Lincoln, Maine

Responses from three students in Mrs. Harris' Social Studies class can be viewed below:

Brianna Fink
"Research your topic and summarize the ‘who, what, when, and where’ in the form of a few paragraphs"

The movie theater didn’t always play movies. The Odd Fellow’s Hall, which was the old theater, was built around 1887 and 1888. The Odd Fellow’s Hall burned in 1922. In the Odd Fellow’s Hall there were plays and art shows, and when it burned they decided to build a movie theater in its place. That new building played not only movies, but plays and art shows also. The company bought the machines to play movies in 1904, but they didn’t put them in until 1923. When they installed the machines in the new building, they had to raise the roof in order to put them in. The new theater had balconies, sloped floors, fancy seats, a small concession stand, an ice cream parlor, and a pool room. The new movie theater had three owners to start with; Alfred Clay, Will Brown, and Al Reade. The theater closed in June of 1996 and the last owner was Peter Quiron who had been planning to sell it months before it actually closed. When the building went up for sale, Clay’s Funeral Home, the movie theater’s neighbor, bought it and tore it down to add more space for their parking lot.

Brianna Fink
"Create a statement and prove or disprove it with evidence from your research"

Statement: The Lincoln Movie Theater only played movies.

This statement is not true, because in our research we found that before the actual movie theater was built there were art shows, concerts, and many other things. These activities were located in the Odd Fellow’s Hall. When the Odd Fellow’s Hall burned in 1922, the owners built an actual movie theater. The tradition of plays, art shows, and concerts continued with the new theater, along with the new addition of movies.

Rickey Birmingham
"How does this topic connect to your in your life today?"

The movie theater would connect to my life today, because we don’t have a movie theater anymore and everyone has to drive to Bangor to go to one. We also get affected because of the gas money when we want to go see one. The money is three dollars a gallon. If we had a movie theater, people would rather go to one and hang out with friends there than at the beach skating. People all over the world like to be able to go with family to see a movie in their own town. I would love it if we still had a movie theater in Lincoln. Instead of putting gas money in so we can go see one, we can use it for a movie and for candy, popcorn, and stuff.

Many people would have more movie time if we still had that theater, and it would be both a good thing and a bad thing. It would be a good thing because the people in Lincoln would have more fun things to do. It would also be a bad thing because no one will want to exercise as much. Not many people like to drive to the theater in Bangor just to watch a movie, then drive all the way back. The movie theater was a big thing back then because a there weren't as many options for entertainment.

Works Cited

"Lincoln Movie Theater." Lincoln Historical Society, Various Articles (2006). Print.

The Pictorial History of Lincoln, Maine: a Look at the People, Businesses and Industries That Helped Build a Town on the Banks of the Penobscot. Lincoln, Me.: Lincoln Historical Society, 1995. Print.