Blakeslee Opera House
801 Main Street,
Neodesha,
KS
66757
801 Main Street,
Neodesha,
KS
66757
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
This theater appears on the 1912 Sanborn. It was located in a very large one story brick building. The front portion was originally built sometime between 1892 and 1899 as an oil company office. Sometime after 1905, it was greatly expanded in the rear, adding a stage and fly tower.
The 1912 map shows an airdome next door. This was doubtless associated with the theater, but was disused at this point.
No later maps are available online, and it’s unclear when this closed. The 1914-15 AMPD lists an Imperial Theatre and a Rio Vista Theatre, one of which might have been a new name for this theater. The building was demolished many years ago, and this corner is the site of a drab little bank which might date to the 1980’s.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The Billboard of March 6, 1909 mentioned a New Theatre in Neodesha, though it provided no details other than the names of the manager (J. D. Allen) and booking agent (J. J. Coleman.) The 610-seat Blakeslee Theatre, Barton Blakeslee manager, is listed in the 1909-1910 Cahn guide. Oddly, J. D. Allen was listed in the guide as the bill poster for the house. I guess he got downgraded.