STRONG CITY, KANSAS

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…

    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.…

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…