The State Theatre/Crute Theatre/Eaco Theatre

The State Theatre/Crute Theatre/Eaco Theatre

The Eaco Theatre was built in the 1920s. There was a need for a more modern theatre to show motion pictures to the audiences. Most of the Eaco theatre was destroyed when the roof collapsed on itself. In February, 1944, the Eaco Theatre building collapsed under the weight of ice on its roof. In its stead, the Crute theatre was created and rose from the rubble.

Dr. Jordan, describes the discovery of two homes buried on top of each other. One owner was a doctor and the other was a piano teacher. The piano teacher taught at the Seminary School for Girls, currently named Longwood University. The doctor’s house was located on top of the piano teacher’s. Dr. Jordan, Dr. Brian Bates, and his students unearthed the Minie ball that was used during the Civil War. Pieces of a piano plate were found inside the ball. A Minie ball was a bullet that could expand when it hit the target.

Sources:

Bradshaw. H. Clarence. History of Farmville Virginia 1798-1948. Farmville Herald. Farmville, Virginia. 1944.

Farmville Herald. “Drama Unfolds Underneath the Theatre: Archaeologists Uncover a part of Farmville’s past”. https://www.farmvilleherald.com/2016/02/drama-unfolds-beneath-theater-archaeologists-uncover-evidence-of-farmvilles-past/ (accessed November 2019).

Farmville Herald. Today and Yesterday in the Heart of Virginia. Farmville Herald. Farmville, Virginia. March 29, 1935.

Harris. Warren, G. “Crute Theatre,” Cinema Treasures, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/20578 (accessed November, 2019).

_____. Prince Edward County Virginia Heritage 1754-2008. Farmville Herald. Farmville, Virginia.2008

Speas, Bruce. Theatre Symposium, Theatre and Travel: Tours of the South. University of Alabama Press. Volume 13. 2005.