The Peoples Theater had its grand opening in late March of 1915 and was highly anticipated by the small town of Scio whose population at the time was around 300 people (1). The theater was brought up by a local retail owner and member of the Scio chamber of commerce, John F. Wesely. The Peoples Theatre was the theatre that aimed to attract and accommodate all people who enjoy film. The theater was established in the recently vacated pool house owned by C. C. Wade which was off of main street.
The Peoples Theater, for the most part of its operation was a vaudeville like theater who would mostly play moving pictures but would also offer other entertainment such as plays and musical performances on its stage.
Wesley for several years before building the theater had used a local building named the Wesely-Cain hall to play his moving picture reels, as well as, and host a slew of other activities that can be shared by the townspeople like a grand ball (4)(5).
In within the first of the year of 1915 Wesely began to collect filming equipment (6) from other theater owners that were nearby towns of Albany and Salem in order prepare for the conversion of a local pool hall owned by C. C. Wade of which Wesely took over. Making sure to build anticipation, Wesley made sure to inform the Local Brevets section of the Scio Tribune of the new painting projects, large screen, nice seats, and stage curtain that was being added weekly (7). By March 28th the theater was in full swing with Wesely offering free admission for the people of Scio on opening night.
The success of the picture house pleased Wesely as a year later closed the doors on his retail business and prioritized the film business as he began investing in advertising for the People's Theater. The Theater would advertise film showings on weekend nights at eight for 15 cent admission for adults.
However, disaster struck for the growing business as in late 1918 the theater was forced to closure. In 1918, the city council of Scio increased lease payments of moving picture theaters to $450 a year which was a steep price that no business could afford, let alone the newly built theater. Wesley, who was outraged at the time, refused to go along with the “petty jealousy” (11) of the council and let the public know what he thought about the decision.
Shortly after this, in 1919 the influenza outbreak in Oregon began to take hold and several buildings within the Linn County regions where people would congregate, i.e. theaters, were forced to close, placing an even longer hold on the theater business operations (12)(13).
Since the two-year hiatus, the theater hit the grown running and made extra efforts within the 1920's to advertise their film showing to those in the Linn County region. The name of the theater and the film being shown began to arise with more official advertisement to draw customers back in. The prices of regular shows playing throughout the week typically ranged around 15 cents to 35 cents for children and adult admission respectfully (14). More popular films during the time such as “When Knighthood Was in Flower”, “Human Wreckage”, and “Fool’s Paradise” would be afforded a larger section in the newspaper with details of the films plot, audience reception, and the value of the film itself that would justify the excitement, and more importantly, the increase in admission price. These larger films would be priced at 25 cents for children and 50 cents for adults.
The Peoples from time to time would still allow citizens to play musicals and concerts at the theater, keeping the community involved and giving stage to popular plays like “Peg O’ My Heart” in 1916 with admission costing 15 cents for children and 35 cents for adults.
The Peoples Theatre would also participate in holiday festivities by offering two free shows during the Christmas season in partnership with local businesses. During this time the small town of Scio was still indeed, small, and local businesses within the town also participated in the festive activities with games, raffles, and special sale deals all while informing their loyal patrons of the free shows frequently had at the Peoples Theatre (18).
After years of steady business at the Peoples Theater, John Wesley ultimately sold the theater between 1927 and June of 1929 to a Mr. Burk of "Riverside Auto Park" (19) which then bestowed management to Mayor C. E. Green in 1930 (20) who would remodel and improve the Vitascope equipment in 1931 (21). The ownership of the theater here after then exchanged hands to Ray Stumbo, a ludicrous theater owner across the United States, in 1931 (22). Later, by 1937 Mr. and Mrs. Curl of Jefferson, Or. purchased and managed the property of the Peoples theater and continued its maintenance and improvement (23) until 1949, where the Peoples Theater was remodeled and reformed to the Scio Theater under ownership of James Anderson (24). Any update known of the Scio theater since Anderson's ownership was another exchange in ownership by Louise Thielson in 1954 who improved the theater and added the Cinematograph film projection equipment (25) and would continue to show films until its permanent closing in 1956 where today the Scio Post Office resides (26).
