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Great Falls in Cascade County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
 

S.H. Kress and Company

 
 
S.H. Kress and Company Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2019
1. S.H. Kress and Company Marker
Inscription. Thirty-six hundred people watched Nomads of the North at the grand opening of the Liberty Theatre in August 1921. A musical score, played on a $47,000 Wurlitzer organ, accompanied the silent film. An overflow crowd of two thousand toured the theater’s lavishly appointed interior. The Renaissance Revival style building, designed by Great Falls architect George Shanley, also housed shops, apartments, offices, and a bowling alley. Outside, floodlights illuminated decorative terra cotta while cascading lights mimicked an Italian fountain, and other lights spelled out the name of the eighteen-hundred-seat theater. Two glowing terra-cotta torches atop the cornice emitted red smoke, an illusion created through the use of red lights and forced steam. Like other movie palaces of its day, the Liberty Theatre promised excitement and luxury with décor that alluded both to American patriotism and old world extravagance. Thirty cents transported moviegoers into a world of wealth and privilege—and not just on the screen. The Liberty’s rest rooms and men’s smoking room offered patrons “every convenience from maid service to engraved stationery and telephone.”
 
Erected by The Montana National Register Sign Program.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture
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Arts, Letters, MusicEntertainmentIndustry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Montana National Register Sign Program series list.
 
Location. 47° 30.326′ N, 111° 18.011′ W. Marker is in Great Falls, Montana, in Cascade County. Marker is on Central Avenue near 4th Street North, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 409 Central Avenue, Great Falls MT 59401, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. "Nibbles" (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Great Falls Central Business Historic District (about 300 feet away); F.W. Woolworth Building (about 400 feet away); Bus Depot and Garage (about 500 feet away); Liberty Theatre (about 600 feet away); Lemon Boarding House (about 700 feet away); Cascade County Courthouse (approx. 0.2 miles away); Methodist Parsonage (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Great Falls.
 
S.H. Kress and Company and Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2019
2. S.H. Kress and Company and Marker
The marker is on the center support.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on December 19, 2020. It was originally submitted on December 22, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 165 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on December 22, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.

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Mar. 28, 2024