During the time that I was working there in the early 1950’s when Cinemascope came out, the manager booked in a picture and on the Marquee and in the newspaper ad Cinemascope was advertized when in fact the theater did not have a cinemascope screen and the print was not in the cinemascope foremat. The film was The Robe if I remember right.
In doing a search through the local newspaper, it would seem that there were two theaters by this name, and the older one was demolished in about 1923 and that is about all I have been able to find out.
The new Schenley was one of the crown jewels of the Wellman chain of theaters, so hopefully someone can step up and fill in the rest of the story.
This theater may have had a nice marquee, but the interior certainly was not either elegant or stylish. like most other small theaters in a city that had many, it was as nondescript as it could be. It wasn’t meant to be elegant. I don’t know how much you know about Youngstown’s downtown theaters Paul, but the only “elegant” downtown theaters were the Warner; State; Liberty/Paramount; and Palace … the big four, and for those who are older the fifth was the Park Theatre prior to 1948.
In the mid 1940’s this theater seems to have undergone a name change to Center Theater. In all fairness, this was not one of the best areas of the city, therefore this little theater was no movie palace, but served it’s purpose.
None of the photos show it, but the Belmont Theater had a large water fountain outside the theater, and at night it was lit with colored lights making a special sight for passing cars. The theater was a short distence from a major shopping plaza and combined with the North Side Drive In made the area quite busy, but unfortunately all that has gone forever including the shopping plaza leaving the area a desolate place.
The Wellman family was the largest owners of neighborhood and drive-in theaters in our area as the ad in the photo section will testify from the 1949 Vindicator.
While the Vindicator did publish a large story about the opening of the Park, there were very few pictures of it ever published. Even the postcards that do show it’s East Federal Street sign do not have any exterior photos of it’s main enterance. If anyone should come across such a photo please share it with us.
The Market Street Theater opened September 10, 1914. John C. Leavitt was the owner and Max Schagrin was the Manager. The Vindicator ran a two page ad in it’s September 10, 1914 edition about the Market Street Theater’s opening.
Saddly, aside from the Uptown and the Newport along with the Market Street Theater we could not find and photos or detailed information about the other theaters that were located on Market Street other than locations so we do know that they were not one theater that went by several names. The fact that they all ran ads on the theater page of the Vindicator shows us that they were indeed seperate theaters.
For those who do not know much about Youngstown, Market Street was a major business street as well as an entertainment destination with many restaurants, night Clubs as well as retail stores and car dealerships right up to the 1960’s when it began to go into decline.
The Mahoning Valley Historical Society is in the process of compiling a complete list of all the theaters that have come and gone over the years,and unfortunately, while they are being identified through city directory’s and newspaper ads, there are very few photographs of the theater, and even less information about the seating capacity, so if anyone has any additional information please feel free to provide it here, and we’ll see to it that the MVHS gets it, and we thank you for any help you can be.
Joe, the Jack Dempsey ad ran 2/21/1920. As I said elsewhere, the local theaters with the exceptions of the major theaters were inconsistent in their ads, so the MVHS in compiling a complete list of all the local theaters is having to pour over the Youngstown City Directories, and since it’s a one person task, it’s going to be some time before such a list will be available.
The Lyric opened March 2, 1908, and hopefully someone out there can find the date it closed because it’s difficult to use the local newspaper to try to pinpoint when it closed as the theater ads in the Youngstown Vindicator for the period between 1900 and 1920 are very inconsistent at best.
Max Shagrin, who over his local years at one point or another managed some of Youngstown’s larger theaters including the Orpheum would be taken to Hollywood by the Warner Brothers to manage a number of movie stars.
When it came to movies at the Hippodrome most were second run even in the days before the Palace or Warner or Liberty while the Park Theater was a first Run house up to the mid 1940’s when it could no longer compete with the Palace, State, Pareamount or Warner.
Unlike it’s sister, the Cameo was a nondiscript theater with no remarkable features, but the same could be said for most of the downtown theaters that came and went, for the only true movie palaces were the Warner, the Keith Albee Palace, the Grand Opera House, the State, and the Park Theatre.
Many thanks for posting this Drive-in. Today there is a Mega Church on the land that the Sky-Hi was located.
The Victory Theater dates back to the 1920’s.
This was one of the many small neighborhood theaters that were here between the late 1930’s and early 1950’s.
Today this theater is pary of the expressway system.
During the time that I was working there in the early 1950’s when Cinemascope came out, the manager booked in a picture and on the Marquee and in the newspaper ad Cinemascope was advertized when in fact the theater did not have a cinemascope screen and the print was not in the cinemascope foremat. The film was The Robe if I remember right.
In doing a search through the local newspaper, it would seem that there were two theaters by this name, and the older one was demolished in about 1923 and that is about all I have been able to find out. The new Schenley was one of the crown jewels of the Wellman chain of theaters, so hopefully someone can step up and fill in the rest of the story.
This theater may have had a nice marquee, but the interior certainly was not either elegant or stylish. like most other small theaters in a city that had many, it was as nondescript as it could be. It wasn’t meant to be elegant. I don’t know how much you know about Youngstown’s downtown theaters Paul, but the only “elegant” downtown theaters were the Warner; State; Liberty/Paramount; and Palace … the big four, and for those who are older the fifth was the Park Theatre prior to 1948.
In the mid 1940’s this theater seems to have undergone a name change to Center Theater. In all fairness, this was not one of the best areas of the city, therefore this little theater was no movie palace, but served it’s purpose.
None of the photos show it, but the Belmont Theater had a large water fountain outside the theater, and at night it was lit with colored lights making a special sight for passing cars. The theater was a short distence from a major shopping plaza and combined with the North Side Drive In made the area quite busy, but unfortunately all that has gone forever including the shopping plaza leaving the area a desolate place.
The Wellman family was the largest owners of neighborhood and drive-in theaters in our area as the ad in the photo section will testify from the 1949 Vindicator.
While the Vindicator did publish a large story about the opening of the Park, there were very few pictures of it ever published. Even the postcards that do show it’s East Federal Street sign do not have any exterior photos of it’s main enterance. If anyone should come across such a photo please share it with us.
Opening day ad.
The Market Street Theater opened September 10, 1914. John C. Leavitt was the owner and Max Schagrin was the Manager. The Vindicator ran a two page ad in it’s September 10, 1914 edition about the Market Street Theater’s opening.
Saddly, aside from the Uptown and the Newport along with the Market Street Theater we could not find and photos or detailed information about the other theaters that were located on Market Street other than locations so we do know that they were not one theater that went by several names. The fact that they all ran ads on the theater page of the Vindicator shows us that they were indeed seperate theaters. For those who do not know much about Youngstown, Market Street was a major business street as well as an entertainment destination with many restaurants, night Clubs as well as retail stores and car dealerships right up to the 1960’s when it began to go into decline.
The Mahoning Valley Historical Society is in the process of compiling a complete list of all the theaters that have come and gone over the years,and unfortunately, while they are being identified through city directory’s and newspaper ads, there are very few photographs of the theater, and even less information about the seating capacity, so if anyone has any additional information please feel free to provide it here, and we’ll see to it that the MVHS gets it, and we thank you for any help you can be.
Joe, the Jack Dempsey ad ran 2/21/1920. As I said elsewhere, the local theaters with the exceptions of the major theaters were inconsistent in their ads, so the MVHS in compiling a complete list of all the local theaters is having to pour over the Youngstown City Directories, and since it’s a one person task, it’s going to be some time before such a list will be available.
The Lyric opened March 2, 1908, and hopefully someone out there can find the date it closed because it’s difficult to use the local newspaper to try to pinpoint when it closed as the theater ads in the Youngstown Vindicator for the period between 1900 and 1920 are very inconsistent at best.
The opening ad for the Lyric March 1, 1908
Kinemacolor movies – “The Note In The Shirt” and “Paying The Penelty” – 1913
During the silent years, the Strand also had a house orchestra even though they did’t have any live stage shows.
Of all the theaters in Youngstown, the Grand Opera House was the only one that depended solely on newspaper ads to tell what was showing.
Max Shagrin, who over his local years at one point or another managed some of Youngstown’s larger theaters including the Orpheum would be taken to Hollywood by the Warner Brothers to manage a number of movie stars.
The full address for the Hippodrome was 234 West Federal Street in the Hippodrome Arcade.
When it came to movies at the Hippodrome most were second run even in the days before the Palace or Warner or Liberty while the Park Theater was a first Run house up to the mid 1940’s when it could no longer compete with the Palace, State, Pareamount or Warner.
If you look carefully, you can see the Warner Theater in the upper left hand of the picture.
Unlike it’s sister, the Cameo was a nondiscript theater with no remarkable features, but the same could be said for most of the downtown theaters that came and went, for the only true movie palaces were the Warner, the Keith Albee Palace, the Grand Opera House, the State, and the Park Theatre.