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Blair Theater - Downtown Belleville Series #1 Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Flatland Reviewer: This cache page has been archived due to the lack of a timely resolution. If the owner would like to have it reinstated, please contact me through my profile within 90 days.

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Hidden : 4/2/2021
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:


A small hide-a-key on the south side of the Belleville Square. This cache is placed outside a few historic buildings.

 

The small building that is currently yellow was constructed by Neal Elliott about 1920 and housed Jack and Jill, Mother Van's (Mrs. Van Tyle) Restaurants.

 

To the west of that is a building built for property owner C. P. Carstensen in 1916. The Belleville Post Office was located in the west storefront from 1917 to 1938. Later, this was the A. L. Duckwall store, a Safeway Hardware store, and most recently it was converted into a bowling alley.

 

Just to the east of the cache is the Blair Theater which was constructed for Sam and Katherine Blair. They came to Belleville from Mena, Arkansas in 1920 when the local theater was advertised for sale. They opened in the Chapin building (see 1322 19th). When their lease ended in 1928, the Blairs decided to build. Three existing buildings on the south side of the town square were rebuilt as the Blair Theater by Glenn, Fred, and George Pearcy. Interior murals were painted by itinerant artist Tom Swift. The structure cost $35,000 and opened on December 24, 1928. The Blairs leased the theater to Commonwealth Theaters in 1941 and then sold it to Commonwealth in 1966. The theater was given to the city in the late 1990s and acquired by the Blair Center for the Arts Foundation in the early 2000s. In November of 2008, the theater reopened.

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