Theater
116 W. Walnut Street,
Nevada,
MO
64772
116 W. Walnut Street,
Nevada,
MO
64772
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This theater appears on the 1914 Sanborn. It was located in the western half of a two story brick commercial building likely constructed in 1885. The 1906 map shows a grocery and meat market here.
This theater does not seem to have been listed in the 1914-15 AMPD, and probably was a short-lived storefront conversion to try to cash in on the movie craze. The building today is a bit shabby, and this side is used as a CPA’s office.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
This could be the very short lived Family Theatre, which operated from 1912 until 1914. It was originally opened around 1908 as the Lyric Theatre a few streets away, but was closed in 1911 when they relocated the theater to the north side of the square.
In 1914, Nevada also had a house called the Photoplay, which the July 4 issue of Moving Picture World said had just been sold by L. H. Haggard to B. L. Murrell, owner of the Willis Theatre. Murrell planned too keep both houses in operation.
The Family Theatre was also mentioned in MPW in 1914, when the September 26 issue said that “[t]he Family theater of Nevada opened its doors for the fall and winter season August 29, with service from the General Film Company.”
The Photoplay is located in the east side of the square, operating from January 1911 until 1917. There is also another movie house that didn’t last long called the Grand Theatre, lasting from around 1916 until 1917.
The Photoplay did had very minor fire damage in July 1913 but did not suffer any damage at all, due to the fact that the firemen from the Nevada Fire Department was doing exercises at the front of the Photoplay when all of the sudden, they did witness a fire started up at the “engine” (projection) room. It was later confirmed that the fire was caused by burning trash in the alley.