps owners, and “W.H.H.‘ is either some acronym I can’t decipher, or the initials of the stonemason.
The Odd Fellows hall was built in 1912 by E.Y. Davis & Son. Probably had an ‘opera house’ from the beginning. Building is currently a residence.
This theater appears on the December 1892 Sanborn, where it is labeled ‘not finished’. The name on this and subsequent maps up to 1916 is ‘Auditorium’. The theater occupied the second and third stories of a large brick building which had an iron front and a large wooden porch covering the two storefronts as well as the neighboring buildings to the east. The stage was deep and bowed out in the center, and the large balcony was U-shaped. Capacity must have been above 550 at this point.
This has been demolished. It was likely one of the two ugly, sheet metal covered buildings visible in the blurry 2008 street view, or it may have been what was replaced by the grocery store on the corner. Anyway, address must have been in the 100 block.
Building was constructed in 1916. It was still there in 2010. At that point it was completely derelict, and looked like it might have been used as a library. It seems to have collapsed or been demolished by late 2011. Address would have been in the upper 300s on the odd side of the street. It was the second building south of Washington.
Robert Boller was born in 1887, so he obviously wasn’t the architect of the opera house. He was the architect of either a 1923 remodel, or a 1923 replacement structure, which may have had a reduced capacity, given the information Chris originally had.