Alpine Theatre
E. Main Street and Water Street,
Salem,
WV
26426
E. Main Street and Water Street,
Salem,
WV
26426
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A June, 1912 Sanborn map shows “Moving Pictures” in a storefront at 308 Main Street, which was seven doors east of Water Street. I don’t know if this house was related to the Alpine but they were on the same block. The 1914-1915 AMPD lists two houses at Salem; the Auditorium on River Street and the New Lyric Theatre, no location given but most likely the house at 308 Main.
Something I did not include in the description of the Alpine Theatre is the possibility that it opened in 1916 as the Strand Theatre. The July 22 issue of The Moving Picture World that year had an item saying that the 400-seat Strand had opened at Salem, West Virginia, on July 3, but I’ve been unable to find any documentation indicating that the Strand later became the Salem/Alpine. It’s certainly a possibility that it did, though. G. C. Broadwater was the original owner of the Strand.
Half of the block on which the Alpine was located has recently been demolished and the old buildings replaced by a new chain store and its parking lot. It is possible that the Alpine was located in one of the buildings that is still standing on the other half of the block, but none of them show any indication of having once held a theater.
However, I’ve found a source saying that the Arcadia Publishing Company plans to release a book called Historic Movie Theatres of West Virginia in spring, 2018, and that one of the photos that might be included in it shows “… people standing in hip-deep floodwater under the marquee of Salem’s Alpine Theatre….” so we might find out next year if the building is still standing or among the demolished.