• Theaters in Freeland
  

• Strand theater
• More views of the Refowich theater

Much of the information in this first section comes from Charlie Stumpf's notes and publications. Charlie loved theatre and was himself a writer and actor in addition to being a local historian. Ed Merrick is also a contributor, as are Harold Refowich and Lisa Merlo.

The Refowich Theatre - Centre & Main streets - (Opened Feb. 17, 1914, 670 seats; Jake, Ike, and Moe Refowich, original proprietors; then Siroki brothers; later run by Will Doynics, Stanley Potoski and Tom Landers) Built in 1914 by Jake, Ike and Moe Refowich, this building has since been converted to apartments, but it still retains a good deal of its architectural charm. The first 'talking picture' in Freeland was shown here in 1929. In 1974 the building was sold and remodeled for apartments.

The photo at left above comes courtesy of Ed Merrick, who copied it years ago from Stanley Potosky, who was projectionist at the Refowich in the 1960s. Ed wrote this about it: This is the interior of the Refowich in the 1940s. Notice all the kids up front. They were sitting in what was notoriously known as the First 6, a zone zealously enforce by the ushers. The seats were not upholstered and were for use by children not accompanied by an adult. Adults and kids accompanied by adults could sit in the upholstered seats. Trying to sneak back to the padded seats when the movie began became an adventure, more often than not thwarted by the ushers. The restrooms were under the stairs to the balcony, the men's on the left in the photo and the women's on the right. Notice also the standees, a common occurrence in those days because you didn't purchase a ticket for a particular showing and could stay as long as you wished. We kids would always stay to see "the good part" a second time.

In early August 2014 I received this email message from Harold Refowich:
Hi Charlotte, The attached photo is of an original student ticket for the Refowich Theater, dated September 15, 1935. I have the ticket in my possession as it was given to me recently by a friend who purchased it on E-Bay. I thought it might be an interesting post to your website. ... Harold

More recently he forwarded from Tony Ferreira this ad for the 1959 Refowich Theater's Christmas Party.
Thank you to Harold and Tony!

Here too is another piece of Refowich history, sent by Lisa Merlo, granddaughter of Joe Chaykowski from Joe's Meat Market. This clipping shows the staff of the Refowich Theatre in 1929, a photo that was published in the Freeland Pennysaver. According to the caption, pictured are: back row, left to right, Peters, Thomcho, Michael Sauln, George Lazo, Andrew Makuta, Hudock, and Peters; front row, left to right, Morris Finkle, projectionist; Clyde Klinger, manager; Angie Marchetti, box office; and Jack Golden, organist. Thanks, Lisa! Another copy came to me from Ed Merrick.

Please also visit the Refowich page for more information and views of the Refowich theater.

The Timony Theatre, The Strand, and the Rialto - (run by the Timony family; then Refowich brothers; then Siroki brothers) Built by Peter Timony, this building on South St. just west of Centre St. was a dance hall and theatre in its early years. Movies were shown there from 1920 and the theatre became The Strand in 1935 and then the Rialto in 1938, where movies were shown until 1957. Later the building was used as a clothing factory annex and then stood unused for some years until it was torn down in March 2003 as part of a commercial redevelopment project.  (From David Timony: I'm always looking to see if there are any physical remains of the Timony businesses in Freeland. Many folks there still refer to the landmarks--take a left at the Timony Theater--but there is no evidence to be seen.) (From Pete Timony: My great-grandfather Peter Timony owned many businesses in Freeland, including the theatre. I was sorry to see in your web-site that Timony Hall was torn down in March. I recall someone pointing it out as a kid. I would have loved to revisit it today.) The photo at left was scanned at the Greater Hazleton Historical Society Museum - thanks to the Museum.

Please also visit the Strand page for more information.

The Auditorium Theatre - Located in St. Mary's School auditorium on Fern St. Also known as The Greeks, or The Auditorium Theatre - (Sylvester DeFrancesco, proprietor; later H. F. Christy and John Urishin)  - operated 1931-1954. The image at right was scanned at the Greater Hazleton Historical Society Museum - thanks to the Museum.

Popular Drive-In - Located on the Freeland-White Haven Highway (Rte. 940) (owned and run by Tom Zubach) This aptly named popular outdoor theatre showed its first movie in 1949, and ceased operation in 1978. Photo at left comes courtesy of John Zubach, and shows his brother Tom standing at the entrance to the Popular Drive-In.

The Lyric - Front and Washington streets - In the building previously housing Yannes' Opera House, later Krell's Hall, and later the Lyric, and then in the late 1930s the A&P supermarket, this moving picture theatre opened in 1908. This photo of a Lyric movie posted tacked up on Leppler's Confectionery and the Post Office (710-712 Centre) came from John Zubach.

The Star - Of this theatre Charlie Stumpf wrote: "In operation by 1910, The Star was located on Centre St. above South St., at a site which later became a pool hall." Well, that has to be the old poolroom just up from Nocchi's on Centre Street, later the Brazina and Meyers poolroom. Sure enough, the 1912 Sanborn map (detail at right) shows that part of the block with a movie theatre in the poolroom building, and a dance hall (Timony Hall, later the Rialto) behind the building that would later become Nocchi's (which in 1912 had a saloon in one half and a drug store in the other). The postcard at right (postmarked 1910) shows that part of the block looking north around this time, and The Star would have been in the 3rd building from the corner on the left side of the street.

The People's Theatre - [Mentioned by Charlie Stumpf, but I don't know anything about this theatre, need to find notes on location, management, dates, etc.]