The Theaters of Goetz: 1922 the "Beverly" in Janesville
The Goetz movie theater in Monroe, WI is a landmark on the south side of our ‘Square’, which is a late 19th-century shopping district surrounding Green County’s historic courthouse. What I didn’t realize is that this theater is not the first theater the Goetz family founded, but rather the crown in a theater empire. I’m still finding new theaters owned or operated by Chester and Leon Goetz in the period 1916-1935, but the count to date is nine in the corridor between Milwaukee and Monroe, with outliers in Ironwood MI and Iowa.
Today I’m going to talk briefly about one of their earlier acquisitions. On May 27th 1922 trade journal “The Film Daily” made a special announcement: “Janesville, Wis. — Following announcement that Goetz Bros. of Monroe had become affiliated with the Community Theaters Co. of Milwaukee, they state they had closed for the Beverly here, a 600 seat house.”
The Beverly opened in 1916 with the grand title “The New Beverly Theater Beautiful” offering Janesville movie goers a safer, state-of-art experience. Like many of the Goetz theaters, it remained in business until bought out by the Fox Circuit in the 1950s. cinematreasures.org offers more information on the Beverly as well as a picture of its opening announcement newspaper advertisement.
The building itself has now been demolished, but was located at 17 S. Main Street. I was unable to find a photograph of this theater, but fortunately author Ted Schaar has published a book on Janesville theaters that provides more information and at least one photograph of the Beverly.
Excerpt form “The Film Daily” May 27th 1922.
17 S Main Street in Janesville WI: site of the Beverly Theater.
