Martinsville A Pictorial History

Fun and Frolic

     With a seating capacity of 619 and "air cooled for viewing comfort" the Indiana Theatre was the old Grace Theatre made over. Gone were the graceful arches and upper balustrade of the Grace. The Indiana Theatre attracted a new generation of movie goers with it's bold marquee, streamlined, smooth-surfaced front and wide storefront windows.

     Reba Clark Philips, Marjorie Williams Hadley, and DeFawn Goodwin Chambers were roller skating on the Walnut Street sidewalk just west of Main Street one day in March 1934 when they met Martha Newman Chambers out for a walk. DeFawn took the photographs using a Kodak Brownie; it is her shadow cast onto the sidewalk.

     Now long-forgotten, the Rustic Theatre was located on the second floor of the Parks and Hite building, which became the Toner store. The Martinsville Opera House was formerly located there. Filling the entrance are Orie Ayers and Daisy Baker Goss and two unidentified persons.

     If you wake up in the morning and the ground is covered with night-fallen snow, you've got to grab that sled and run to the park. With a southern exposure and a swarm of excited sledders slipping down it's face, Nutter's Hill doesn't stay white for long.

Web pages by Lee Hirt.

With a seating capacity of 619 and "air cooled for viewing comfort" the Indiana Theatre was the old Grace Theatre made over. Gone were the graceful arches and upper balustrade of the Grace. The Indiana Theatre attracted a new generation of movie goers with it's bold marquee, streamlined, smooth-surfaced front and wide storefront windows.
	Reba Clark Philips, Marjorie Williams Hadley, and DeFawn Goodwin Chambers were roller skating on the Walnut Street sidewalk just west of Main Street one day in March 1934 when they met Martha Newman Chambers out for a walk. DeFawn took the photographs using a Kodak Brownie; it is her shadow cast onto the sidewalk.
Now long-forgotten, the Rustic Theatre was located on the second floor of the Parks and Hite building, which became the Toner store. The Martinsville Opera House was formerly located there. Filling the entrance are Orie Ayers and Daisy Baker Goss and two unidentified persons.
	If you wake up in the morning and the ground is covered with night-fallen snow, you've got to grab that sled and run to the park. With a southern exposure and a swarm of excited sledders slipping down it's face, Nutter's Hill doesn't stay white for long.