Known Years of Operation

Oct 23, 1909 - Dec 21, 1909

Number of Seats

270

Owner/Managers

Bert Cantonwine, John Bell

John Bell and Bert Cantonwine opened the Star Theatre in the C.C. Case building on Main Street in Cottage in October 1909 in direct competition with the existing Arcade Theatre. Within a few weeks they moved to a new location in the Woodward Building to a "snug and cozy" space that had recently been a cigar store at was then 7th and Main St.

Advertisements in the Cottage Grove Sentinel promoted a program that changed three times each week, with films "of a high order" and ensuring patrons would experience "the very best obtainable amusements for their money." Ticket prices were five and ten cents.

The theater abruptly closed after only a month due to a dispute over ownership of the theater equipment and unpaid bills.

 

Newspaper advertisement for the New Star Theatre published in the Cottage Grove Sentinel, Nov. 1926
Cottage Grove Sentinel, Nov. 26, 1909, p. 7. Historic Oregon Newspapers.
View of Main Street in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The Burkholder Woods building is visible on the left and the Woodward Building is visible on the right.
Main Street of Cottage Grove, Oregon, looking west, c1910. The Star Theatre was located in the Woodward Building, visible on the right. Image courtesy of Lane County History Museum, GN3260.
A Sanborn map image of the Woodward block at 7th and Main Street in Cottage Grove, Oregon, c1912.
The Woodward building at 7th and Main St., Cottage Grove, Oregon, c1912. The Star Theatre was located in the building in late 1909. The space down the block indicating "moving pictures" housed the Arcade Theatre.