Early Movie Theaters—Elkton and Chesapeake City (Part 1)

Early Movie Theaters—Elkton and Chesapeake City (Part 1)

 

The Clayton Building, circa 1910

I have fond memories of the various movie theaters in the Elkton and Chesapeake City area. I remember the Rio Theater in Chesapeake City, the Elk Theater on Elkton’s North Street, and the great Elkton Drive-In, which was located off Whitehall Road. Fortunately, many older residents still remember the very early movies and their locations.

In Elkton there were silent movies shown in the Clayton Building, which still exists on North Street and at one time was called the Elkton Opera House. In Chesapeake City the first silent movies were shown in the Masonic Hall, a community center located on the Causeway, across from what is now Pell Gardens. The Hall was razed in the late twenties.

The first talkies in Elkton were shown in the New Central Hotel, located on Main Street, near the site that would later become Newberry’s (which is now being renovated). The New Central Hotel was next to the Ritz Hotel; the Ritz building still exists. A fire destroyed the New Central some time in the late forties, and for a time, while the Elk Theater was under construction, the movies were shown in the Elkton Armory. In the following article, residents and former residents of Elkton and Chesapeake City share their memories.

Silent Movies—Elkton

Bill Baker remembered the old movie theaters in Elkton. “The first movies were shown in the Clayton Building,” he pointed out. “They showed silent movies there. You entered by walking up the steps on North Street, and the movies were shown in the front part if I remember right.

         “The screen was against the back wall, away from the street. I remember one movie I saw there; it was starring Tom Mix, who was a crook, and the sheriff was chasing him. My dad read the subtitles to me. Tom Mix was on the run and had nothing to eat, so he jumped off his horse, shot a steer, cut off a hunk of meat from the hindquarter, jumped back onto his horse, and started eating the meat. Then he said, ‘It’s a little raw, but better than nothing.’ I guess I was about five. Somebody played background music on the organ, I think. The music matched the action, of course.”