Whiteside Theatre
About this property
The Whiteside Theatre is a historic theater building in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. Constructed in 1922 and closed as a commercial theater in 2002, the 800-seat venue was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The Whiteside Theatre, located on the northeast corner of 4th Street and SW Madison Avenue in Corvallis, Oregon, was opened to the public on November 10, 1922. The theater's opening featured a special program and a showing of the film The Old Homestead, a Paramount film which starred Theodore Roberts, T. Roy Barns, Fritzi Ridgeway, and George Fawcett. The new Whiteside Theatre was taxed to capacity Friday night, when throngs of people, in spite of the rain, came out to witness the opening of this magnificent new picture palace. The crowd was so great that in spite of quick work by ticket seller and ushers, the program could not begin until after 7 o'clock. From organ railing to the last row of seats in the gallery, the house was filled, and hundreds stood outside or went away without getting into the first show. The theater featured a Wurlitzer organ touted as "unsurpassed in tone and quality by any organ in the state" and was decorated with luxurious draperies and attractive murals, as well as floral decorations. The organ was of particular importance in this era of silent film, with a Seattle movie theater owner named Winstock observing to the crowd on opening night that "pictures can not be produced without fitting music" and noting that film companies took great care in providing "suitable music for picture plays." The new Whiteside Theatre provided "the best of facilities for enjoying such music," Winstock declared. Construction of the theater on behalf of the Whiteside brothers, Sam and George, who did business as the Corvallis Amusement Company, was said to have cost $120,000. The Whitesides were natives of Iowa who had spent a quarter century in Corvallis prior to the opening of their namesake theater. The pair had been active in the movie business in Corvallis since about 1910 as owners and operators of the Crystal Theatre, the town's first venue for motion pictures. A year after the opening of the Crystal, the Whitesides constructed a second theater in Corvallis, the Majestic Theatre, a building which was itself surpassed in size and quality with the launch of the Whiteside. The Crystal Theater was closed during the summer of 1922. In October 1927 the Whiteside was badly damaged by a fire which was determined to have started in a paint room at the back of the stage. The theater's prized Wurlitzer organ, valued at $16,000, was a total loss in the blaze, and new draperies and chairs were required. The theater remained closed for repairs and remodeling for the rest of the year.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Whiteside Theatre listed on the National Register?
Whiteside Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 25, 2009.
What type of historic resource is Whiteside Theatre?
Whiteside Theatre is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Whiteside Theatre?
The period of significance for Whiteside Theatre is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Whiteside Theatre?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Whiteside Theatre will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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