The KHRI says the theater at 108 was the Electric, but this may have been an AKA. There are only two theaters on the April 1914 map, and the other one has to have been the Princess.
Still a dance hall on the 1944 map. This is now office space for a title company.
Just for history, this building was constructed in 1923, after the prior 1901 Odd Fellows hall burned. I have a picture which I will add.
The KHRI entry is here: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=127-1180-00049
I think this has to have been the theater at 108. It was located in a building constructed between 1900 and 1908, when the map shows a theater there. It doesn’t appear to have had anything to do with the FOE, and the second floor was used by the masons as an expansion of their lodge hall next door, which was built in 1883. The theater is still shown on the 1914 map, but the 1922 map shows a bakery there. The building today has no entry, and is part of the antique store in the old masonic lodge.
I’m not sure which theater this is supposed to be, but the address is wrong. There was a theater at 100, in a building which has been demolished, and one at 108. Assuming it’s the demolished theater, it was located in the eastern storefront of an opera house that was constructed in 1887. The opera house was on the second floor, with retail below. The 1908 map shows a pool hall and bowling alley in the space. The theater is shown on the 1914 map, and the 1922 map shows it once again a pool room. The building is still shown on the 1944 map, but was replaced around 1960(?) by an ugly one story department store.
By the way, for Joe’s long ago comment about the opera house - I don’t think it ever showed movies, but the ground floor had a theater in it, most likely the Princess. The building was demolished long ago.
The marquee was removed sometime after 2016. I was incredibly stupid, and did not take a picture with the storefronts to the sides, which are obviously part of the structure.
Correct address is 124-126 S 6th. This was originally the Grand Opera House, built sometime before 1885. It appears that it was remodeled sometime around 1920, and used by the Knights of Pythias (who presumably took over the old second story opera house). It survived into the 1970s, when it was a bowling alley. The entire block has been destroyed. After being a vacant lot for many years, the site is now a cheap prefab shed fire station. KHRI entry for a neighboring building with a picture of the block: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=139-4210-00007
Typo in the owner’s name. Do we have any information at all? The dates are vague. This first appears in 1936, and is still listed in 1956. Likely demolished, there are not too many old buildings left in the small downtown.
Those cruddy shingles have been removed from the building that had them, but the theater was at the vacant lot between the little office and the nice old auto service building with the wood and glass doors.
The building is still there, and we should be using the current address, which is 17. Those are not addresses on the Sanborn, but lot numbers. Currently a floral/gift shop occupying both halves.
The 1951 map shows the armory. The 1939 map is unfortunately missing the relevant volume. The building looks pretty shabby, and the building next door was demolished sometime around 2016. The only work that appears to have happened since I saw it in 2010 is that the front windows are now uncovered.
Why does this describe the theater as having gray panels? Ludicrous mischaracterization. The storefronts were covered with tacky siding, yes, but that is quite obviously not the defining feature. Sadly, the most recent streetview shows that the retail space on the right side has been completely destroyed, and the beautiful tile facade has been removed from the storefronts on the left. Glad I got to see this one in March of 2020, when it was still mostly intact.
SethG
commented about
Theateron
Oct 4, 2025 at 2:37 pm
The Arcade was the trunk factory, at least according to the maps.
KHRI entry with some old pictures of the building: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=017-478
The theater was located on the right side.
And indeed it looks like 1911 might be the opening date. Thanks for finding that!
The KHRI says the theater at 108 was the Electric, but this may have been an AKA. There are only two theaters on the April 1914 map, and the other one has to have been the Princess.
Still a dance hall on the 1944 map. This is now office space for a title company.
Just for history, this building was constructed in 1923, after the prior 1901 Odd Fellows hall burned. I have a picture which I will add. The KHRI entry is here: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=127-1180-00049
I think this has to have been the theater at 108. It was located in a building constructed between 1900 and 1908, when the map shows a theater there. It doesn’t appear to have had anything to do with the FOE, and the second floor was used by the masons as an expansion of their lodge hall next door, which was built in 1883. The theater is still shown on the 1914 map, but the 1922 map shows a bakery there. The building today has no entry, and is part of the antique store in the old masonic lodge.
I’m not sure which theater this is supposed to be, but the address is wrong. There was a theater at 100, in a building which has been demolished, and one at 108. Assuming it’s the demolished theater, it was located in the eastern storefront of an opera house that was constructed in 1887. The opera house was on the second floor, with retail below. The 1908 map shows a pool hall and bowling alley in the space. The theater is shown on the 1914 map, and the 1922 map shows it once again a pool room. The building is still shown on the 1944 map, but was replaced around 1960(?) by an ugly one story department store.
By the way, for Joe’s long ago comment about the opera house - I don’t think it ever showed movies, but the ground floor had a theater in it, most likely the Princess. The building was demolished long ago.
The marquee was removed sometime after 2016. I was incredibly stupid, and did not take a picture with the storefronts to the sides, which are obviously part of the structure.
KHRI entry for this building, with some historic photos, one of which shows the Cozy: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=139-4210-00019
Correct address is 124-126 S 6th. This was originally the Grand Opera House, built sometime before 1885. It appears that it was remodeled sometime around 1920, and used by the Knights of Pythias (who presumably took over the old second story opera house). It survived into the 1970s, when it was a bowling alley. The entire block has been destroyed. After being a vacant lot for many years, the site is now a cheap prefab shed fire station. KHRI entry for a neighboring building with a picture of the block: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=139-4210-00007
Typo in the owner’s name. Do we have any information at all? The dates are vague. This first appears in 1936, and is still listed in 1956. Likely demolished, there are not too many old buildings left in the small downtown.
Those cruddy shingles have been removed from the building that had them, but the theater was at the vacant lot between the little office and the nice old auto service building with the wood and glass doors.
The KHRI entry, which has next to no information, but does include a picture, is here: https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=013-2560-00047
The building is still there, and we should be using the current address, which is 17. Those are not addresses on the Sanborn, but lot numbers. Currently a floral/gift shop occupying both halves.
Demolition date is wrong. As the article MK found says, it was late 1990 or perhaps sometime early 1991.
Looks like it opened in 1927. The old Colonial is the only theater listed in 1926. It’s definitely not on the 1924 map.
I’m not sure when this was demolished, but it was long gone by the 2007 streetview.
The 1951 map shows the theater at 508-512. The buildings to the east are still there, and are 514, and 516-518.
The 1951 map shows the armory. The 1939 map is unfortunately missing the relevant volume. The building looks pretty shabby, and the building next door was demolished sometime around 2016. The only work that appears to have happened since I saw it in 2010 is that the front windows are now uncovered.
The Yale Film Company offices were located above the Lyric, which likely was part of the ‘chain’ at one point.
Why does this describe the theater as having gray panels? Ludicrous mischaracterization. The storefronts were covered with tacky siding, yes, but that is quite obviously not the defining feature. Sadly, the most recent streetview shows that the retail space on the right side has been completely destroyed, and the beautiful tile facade has been removed from the storefronts on the left. Glad I got to see this one in March of 2020, when it was still mostly intact.
The Arcade was the trunk factory, at least according to the maps.
A whole block of nice buildings lost for some repulsive ‘70s trash.
Correct address was 324 W 9th. I’ve added a Sanborn view, which shows 322-326, but the entry at 324.
Note that this was a second floor theater.