Jefferson Theater

Built to be a motion picture theater in 1919, The Perfect Theater (later The Jefferson Theater) featured the first talking movie in Huntington. In addition to the theater, a couple of small businesses were housed in the building including a couple of cigar stores, a confectionary, and the Ash Hat co. When its theater days were over, the building was reconfigured as a single space. 

T.G. Perfect was issued a permit in March of 1919 to build a theater at the corner of Jefferson and Washington Streets. The work was estimated to be completed by September and the cost approximately $25,000. In November, the theater opened and “The Brat” was the first picture shown. In 1921, the name changed to Jefferson Theater. In 1929, the first talking picture show was presented, “On Trial” with Pauline Frederick. The building remained a theater until it closed in 1956/1957 after being managed by Affiliated Theaters, Inc. In the 1960s, it was Lord’s Dress Shop. After sitting vacant for some time, it was opened as the Dream Center in 2014.

The Huntington County Interim Report, 2^nd Edition, labels the architecture style as 20^th century commercial. An article from American Contractor Weekly of Chicago refers to Henry L. Newhouse (1874-1929) as the architect. Mr. Newhouse was also the architect on the Milford Theater in Chicago and the Blackstone-Slate Theater in South Bend. The article describes the building as a “Motion Picture and Store Building (900 Seat Capacity and Two Stores) … Brick, Reinforced concrete, terra cotta.” The Jefferson Theater building is location number 57 on the National Register of Historic Places registration form for the Huntington Courthouse Square Historic District which was approved in 1992.

1. “Theater Ready for Opening,” Huntington Herald [Huntington, IN] 24 Nov 1919
2. “Jefferson,” Huntington Herald [Huntington, IN] 11 Feb 1929
3. “Permits issued for Perfect Theater,” Huntington Herald [Huntington, IN] 25 Mar 1919
4. “Jefferson Theater”, Cinema Treasures, accessed July 15, 2021. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/55371
5. "Need for space pushes DC Thrift Shop several doors down street," The Tab [Huntington, IN] 6 Feb 2014
6. Huntington County Interim Report 2^nd Edition, Indiana 1982. This book can be located at the Huntington City-Township Public Library. hctpl.info.
7. Letter from William P Bernstein, 25 Feb 2004, referring to an article in The American Contractor Weekly of Chicago. Material located at the Huntington City-Township Public Library. hctpl.info.
8. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=c6d5c952-88ef-4b94-980d-22cb5be298e8