The Palace started as a smaller
Nickelodeon which first
popped up on insurance maps I have around
1933. Later maps show that the
building was enlarged ( and possibly
rebuilt ) and that building still stands today.
The building can be found on the opposite
side of the street from the old St. Michael's
Church, on East Union Avenue. Right next
to the church is the old Lyric Theatre,
which started out as Moat's Opera House, at 804
-06 Union Avenue. By 1922, the old Opera house appears
to have been showing movies. Around 1910,
the building was also used as a dance hall. That
building, after suffering a fire a few years
back, is owned by Frostburg State
University.
There was also a second Opera
House in Frostburg, located at 112-118 East
Union Avenue. The Opera House went by several
names, including Hitchan's Opera House (
Hitchhn's ? ) and Ravencroft's Opera House. The
insurance map was hard to read so I'm not quite
sure the spelling on the first name. It was
located at the corner of East Union Avenue and
Depot Avenue, and in later years, there was a
bandstand on the west end of the building, right
at the corner. The Opera House showed movies
back in the 1920's and 1930's, according to the
insurance maps. I also found an old ad for the
Paul's Opera House, back from 1880's, which I am
researching.
The St. Cloud Motel,
which was torn down years ago was on the other
side of Depot Street. In later years, a filling
station was located on that site. The
site has been completely torn down and has been
reused for a business. It does appear that
several old wagon carriage buildings that were
on the maps from back in the 1920's are still
standing along Depot Terrace however.
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