The Whiteside Theatre

The Whiteside Theatre opened in Corvallis on November 9, 1922, when audiences saw the silent picture “The Old Homestead” with accompaniment by Lilian McElroy on a $20,000 two manual, double touch Wurlitzer organ, the largest in Oregon except for the one at Portland’s Liberty Theater. Built at a cost of $100,000, it was the grandest theater in the state outside Portland and the achievement of brothers Samuel and George Whiteside, whose family had come from Iowa to Corvallis in 1891 and who had progressed from a transfer service, grocery business, shoe store, and traveling tent show to operating Corvallis’s first movie house, the Palace Theater, in 1908, followed by the Crystal, the Star, and the Majestic before opening the Whiteside. Designed by Seattle architect H. Ryan and built by local contractor Frank McFadden with brick from Builders Supply Company and lumber from Buxton's Central Planing Mill, the theater was furnished in the style of a grand movie palace, with heavy velour stage curtains bordered with silk fringe, a specially constructed gold fiber screen, richly carpeted foyer spaces with rose-colored velour hangings, decorative wall lamps, marble drinking fountains, statues, beveled mirrors, elegant restroom lounges, an indirect light dome with hundreds of concealed bulbs, and seating for 635 on the main floor and 500 in the balcony, while serving primarily as a cinema but also hosting live productions. On October 19, 1927, a fire destroyed the interior and caused $50,000 in damage, though all 50 patrons escaped safely, and after the interior was completely redone with a new Wurlitzer organ, cove lighting, and chandelier, the theater presented Corvallis’s first talking movie, “Lonesome,” on December 26, 1928. The Whiteside brothers’ wider role in local theater history also included showing movies under a tent before opening the Palace, operating the Crystal Theatre in 1910 and the Majestic Theater in 1913, while other Corvallis theaters included the Star Theater, the Airdome, the Blue Mouse Theater, the Oregon State Theatre, and the Midway Theatre drive-in.

Corvallis, Oregon · United States