ABOUT THE EAGLES THEATRE

In 1985 Eagles Theatre - a Wabash landmark - was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  Still standing and operating after more than 100 years since opening as a vaudeville performance theater, its programming was changed to primarily movies in the 1930s when it was redecorated in the Art Deco style.  Retaining the same single-screen profile since then has been quite the feat considering the changing economic phases over the years which closed many theaters across the nation or converted them into multiplexes.

Constructed and financed by hundreds of people through the efforts of the Wabash Eagles Lodge, Eagles Theatre was built for the princely sum of $60,000 and opened its doors March 27, 1906 with a live show featuring Chicago's Miss Bertha Gallant and her touring company.

Built on the grounds of the old Hyman house at 106 W. Market Street, the building originally contained four stories, a basement, 18 offices, two dressing rooms, and Eagles Lodge rooms. The theater occupied the first floor.  Offices and the theater's two balconies covered the second and third floors, and the fourth floor housed a large ballroom. The theater seated over 1200 people - 478 on the ground level, 326 in the first balcony and an additional 400 in the upper gallery. There were four box seats, a spacious
37 x 63 foot wide stage that was 56 feet high, and backstage contained 11 dressing rooms.