Almost totally forgotten about as a theater venue today, the Matheson Building was constructed by Charles P. Matheson of Taylorsville in 1914. It was located on North Main Street directly across from the courthouse. After the building was completed in April 1914, C.M. Sigmon moved his Star Theatre from the Harshaw Building on East Main to the new North Main location:

Films were shown throughout the spring and summer of that year, but no titles are given until October.

The Star Theatre operated out of the Matheson Building at least through the spring of 1915, but very few ads survive. By late 1918, the venue was being referred to as the "old picture show building"; apparently the Star had closed sometime earlier, possibly by the end of 1915. It may simply have been that advertising with posters and sandwich boards outside of the theater was sufficient and more economical than newspaper advertising, especially in the prime location across from the courthouse. Or possibly the new Universal Theatre, which opened on 13 May 1915 and was well-supported in the town (upcoming article), stole much of the thunder from Sigmon's show house. In any case, there are no ads for 1916 through the period when the building was being converted to a store house in 1918.

What little is currently known about the venue is presented here . . .

Old and New Matheson Buildings

There were actually two buildings that went by the name Matheson (occasionally spelled "Metheson") in early twentieth-century Lenoir: an earlier one at the corner of North and West Main on the square and the one with the theater built a few years later:

The first Matheson Building was erected in 1895:

LOCAL NEWS. . . . We learn that Mr. R.P. Matheson intends putting up a brick store house on North Main Street on his lot adjoining the one occupied by Harrison & Co. North Main Street . . . (Lenoir Topic 7/31/1895, p. 3)

The "R" in this notice is apparently an error; all other accounts list Matheson's initials as "C.P." and some refer to him as Charles or Charley. The location across from the courthouse, on the square, and just east of the Commercial Hotel was surely a prime commercial location in the town. Various stores, cafes, and offices operated out of this building through the decades, and the building still exists today.

By the end of 1913, Matheson planned a motion picture house just up the street from his commercial building:

LOCALS AND PERSONALS . . . Mr. C.P. Matheson was here Tuesday from Taylorsville and made arrangements, we understand for a new brick building on North Main street adjoining the Lenoir Cafe and the Hollifield building. This will fill the last vacant space on that side of the street in the business part of town. We understand the building will be erected for a modern motion picture show room. (Lenoir News 12/12/1913, p. 3)

While work continued on the new building, Matheson made extensive improvements on the old one, as seen in these two contemporary notices:

Building Improved.

The Matheson building, occupied by Shuford and Abernethy's stores, has been recently undergoing extensive changes and repairs. A large plate glass show window and entrance have been put in the part of the building adjoining Lenoir Hardware Co., this making a total of four entrances to the building. An addition has been built next to the Shuford Cafe, making three store rooms of 72 feet space on first floor. The building is now well lighted, spacious, and department like. On the second floor, provision has been made for coat suit and ready-to-wear departments, and a ladies' rest room overlooking the Square, fitted up with water and every convenience. The outside walls will be run up higher and will be given a coat of cement, which will greatly improve the appearance of the building from the exterior viewpoint. (Lenoir Topic 3/18/1914, p. 3)

LOCALS AND PERSONALS . . . The alterations and repairs to the interior of the Matheson building on the north west corner of the public square, are now nearly completed. The new arrangement of the store rooms make it much more convenient for the large and increasing business of Shuford & Abernethy who occupy it and will enable them to handle their increasing trade in a much more satisfactory manner. We understand Mr. Matheson has in mind extensive improvements to the outside of the building which will make it one of the most attractive business blocks in town. (Lenoir News 3/20/1914, p. 3)

By the end of March, both buildings were ready and the Star Theatre was moved out of the Harshaw Building on East Main and Mulberry to its new location. The new theater accommodated 300 and, as in all early theaters using nitrate film, safety was a prime concern:

OF LOCAL INTEREST . . . The new Matheson building adjoining Hollifield's Store is being finished this week and Mr. C.M. Sigmon, manager of the Star Theater, expects to place his moving picture equipment into this new building tomorrow. The room will accommodate about 300 people and is fire proof, the moving picture machine being placed in the rear of the building. (Lenoir Topic 4/1/1914, p. 3)

1914-1915

No films were named in the newspapers for the opening night in April 1914, nor in two notices from the following July when the Star ran a benefit show for the Odd Fellows' Orphanage at Goldsboro:

OF LOCAL INTEREST . . . On Tuesday night, July 21, the Star Theatre will show for the benefit of the Odd Fellows' Orphanage at Goldsboro. Those who attend will assist in a worthy cause and are assured of a good show. (Lenoir Topic 7/15/1914, p. 2)

Mr. C.M. Sigmon, manager of the Star Theatre, asks us to say that on Tuesday night 21st, he will have an extra good show on and that he will give half of the proceeds of the night's performance to the Odd Fellows Orphanage at Goldsboro. (Lenoir News 7/21/1914, p. 2)

Manager C.M. Sigmon, twice referred to in notices, is the only manager of the theater ever mentioned. The only ads for the theater occur in late October and mid November 1914, beginning on 22 October (Lenoir Topic 10/21/1914, p. 3 and Lenoir News 10/23/1914, p. 2):

The correct title of the first film is actually The Fires of Ambition and it stars Frank Burke and Chester Withey in a Western drama about (gold?) mining. For the Sake of Kate and The Lost Sermon (surely not "Last" as in the ad) are two reel dramas of a type common to the period. Acres of Alfalfa is a documentary by the Keystone Company, more noted for their comedies, and was most commonly paired on a split reel with Our Largest Birds, although this film is not mentioned in the ad. Our Mutual Girl was a weekly one reeler starring Norma Phillips that ran throughout the year of 1914 and into January 1915. All of these films are from 1914 and none of them are known to survive today.

An additional ad comes two weeks later (Lenoir News 11/13/1914, p. 3):

The Wrangle with Fine Horses may possibly be The Horse Wrangler with Eugene Pallette and Miriam Cooper (Reliance Film Company 1914), paired here on Friday night with an unnamed Keystone comedy. An additional film involving horses if not an actual Western, The Blue Knot, King of Polo starring Edward Coxen, as well as two shorts, round out the Saturday night program.

With so few films advertised and none of them surviving today, it would be impossible to form any idea of the Star Theatres patronage and its competition with the other theater in Lenoir at the time, the Princess Theatre in the Jones Building, which similarly lacks ads in both local newspapers for most of 1914. Certainly, one can imagine that dramas were the main features of the nightly shows, padded out with one-reel comedies, documentaries, and serials.

An odd occurrence involving a serial can be found in February 1915, when the Princess Theatre and its new owners drop The Million Dollar Mystery (1914) at chapter 16 and the film makes it way up Main Street to the Star:

OF LOCAL INTEREST . . . "The Million Dollar Mystery," which has been a leading feature for several weeks every Monday night at the Princess Theatre, will be shown at the Star Theatre every Monday night until the story is complete. The Princess Theatre has changed hands and the new management has substituted other pictures for the one referred to. (Lenoir Topic 2/3/1915, p. 3)

Complete in 23 chapters, this would have extended the known open dates for the Star until 22 March 1915. After this date, there is no further mention of the Star Theatre in either the Lenoir News or the Lenoir Topic.

From Theater to Store Building

The only other mention of the building and its connection to cinema occurs more than three years later:

MATHESON CORNER SOLD DR. KENT AND MR. HOFFMAN / Dr. Kent Bought Up to the Picture Show Building, Which Building Goes to Mr. Hoffman--Mr. J.W. Self Made Sale.

The Matheson corner property facing the court house has been sold. The corner building and up to the old picture show buildings were bought by Dr. A.A. Kent, and the picture show building was bought by Mr. Luther Hoffman. The consideration was $14,000. The sale was made by Mr. J.W. Self, local real estate dealer, who has had the property in charge during the past few weeks.

The Matheson property is some of the most valuable property in the town. The property is unimproved and for a number of years an effort has been made to get it on the market. Dr. Kent plans to improve the corner property just as soon as conditions permit. In a statement to a News representative Dr. Kent says he will erect a building in keeping with the property and its location, and with the future of the town.

Mr. Hoffman plans to build on the old picture show site right away. He will erect a modern store building for his market and grocery store. (Lenoir News 12/24/1918, p. 1)

Thus by the end of 1918 the new Matheson Building was being referred to as "the old picture show site" and both the old and new buildings were sold off. No mention is made of exactly when film exhibition stopped at the Star Theatre, but certainly the war and the influenza epidemic made 1917 and 1918 difficult years for the business in Lenoir, as would the competition from the newer Universal Theatre on South Main Street from May 1915.

By early 1919, a grocery store had taken the place of Hollywood film exhibition in Hoffman's building: "Hoffman & Son have already begun the work of remodeling the old picture show building on North Main street, which they re[ce]ntly purchased" (Lenoir News 1/10/1919, p. 5). In late 1922, Hoffman and Son sell out to Clay and Rector (Lenoir News Topic 11/30/1922, p. 6) and it is this building at 217 North Main that is clearly identified in city directories and Sanborn maps. It still exists, most recently occupied by an antique shop.

The Star was the only silent theater to operate on North Main, although many years later in 1934 the Avon Theatre was built across the street . . .