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Strand Theatre

122 E. 3rd Street, Moscow, Idaho

Myrtle's first motion picture theater. Myrtle and Donald operated this theater briefly in 1916, before moving to Seattle to purchase Ye College Playhouse

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Ye College Playhouse

4322 University Way NE, Seattle, Washington

Myrtle and Donald purchased this theater in 1916 from prominent real estate developer, Charles Cowan. Charles Cowan moved from England to the Seattle area around the turn of the century and purchased 40 acres of land north of the University of Washington. In preparation for the Yukon Pacific Exposition in 1909, he built a lodging establishment called Ye College Inn, which is located at 40th & University Way. After the exposition, he continued to develop the area, and in doing so, opened the first motion picture theater in the University District-- Ye College Playhouse-- which opened by 1914. The theater was designed in a Tudor style, consistent with Charles Cowan's distinctly British tastes. 

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Myrtle operated this theater until 1921, when they closed the theater and sold the projection equipment and theater fixtures to the proprietors of the newly built Neptune Theater. The theater space became a pool hall for a short time, until it was purchased by the University of Washington to house their bookstore. The bookstore was expanded and remodeled repeatedly over time and nothing of the original theater remains on this site. 

 

More information about Charles Cowan, the development of the University District and Ye College Inn can be found in the historic register nomination for Ye College Inn. 

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Majestic Theater

2044 NW Market Street, Seattle (Ballard)

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Ballard Theater

5132 Ballard Ave, NW, Seattle (Ballard)

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Empress Theater

NW Market Street & Tallman Ave., Seattle (Ballard)

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Fremont Theater

721 N. 35th Street, Seattle

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Green Lake Theater

312 N.E. 72nd Street, Seattle

Myrtle and Donald only owned this theater briefly, in 1918.

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Neptune (Varsity)

In 1920, it was reported that G&G Theater Company had purchased a plot of land at the corner of 45th & Brooklyn, and they had engineered plans for a new theater, soon to be built, called the Varsity. This theater opened in 1921 with different ownership and a different name. It is unknown if the design of the theater was the design Myrtle and Donald had put together. However, we know that the original projection equipment in the Neptune Theater and the bathroom fixtures came from Ye College Playhouse because in January of 1923, the G&G Theater Company sued the owners of the Neptune for not making the payments on that equipment. Also related, after Myrtle and Donald divorced, Donald moved into the apartments in the Neptune building. 

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