Shame that the cover photo was made with a potato. Sometime between 2008 and 2011 the original entry doors were replaced with cruddy aluminum doors. Sometime after early 2022 the letters on the vertical were covered in cruddy white plastic. Probably doesn’t look nearly so nice at night now. By the way, the old website is now gambling spam. This is correct: https://www.dellstheatre.com/
The 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 600, which makes much more sense given the size of the building. The address was originally on Pearl St, but the name was changed at some point after 1915.
This was apparently known as the Bridgewater for the first year of its existence. Early Yearbook entries give a capacity of 250, which must have been reduced.
I think the name chronology is wrong. The ‘Ellis’ sign is clearly very old, and this is one of several Ellis theaters in Mississippi. It must have been called Ellis before it closed as a cinema.
The address supplied was bogus. There is no Main St. 204 N Main Ave is a grocery store, which is pretty old. The map has ended up in Dolton, down the road. I think this has been demolished, wherever it was. In the streetview from 2011 there’s nothing that looks like a theater.
SethG
commented about
Theateron
Sep 10, 2025 at 4:55 pm
I doubt it. 400 seems like far too many people to fit in a small space like this. I suspect the Grand was an old opera house on Farmer west of Main. That still existed in 1984, but was lost to the shriveling up of downtown since.
It’s confused an awning behind the vertical as part of the sign, and it’s garbled the Red Owl lettering, but it’s fascinating to see what can be done. Pretty soon nothing will be true or provable!
I can’t understand why the Ruby is not on the 1921 map. Maybe it hadn’t opened by the time the 1914 map was issued, but it was clearly operating during that range.
Correct address was 203 Egan Ave N. This theater was constructed sometime between 1914 and 1921. It was demolished years ago. It was located on the northern half of the lot that now has a sports bar.
As might be expected from this contributor, most of the information is wrong. This theater does not appear on the 1921 map. The Ruby must have been something else. It was not converted to retail, it was demolished, along with everything else on the corner, for a really hideous ‘modern’ bank building.
Okay, the State definitely was across the street, and references to it here should be removed. Still haven’t found a good picture of the Grand, but it should probably be renamed Grand Theatre, since I can see that painted on the side in one photo. It was quite tall, looking more like a 3-4 story building.
The update to the 1987 NRHP listing says that the theater was built in 1940. It may not have been completed until 1941? It seems to have been closed around 1980, and by the late ‘80s the ticket booth and entry doors had been replaced by the cheap entry there today. The listing says that Perry E. Crosier was the architect. Frank McCarthy was the man it was built for.
This is in the wrong listing. This theater was one block west of the 1932 Wonderland, and was never called the Esquire.
There’s an old photo of the Wonderland that is in the wrong listing. It’s very confusing.
Seems 1914 is probably a good date. My pictures from Labor Day 2014 show the theater celebrating 100 years.
Built sometime between 1911 and 1917, likely after 1914-15, as Flandreau does not appear in the AMPD.
Shame that the cover photo was made with a potato. Sometime between 2008 and 2011 the original entry doors were replaced with cruddy aluminum doors. Sometime after early 2022 the letters on the vertical were covered in cruddy white plastic. Probably doesn’t look nearly so nice at night now. By the way, the old website is now gambling spam. This is correct: https://www.dellstheatre.com/
The 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 600, which makes much more sense given the size of the building. The address was originally on Pearl St, but the name was changed at some point after 1915.
Appears to still be open, although downtown is a disaster, and most of the buildings on this block are now gone. The website is dead.
This was apparently known as the Bridgewater for the first year of its existence. Early Yearbook entries give a capacity of 250, which must have been reduced.
I’ve added a map view. The address is a wild guess based on the one address I could find on that block.
I have added a photo of what I believe to have been the community hall. Information to confirm/refute my theory is welcome.
I think the name chronology is wrong. The ‘Ellis’ sign is clearly very old, and this is one of several Ellis theaters in Mississippi. It must have been called Ellis before it closed as a cinema.
The address supplied was bogus. There is no Main St. 204 N Main Ave is a grocery store, which is pretty old. The map has ended up in Dolton, down the road. I think this has been demolished, wherever it was. In the streetview from 2011 there’s nothing that looks like a theater.
I doubt it. 400 seems like far too many people to fit in a small space like this. I suspect the Grand was an old opera house on Farmer west of Main. That still existed in 1984, but was lost to the shriveling up of downtown since.
It’s confused an awning behind the vertical as part of the sign, and it’s garbled the Red Owl lettering, but it’s fascinating to see what can be done. Pretty soon nothing will be true or provable!
From old pictures of downtown, I think the thing to the left is a two story stone bank that was in the middle of the block on the north side.
Demolished long ago. Downtown is really wretched. Looks like this was probably somewhere on the north side of Main, and almost certainly on W Main.
I can’t understand why the Ruby is not on the 1921 map. Maybe it hadn’t opened by the time the 1914 map was issued, but it was clearly operating during that range.
The 1914-15 AMPD lists an M.P., and the Ruby. The Ruby was still open in 1926. I cannot find it on either the 1914 or 1921 maps.
The two pictures that only show the replacement should be deleted. We can use one of the postcards, which actually show the theater.
Picture stolen from streetview should be replaced.
Correct address was 203 Egan Ave N. This theater was constructed sometime between 1914 and 1921. It was demolished years ago. It was located on the northern half of the lot that now has a sports bar.
As might be expected from this contributor, most of the information is wrong. This theater does not appear on the 1921 map. The Ruby must have been something else. It was not converted to retail, it was demolished, along with everything else on the corner, for a really hideous ‘modern’ bank building.
Okay, the State definitely was across the street, and references to it here should be removed. Still haven’t found a good picture of the Grand, but it should probably be renamed Grand Theatre, since I can see that painted on the side in one photo. It was quite tall, looking more like a 3-4 story building.
Assuming the dates are correct, this has to have been the theater at 416 4th St. The opera house was demolished around 1940.
The update to the 1987 NRHP listing says that the theater was built in 1940. It may not have been completed until 1941? It seems to have been closed around 1980, and by the late ‘80s the ticket booth and entry doors had been replaced by the cheap entry there today. The listing says that Perry E. Crosier was the architect. Frank McCarthy was the man it was built for.