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February 2, 2006
'Skeleton' of the Capitol Theater
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 Shown above is all that remained of the once stately Capitol Theater, corner of First and Chestnut Streets, Nanty Glo, following its destruction by a suspicious fire on January 2, 1968. There are few people alive today that knew that the Capitol was the first theater building built in the eastern states specifically as a sound theater. When talkies began to appear in theatres across the country, existing buildings were quickly retrofitted with power units and speakers. When the grand opening of the Capitol was held in September 1929, people from large cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and New York came to Nanty Glo, many of them by train that stopped at the station a half block away, just to hear the motion pictures. The first midnight movie, shown on September 13, 1929, and starred Al Jolson. Over 400 people attended that showing. The structure was four stories high, but interestingly enough did not have any balcony area. Acoustical tiles filled the ceiling and four-story-high red velvet drapes covered the walls, all used to enhance the sound system of that day. The large marquee that was on the Chestnut Street side, at what today is the entrance to the U.S. Post Office, was not installed until September 1938. The steel framework for the unit weighed about two tons and was filled with hundreds of multicolored lights, and also flickering neon light tubes. In addition to movies, if you attended on certain nights, you could play bingo or collect pieces to make up a set of dishes. Occasionally, there were live performances on stage, and once it became the site for graduation ceremonies for the then Nanty Glo High School. The theatre also served as a temporary church for Sunday masses in the 1950s when an addition was being added to Nanty Glo's St. Mary's Church. Photo by William L. Martin
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| From Blacklick Township....Young David Coll Jr. and his "Grammy Pam" send greetings to Home Page Country. Hi Everybody! |
Bible Trivia
2
Corinthians 12 : 7 | |||||
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Saturday's Page for the answer. | |||||
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