Princess Theatre
230 E. Elm Street,
Shellman,
GA
39886
230 E. Elm Street,
Shellman,
GA
39886
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Additional Info
Previous Names: New Theatre, Shell Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Very little information currently available about this theatre in a small, agricultural town. It appears to have opened in 1909. It was was destroyed by fire in 1922.
Contributed by
John Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
According to AI the address was 230 E. Elm which was right in the heart of the historic district.
A posting on Facebook indicates an opening date of 1909 and mentions that the venue also hosted stage plays and community events.
I found no reference that it existed beyond the 1922 fire and subsequent demolition.
The fire that destroyed the Princess Theatre took place on March 24, 1922, and was caused by the explosion of film in the projection room. The uninsured house was a complete loss, according to the report on 1922 theater fires published in the May 16, 1923 issue of The Insurance Press. I checked FDYs from the 1920s and 1930s, and Shellman does not appear until 1940, when the book lists the New Theatre. By 1942 it was called the Rex, and by 1947 the Lee, then the Shell by 1950. I think these names were all akas for the same house. As the Princess had burned in 1922, this later theater must have been a different building.
Google Maps doesn’t show a street named Elm in Shellman, so I don’t know what the AI that provided the address was up to. An AI response to my search on the Shell Theatre said that it was in a former cotton warehouse on Calhoun Street. If that is correct (I wouldn’t bet on it) it was probably the tin-roofed building still standing at the corner of Calhoun and Peoples Street. That’s one block east of the corner of Peoples and Buford Street, which is where Apple maps is currently placing the pin icon for the Princess. Is Elm actually an aka for one of those streets? I have no idea.