Sherman Theater

50sSNIPES on May 8, 2025 at 9:15 am

Throughout the afternoon of April 14, 1942, Stroudsburg suffered a massive loss following a massive fire that destroyed several buildings, including the Sherman Theatre, estimating a loss of $250,000 in damages. The fire started inside a barn along 5th Street located a few roads north of Main Street, destroying several cars and a pipe organ from in and out. It then spread westwardly towards the Sherman Theatre. Despite nobody injured, the Sherman Theatre suffered destruction from the roof and suffered damage inside the auditorium from the roof collapse. The barn was blazing fiercely at the time making the fighting very difficult.

Fred Schuermann, the projectionist at the time, believed that the Sherman Theatre’s then-2½ inch concrete reinforced steel projection booth wasn’t damage at all but he had been unable to ascertain definitely. He expressed the opinion that only possibility of water entering through a ventilator on top of the booth suggested damage there. Seven units of the Stroudsburg Fire Department were called around 12:58 PM ET followed by arrival seven minutes later. Ten streams of water were being used on the flames by 2:30 PM which at the time the fire had burned through the Sherman’s roof. The roof edge of high aerial “well” into which stage scenery was hoisted was the last stronghold of the blaze, and water was being poured on it long after 4:00 PM that evening. The walls and the interior of the Sherman Theatre were saved from the fire but the walls of the auditorium were cracked and scorched as they are all made out of brick.

Two cars that had been stored in the barn were undamaged but two others therein and three outside were destroyed except for their tires, running gear, and chassis. Francis Meredith of the Wyckoff stores nearby rushed to the scene of the fire and drove his car out of the garage and to a nearby lot while flames crackled through the building above him. He then assisted a group of men in pushing an unmodeled Packard belonging to Joseph Wallace from the building. The other two cars inside were destroyed and the tops, upholstery, and other parts of car outside were burned.

One of the first to discover the blaze was Fred Salathe, the operator of a bakery and delicatessen store near the theater. He rushed into the Sherman after sounding the alarm, just as the flames began to eat into the auditorium. He and his employees attempted to find sufficient water to stop the blaze and some fire extinguishers were used but the blaze continued outside prevented them from halting the flames inside. Units form both Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg made it into scene. The Hometown Bakery Building with living apartments in its upper floor nearby abutting the theater lobby on the East were very minorly damaged, with the very small damage being by water but flames on the roof were halted at the edge of the building’s eaves.

The Sherman Theatre reopened later that year following the fire with an updated roof.

50sSNIPES on December 30, 2022 at 10:19 am

On January 27, 1971, the Sherman Theatre became a twin theater as the Sherman I & II Theatre. The theater remained as a twin until closing as a movie house in the mid-1980s.

Luis Vazquez on January 2, 2014 at 11:33 am

Just passed by the theater while stopping in Stroudsburg this morning for Starbucks on my way back to NYC! This theater has a very handsome new, but traditional, Marquee and is very much still open. Nice surprise!

kencmcintyre on August 23, 2009 at 5:53 pm

Here is another 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lhl7yg

kencmcintyre on August 3, 2008 at 10:26 am

Here is a recent article about some renovation, along with some video:
http://tinyurl.com/5ldabu