Theaters

Five unknown guys at the movie, The Savage.

Lyceum Theater
This is the Lyceum, it has two addresses listed, one on Third Street and the other in the 200 block of North LaBree.
The Princess Theater was on this street on the same side as the Brummond Hotel which was on the corner.

This was called the armory. AND it was the opera house. The address was 123 Main Avenue North and it burned in 1933.

August 1906
BIJOU THEATRE

S L Lamont Propr 204 La Bree Avenue North
Machine operator at the Bijou was Hans O Angell who boarded at 416 Knight Avenue South.
Automatic Vaudeville Show
Open every afternoon from 2 to 5 and every evening from 7-11. Admission 10 cents; children 5 cents
Entire change of program twice each week

January 1907
Bijou Theater Program
Soap Bubble Fairies
Children at Play
King Solomon’s Judgment
Stealing Tomatoes
Huntsman and the Lion
Illustrated Song: When the Robins sing in the maple trees

Imagine what it would be like to watch The Night Before Christmas as a silent film and how exciting it would be to watch Santa Claus feeding reindeer. The movie was produced by Thomas Edison!

May 1908
First known mention of Lyceum Theater
215 3rd st E
Miss Anna Cherveny roomed at 501 Riverside Avenue and was a musician at the Lyceum.
Also listed as 208 LaBree

September 1915
Third Theater to open. The Princess Theater

NOVEMBER 1937
11 4 Falls Theater dedicated

The picture of the people standing in front of a theater was probably taken in 1926, as that is when the silent movie, SAVAGE starring Ben Lyon and May McAvoy was released. The information line states it may be the Lyceum Theater but the Lyceum was more of a stone look exterior. The brick front matches the Avalon better. Perhaps the picture wasn't even taken in Thief River Falls.

Be careful about dates one finds. Here are some examples regarding the open/close of the theaters in Thief River Falls.

PENNINGTON COUNTY
THIEF RIVER FALLS
59 Hi Drive-In CLOSED
? 1961-? 1975 (We know from a picture when they were taking the sign down that the theater opened in 1952--although I personally thought it was in 1958)

Avalon CLOSED
103 E. 3rd St.
? 1935-? 1980
520 seats
Owners:
1940-1945 Baeur Bros
1950-1980 Home Theaters Co.

Falls CLOSED
213 La Bree Ave N.
? 1940-? 1980 (we know the theater was dedicated in 1937)
747 seats
Owners:
1940-1945 Baeur Bros
1950-1980 Home Theaters Co.

Galaxy Twin OPEN
15469 Us Highway 59 NE
? 1990-

Lyceum CLOSED
? 1930 (we know the Lyceum was first mentioned in the newspaper in 1908)
Anderson & Anderson owned this theatre.

Opera House CLOSED
? 1940 (This was part of the armory building also served as the opera house, which burned to the ground in 1933)

Princess CLOSED
? 1930 ( We know the Princess was opened in 1915)
Anderson & Anderson owned this theatre.

I can not find information who owned the Lyceum, the Bijou, the Princess which were the first theaters in town. One of the pictures puts the Princess and the Lyceum in the same block on the east side of the 200 block of LaBree, (even numbers). Other sources state they were on Third Street. In the 1910 directory, it does NOT list Brummond as owning two theaters. It is certainly possible he sold them to someone else.

Don’t you wonder what those early theaters were like? Where they another business before and a new front put on to make it into a theater? Certainly they did not have the plush seats we know of in theaters today.

Many of us grew up with the Avalon and the Falls. Later, the Drive In was the social place to go. We will talk about that tomorrow and share pictures of them.

e

PS For those of you who were following the hotels and liveries in Thief River Falls, I did write to and received an email from Dale. He states the building his dad owned was NOT a part of the livery which was on that block in the early 1900's. Thanks, Dale.