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At the turn of the 20th century, George Krupa, an immigrant from what is now the Czech Republic, came to Lancaster with the dream of opening his own theater. What he lacked in wealth, he made up for in determination. In 1906, Krupa launched the Dreamland Theater at 43 North Queen Street. The Dreamland offered everything from news reels, to Vaudeville, to magic lantern shows.

And it was just the beginning of Krupa’s motion picture empire on North Queen Street.

In 1910, along with his partner, Howard Doan, Krupa opened the Hippodrome at 150 North Queen Street. It had a 1,200 seat capacity and a large lobby with an elaborate fountain.

It was here that Lancastrians would flock to see Theda Bara in The Vamp and the comedy of The Keystone Kops.

The Hippodrome was expanded and renamed the Aldine in 1924. Sadly, the theater burned down just before opening night. Undeterred, George Krupa and his wife, Elise, rebuilt the theater, renamed it the Capitol and reopened it in January of 1926.

With a 1,300 seat capacity, marble floors and columns in the lobby, and a $3000 tapestry kept in a vault until opening night, Elsie Krupa spared no expense in decorating.

The building was designed by William H. Lee of Philadelphia and decorated by Charles Hottinger of New York. The main lobby is seen in this photograph taken in January 1926 shortly after its grand opening.

Having been burned once, the Krupas spared no expense in installing an “Automatic Fireman” sprinkler system that was state-of-the-art for its time, as well as steel fire doors that proved, rather ironically, difficult to remove during demolition in the Urban Renewal campaign of 1966 and 1967.

George and Elsie Krupa acquired the Hamilton Theater at 158 North Queen Street in 1916. In this 1930 photo, the lobby is decked out for its “New Show Season”, including a poster for the movie What A Man! starring Reginald Denny.

Elsie Krupa delighted in hosting special children’s matinees at the Hamilton Theater. Elsie’s last children’s matinee was a showing of the 1925 film version of The Wizard of Oz. The Krupas sold both the Hamilton and Capitol to the Stanley Company in 1926.

The Grand, operated by William H. Snyder, opened at 135 North Queen in 1912. Snyder ran the Grand until 1926. Like the Krupas, he sold his theater to the Stanley Company, which became the largest theater chain in Pennsylvania during the latter part of American cinema's Golden Age.

Pioneering Lancaster pilot Jesse Jones taxied his plane from the old Lancaster Airport on Manheim Pike, with wings folded back, to the Grand Theater for a preview showing of the movie Hell’s Angels starring Ben Lyon and Jean Harlow.

In flight suit, Jones stands with his Gipsy Moth airplane in front of the Grand in November 1930.

Walking down the second block of North Queen Street today, it’s easy to forget how much the cityscape has changed in the last 50 years. No longer Lancaster’s Theater Row, its now home to Lancaster Square and Binns Park.

A half century ago, the curtain closed on an epic era of motion picture entertainment.