STRONG CITY, KANSAS

In 1900, construction began on a large stone building in Strong City, Kansas. Carved into stone above the main entrance: 1900 Auditorium. The building was used initially as an opera house, and in the 1920s it was converted to show new-fangled moving pictures. Yes, actual moving pictures! Imagine! In 1931, the theater was re-named The…

    Carved into stone above the main entrance of the building is 1900 AUDITORIUM. But the building, also known as the Opera House, was later converted into a movie house, and renamed the Uptown (in, it seems, the 1930s). A neon sign was installed and for many decades its magically lighted presence beckoned moviegoers.…

Yesterday, I was having lunch at Ad Astra in Strong City. Marilyn McComber stopped by and said: “I have something for you that you are going to LOVE!” I replied: “A million dollars?” “Even better!” And she handed me an envelope. Better than a million dollars? I opened the envelope, pulled something out…and shrieked! It…

The Strong City Preservation Alliance now has a GO FUND ME account to help restore the 1900 Theater! If you would like to help, just click on the DONATE button at the op of this page, or click on the GO FUND ME icon at the bottom of the page! Now that the roof has…

About a decade ago the neon UPTOWN sign was taken down, and it has been stored ever since in a city-owned building. It was high up and hard to see in storage. But today it was brought down to ground level!         From what we can tell, the sign was black with…

It has been something of a mystery when the 1900 Auditorium was renamed the UPTOWN theater. This week, Tom Thompson solve this mystery!                        

In 2000, the roof of the 1900 theater suffered a partial collapse, then total collapse. Almost the entire interior was destroyed by this catastrophe. A successful application to the Kansas Heritage Trust Fund enabled a new roof to be installed. Then, the destroyed interior, which had been rained on for years, was scooped out. But…

In 2000, the roof of the 1900 theater suffered a partial collapse, then total collapse. Almost the entire interior was destroyed by this catastrophe. A successful application to the Kansas Heritage Trust Fund enabled a new roof to be installed. Then, the destroyed interior, which had been rained on for years, was scooped out. The…

  This Wednesday, and through Sunday, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on the porch of the 1900 theater waving hello to all good boys and girls! (Oh, heck, and maybe some naughty boys and girls, too!). And there will elves, as well! And candy canes for everybody! Ho, ho, ho!!!!!!!!