Peoples Theatre

129 E. 4th Avenue,
Garnett, KS 66032

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 24, 2025 at 4:38 am

Garnett seems to make few appearances in the theater industry trade journals. This one from the December 10, 1921 Moving Picture World mentions the Peoples Theater: “W. H. Carson has sold the Peoples Theatre at Garnett, Kas., to the Central States Theatres Company.” I’ve been unable to discover how long Central States operated the house, but by 1938 it was operated by H. B. Doering, whose name was still mentioned in connection with Garnett in issues of Boxoffice at least as late as 1971.

SethG
SethG on May 16, 2025 at 1:01 pm

This was not a conversion of the opera house. That was a large quadruple storefront 3 story building located roughly where the ugly little bank is. The Wikipedia page for Garnett has a photo showing both the proto-Peoples and the opera house. This area is a vacant lot on the July 1913 map, but the Peoples is listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. The name may have been moved. There is a Undeeda listed on 4th Ave, while the Peoples has no address information.

Judging from the photo in the listing which shows the neighboring buildings, the Opera House had been torn down by around 1940.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 18, 2023 at 12:52 pm

Address was 129 E. 4th Avenue, confirmed Demolished. Building to the left of it in the photos is still standing, with distinctive horizontal trim beneath it’s coping stones. Cinematour also lists a separate Garnett Theatre which has no CT page. But that conflicts with the Overview above that claims Peoples Theatre was the only movie theatre in the county.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 18, 2016 at 2:06 am

The September 17, 1938, issue of Motion Picture Herald said that a new front on the Peoples Theatre (the name on the marquee had no apostrophe) had been designed by Robert Boller.

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on March 22, 2011 at 8:10 am

PLEASE ADD TO ADDRESS:

EAST 4th AVENUE

SEATS 550

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on March 18, 2011 at 4:51 pm

thanks Michael,so many of these lost gems will probably never make on CT,unless locals care enough.