Marshall Public Library (Marshall, IL)

Class of 1983

mbnegri Thank you!

Strand Theater
The building at 503-507 Locust Street that housed the Strand Theater was built in 1901 as the Knights of Pythius lodge hall and included a vaudeville theater called the Pythian Theater that featured visiting troupes of entertainers. The lodge was on the upper two floors. The ground floor theater entrance and lobby faced Locust Street and was flanked on each side by offices. The auditorium, balcony, and stage were at the back of the building facing south. In 1930 the theater was converted in order to show moving pictures, and a contest was held in 1943 to choose a new name. The Strand was the winner. The first movies that were shown were silent. Several local pianists including Helen Coldren (later Helen Moore) were employed to play along with the films.
The building housing the Strand Theater was destroyed by fire late at night on July 22, 1957, and a new K P Lodge building, minus the movie theater, was erected on the same corner a year later.

Paul Paddock, 4th & Archer looking east
What a neat photo . . the old tanker truck, the proud looking young man, and the Claypool & Son building in the background. When we began researching this photo, the name was a great place to begin. A search of our newspaper archive quickly revealed a sad story for this young man.
Paul Paddock was born in April 1903 and grew up in Darwin. In 1926, he was living in Marshall - rooming at Clay Montgomery's boarding house on Locust Street and driving a tanker truck for H.B. O'Hair. On the morning of December 22, 1926, he had breakfast at the boarding house and headed to work. When he returned to O'Hair's filling station after a run in his truck, he was not looking well and was talked into returning to the boarding house. There he fell terrible ill and passed away suddenly. Paul was only 23 years old. He was laid to rest at Darwin Cemetery.