Butler Theatre
100 S. Main Street,
Tonopah,
NV
89049
100 S. Main Street,
Tonopah,
NV
89049
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The Butler Theatre was opened around 1906. This 400-seat movie theater on Main Street was still open in 1956. It was demolished in 1969 and replaced by a motel.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
The Butler was demolished on September 4, 1969.
Seeing as there are no other theaters listed for Tonopah, I imagine that this 1940 photo shows the Butler. The caption puts the location on Main Street. It’s admittedly not a great picture:
http://tinyurl.com/m3ylc
Here is the page since the link I posted yesterday is not working now:
http://tinyurl.com/rk4rd
Well, it wasn’t a great picture anyway.
You should pay for the cleanup costs. haha
The January 13, 1923, issue of The Moving Picture World contained this brief item:
The theater had already been around for a long time by then. It was mentioned in the July 12, 1913, issue of the same publication. I’ve found references to the Butler having been in operation at least as early as 1908.Tonopah boomed into existence with a rich silver strike in 1900, and rich gold deposits were found nearby in 1902. In its early years, Tonopah had three other theaters besides the Butler: the Nevada, the Pavilion, and the Indora, though the Butler (500 seats) and the Pavilion (750 seats) were the only theaters listed in the 1907-1908 edition of Henry’s Official Western Theatrical Guide.
The Butler was to survive the longest, operating into the age of CinemaScope, the wide screen having been installed in 1956, according to the announcement in the August 7 edition of the Reno Gazette-Journal that year.
The third thumbnail down the left side of this web page depicts the Butler Theatre in the 1930s (click to embiggen.)
The Butler Theatre is listed as a 1906 project in David and Noell’s list of known Boller Brothers theater designs. Also on the Boller list for Tonopah was the Nevada Theatre, dated only as “before 1913 (1903?)”
I remember working the projectors there in the early 60’s…probably 63'. 1930’s Peerless carbon arc machines that ran off a large DC generator in the basement. Quite an adventure for a 13 year old!
March 1940 photo added credit Arthur Rothstein via Shorpy site below. Butler Theatre on far right. Click on “View Full Size”.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/22632
A few more names to throw on the pile.
Boxoffice, Sept. 4, 1948: (San Francisco notes) “R. F. Robb, Butler in Tonopah, was in town for a few days”
Boxoffice, Sept. 18, 1967: “Tonopah, Nev. - The Butler Theatre reopened here after being renovated. Bill Meyer and Monte Barrett are the owners.”