The Star Theater was located at 406 East 1st Street in between a bakery and a meat shop, which in present day is now a game store (1). It was initially owned by W.N. Brown. In September 1914, Brown moved out of Newberg with his family and sold the theater. There was no record of who owned the theater for a span of seven months, until P.G. Jourdon and his son acquired the theater through a land swap deal in May of 1915 (2). In 1926, when Joseph "Ted" Francis took over, a very prevalent figure in Newberg's Cinema History, as he later on would buy the Baker Theater, the Cameo Theater, and build 99w Drive-In. In present day Newport, Francis Square is named in his honor (3). There isn't an exact date the theater opened, but their first newspaper appearance was in January 05, 1911, stating that a theater is being built next to the Oliver Bakery.
Newberg Graphic, Janurary 5, 1911: 5
Admission was between 5-10 cents, which in present day would equal $1.62-$3.24. With the exception of charity events, tickets were usually more. They played The Last Days of Pompeii, and tickets were 10-20 cents with 50% of the profits going to the High School. Mr. Brown also gave a special program and all proceedings went to the local Newberg Band, donating $31.25 (equal to $1,012.98 present day) for new supplies and expenses for the band. Brown also upgraded the theater to a greater capacity under his ownership by raising the floor and putting in new seating (4).
Newberg Graphic, August 17, 1911: 5
Newberg Graphic, August 23, 1911: 5
Usual programs were on Saturdays and Fridays with programs like “ A Face From the Past,” a two part Edison feature, and other programs: “The Prince of Evil” with music by Professor J.B, comedies “When the Press Speaks”, and songs like “Row, Row, Row” by Mr. A.R. Thompson. For big events, such as re-openings, the theater would run 10-reel films that would span longer than 2 hours, sometimes. For these shows admission was much higher, around 15-25 cents (5).
The downfall of the Star Theater was due to the Great Depression. While there was another theater in the area at the time of its closing, but they were both owned by JT Francis, showing that competition was not the reason the Star closed. Francis used both of his theaters to help the community during the depression, running "Bank and Country Store" nights out of the Star and the Baker. These promotional nighs would include handing out cash and grocery prizes and often attracted lines around the block. The Star theater would not have sustainable attendance during the depression, however, leading to its closure (3).
There is a noticeable lack of information about the theater post 1921, and the only way to track the Stars' history after 1921 is to tie it to the history FT Francis himself.
Newberg Graphic, April 30, 1914: 1
Newberg Graphic, February 3, 1921: 4
