Theatres in Winfield

We know that a Winfield city directory was printed in 1880 but no know copy exists.

In the earliest known city directory (1888) there were no theatres listed.

The next available city directory (1908-9) listed four, Tha Air Dome, The Opera House, The Lyric at 1005 Main Street and the Elite at 706 Main.

The Air Dome was last listed in the 1914-15 city directory and was managed by G. G. Gary. Its address was at 711 Main Street. This address is now part of the Amoco filling station.

The Elite theatre at 706 Main street was short lived. It only appeared in the 1908 city directory and had disappeared from the 1910 directory. No other theatre appeared at that address. Musson Auto parts store is currently at that address.

The opera house appears in the 1908 city directory, but without an address. It might be Manning's Opera House. In 1910 it was called the Grand Opera house. In 1915 it was called the Grand Opera House and the address was 11th and Main. In 1922 it was called the Grand Theatre. In 1927 it was called the Regent Theatre and the address was 1022 Main street. It remained the Regent Theatre until it was demolished between 1956 and 1959. This location was rebuilt and is now the Western Auto Supply store. It was managed by Isaac S. Campbell in 1937-1939; C. H. Zile in 1939-1941; Hugh H. Siverd in 1941-1946; L. R. "Rocky" Rockhold in 1946-1956.

The Lyric Theatre was in existance at 1005 Main street in 1908. This is the only time this name appears until 1935 when the name appears with an address of 214 East Ninth. In 1937 this address shows the Ritz Theatre. In 1943 the name changed to the Zile Theatre. The Zile was on the south side of East Ninth so the street address should have been a uneven street number. by 1946 the name had been changed to the Nile theatre. (A unconfirmed story is that money was tight when the Zile was sold, so the marquee sign just had the Z turned on its side to form the word Nile. It was managed by Harry W. Guinan in 1937; Robert Warner in 1939; Raymond Roberson in 1941; Dorothy Cleghorn in 1946-1948; William Pearl in 1950; Francis D. Tompkins in 1953.

The Jewel Theatre appears at 1007 Main street in 1910 and it isnt until 1923 that the name Zimm Theatre appears with I. S. Campbell as manager and Oscar Zimmerman as owner. In 1956 the name had changed to the Fox theatre which is still in existence. the managers were 1937 - Isaac S. Campbell; 1939/40 - C. H. Zile; 1941/42 - Hugh H. Siverd; 1943/1956 - L. R. "Rocky" Rockhold.

The Novelty Theatre first appears in 1910 at 809 Main street. It last appears in the 1929 city directory. This address is now the Mor-Pizazz store.

The Winfield Drive-In movie theatre located on Highway 160 west of Winfield, first appears in the 1950 city directory and has disappeared from the 1974 directory.

It is interesting to note that both Winfield and Arkansas City had three theatres between 1920 and 1960. They both had two theatres managed by one person (Burford and Howard) (Regent and Zimm). The third theatre in each city was a B class movie theatre and was managed by some one else.