Need to add the address! Since this listing has no information at all, here’s what I came up with. The state has it listed as the Virginia Opera House. It was designed and built by Joseph F. Black. William Jennings Bryan spoke there in 1896, so it was definitely open by then. It stayed open until at least the early ‘70s. A lot of the colored tile has now fallen off, but the ghost ads on the side have been repainted.
I must have met Gaye when I passed through. I helped her carry some sodas from her car, and she showed me around. Sadly my picture toward the screen didn’t really come out, but the interior is very well preserved.
In a picture from the early ‘70s, this was an annex to the hardware store next door (now the police station), and hadn’t yet been covered with that tacky siding. Storefront was bland and simple, no arches remained.
By 2016, the original doors and remains of the ticket booth were gone. I have no idea why they wasted money applying the cheap and tacky dryvit remodel. Messing with the façade should have been the last priority.
Theater was probably in the south half of the Whitnah Opera House, which is a bar in a picture from the early ‘70s, and still operating today. Address is 129 S 3rd.
Theater isn’t a church, it’s a Salvation Army community center. The front has been totally redone (looks ‘70s-ish), and entry is now through the side, which has lots of added windows
For an early ‘70s view of the building before the front was stripped off go to http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/ and enter: Abbey Theater in the search bar. (Be sure to misspell it!) It was quite a stunner. Abingdon is a really sad mess, and a lot of buildings have been demolished downtown, but Joe is right that the theater is sort of still there.
Almost certainly demolished. Probably on the west side of N Main St. All of the Schine’s I’ve seen have been pretty large and fancy, which doesn’t describe any buildings downtown except one that was obviously built as a store.
Added a ‘new’ photo. Didn’t take any of just the theater. Rather a severe and blocky remodel, in the yellow limestone over red granite(?) that seems to have been very popular in the region. Not really my taste, but I assume it looked a lot better with the marquee. Just out of frame, the side of the building is much older, with a lot of bricked up windows.
The B B stood for Beatrice Bessesen, an opera singer. The building was originally the Bessesen Opera House. I don’t know when exactly it started showing movies. The building currently houses a gallery, a chiropractor, the local arts council, and various other businesses. There is an initiative to restore the building, but no word on whether the ugly ‘70s front will be replaced.
While the renovation is pretty nice (windows replaced upstairs, freshly replastered façade, redone entry), the marquee has been slathered in black housepaint, which takes away a lot of the character.
Since this is the closest drive-in, could it have been the Riverside/Razorback that supplied the marquee currently located in the 500 block of S Chester? Streetview here: https://www.google.com/maps/Crest Theatre.7450915,-92.2819992,3a,75y,60.08h,75.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAznxrg_GzD1Oi2KaG4l5pw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Can we put any information at all in the listing? Street number is between 50 and 76 (neighboring buildings). Sometime between the 2008 streetview and my 2013 visit, the cornice was stripped and all the windows, etc. on the front were boarded up.
Need to add the address! Since this listing has no information at all, here’s what I came up with. The state has it listed as the Virginia Opera House. It was designed and built by Joseph F. Black. William Jennings Bryan spoke there in 1896, so it was definitely open by then. It stayed open until at least the early ‘70s. A lot of the colored tile has now fallen off, but the ghost ads on the side have been repainted.
Such a small town that everyone knew where it was? Thanks for the address. The lounge and hotel seem to be defunct, and I couldn’t find it that way.
Can we confirm the location? I have a picture of the Opera House, and will add it if it’s correct.
The local historical society’s excellent page on the theater: https://www.tablerockhistoricalsociety.com/theater.html
Must have been 213 N Main. It’s still there, as a florist/garden center. Just a modest brick storefront from about 1900.
I must have met Gaye when I passed through. I helped her carry some sodas from her car, and she showed me around. Sadly my picture toward the screen didn’t really come out, but the interior is very well preserved.
In a picture from the early ‘70s, this was an annex to the hardware store next door (now the police station), and hadn’t yet been covered with that tacky siding. Storefront was bland and simple, no arches remained.
By 2016, the original doors and remains of the ticket booth were gone. I have no idea why they wasted money applying the cheap and tacky dryvit remodel. Messing with the façade should have been the last priority.
Don’t think this is demolished. Building in the middle of the block looks like an ex-theater.
Theater was probably in the south half of the Whitnah Opera House, which is a bar in a picture from the early ‘70s, and still operating today. Address is 129 S 3rd.
Theater isn’t a church, it’s a Salvation Army community center. The front has been totally redone (looks ‘70s-ish), and entry is now through the side, which has lots of added windows
For an early ‘70s view of the building before the front was stripped off go to http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/ and enter: Abbey Theater in the search bar. (Be sure to misspell it!) It was quite a stunner. Abingdon is a really sad mess, and a lot of buildings have been demolished downtown, but Joe is right that the theater is sort of still there.
According to the historical society, the white brick on the left corner of the building is the high water mark for the flood of 1935.
Almost certainly demolished. Probably on the west side of N Main St. All of the Schine’s I’ve seen have been pretty large and fancy, which doesn’t describe any buildings downtown except one that was obviously built as a store.
It’s gotten a weird modern remodel, and appears to be retail.
The building might sort of still be there. 108 has a stone front, but if it was the theater, it’s been pretty badly butchered by remodeling.
Added a ‘new’ photo. Didn’t take any of just the theater. Rather a severe and blocky remodel, in the yellow limestone over red granite(?) that seems to have been very popular in the region. Not really my taste, but I assume it looked a lot better with the marquee. Just out of frame, the side of the building is much older, with a lot of bricked up windows.
The B B stood for Beatrice Bessesen, an opera singer. The building was originally the Bessesen Opera House. I don’t know when exactly it started showing movies. The building currently houses a gallery, a chiropractor, the local arts council, and various other businesses. There is an initiative to restore the building, but no word on whether the ugly ‘70s front will be replaced.
Looking at the latest streetview, the marquee has been repainted and all the neon looks like it works.
While the renovation is pretty nice (windows replaced upstairs, freshly replastered façade, redone entry), the marquee has been slathered in black housepaint, which takes away a lot of the character.
Reproduction marquee was installed in 2016, just 11 days after my visit.
Number on the doors is 508. Theater is abandoned and boarded up.
The site breaks the comment, so you’ll have to change the ‘Crest Theatre’ to an ‘@’ symbol, followed by 34.
Since this is the closest drive-in, could it have been the Riverside/Razorback that supplied the marquee currently located in the 500 block of S Chester? Streetview here: https://www.google.com/maps/Crest Theatre.7450915,-92.2819992,3a,75y,60.08h,75.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAznxrg_GzD1Oi2KaG4l5pw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Can we put any information at all in the listing? Street number is between 50 and 76 (neighboring buildings). Sometime between the 2008 streetview and my 2013 visit, the cornice was stripped and all the windows, etc. on the front were boarded up.