Elberta Theatre

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Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: _nationally _statewide X locally Applicable National Register Criteria X A _B _C _D Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) _ A _ B _ C _ D _ E _ F _ G Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Enterta i nment/Recreat ion________________ Commerce Period of Significance 1917-1941______________ Significant Dates 1917_____ Cultural Affiliation N/A________ Significant Person N/A______________________________ Architect/Builder Architect; unknown Builder; Christensen. Richard (contractor). Whitaker. T.H. (general contractor) State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. Constructed in 1917, the Elberta Theatre is significant as the only remaining movie theatre of the half-dozen that were in operation in Brigham City during the early twentieth century. Those theaters and a majority of the commercial buildings downtown were constructed during a period of significant growth in the community. That period has been documented in the historic context "Private Commercial and Industrial Growth, 1880s-1930s," which is part of the multiple property submittal of "Historic Resources of Brigham City." The Elberta Theatre is one of approximately 15 commercial buildings from that period that are still standing and are eligible for National Register designation. During the early twentieth century, Brigham City was a town of approximately 3,000 and served as the principal city and county seat of Box Elder County. Its central business district, though just a few blocks long, housed some 175 businesses at the turn of the century and double that number by the late 1920s. The central business district was the commercial center for both Brigham City and the surrounding communities. The emergence of this commercial hub during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a significant phase in the development of the town. The types of businesses established in Brigham City were typical of any small town grocery stores, banks, restaurants and saloons, clothing shops, hotels, theaters, and so forth. The first motion pictures in Brigham City were shown shortly after the turn of the century in the Opera House, previously used for the community dramatics initiated by Lorenzo Snow in the 1850s. Several movie theatres within a two-block radius (virtually the entire business district at that time)--the Joie, the Florence, the Gem, and the Alta (later the Liberty) -- preceded the Elberta which was built by William R. Dredge and W.H. Shurtliffe in 1917. The New Grand Theatre (later the Roxy) opened in 1932. The Elberta, however, is the only movie theatre standing See continuation sheet ^Gazetteer of Utah, 1900, Historical Society Library. 9. 1928. Available in Utah State 5 Yates, Sarah, "Opera House, Theatres Were Part of History", Box Elder Journal. April 15, 1976, p. Abstract Records, Box Elder Courthouse.