Gem

Gem. A Historic Place. , 1906 “The Largest Building in Etowah” , O.L Davis constructed this two-story brick building (at the time, the largest in town) for his general store and J.N Lewis’s clothing shop., 1918 The Crescent becomes the Gem , Georgia-based entrepreneurs H.V. Manning and J.C.H. Wink purchased the Crescent Theatre (located on block north) and renamed it the “Gem Theatre”. , December 19, 1927 A New Gem Shines , To meet the demand for “talkies”, movies with sound, Manning and Wink needed a larger space, so they purchased this building and remodeled it as a modern “Picture Palace”. The new Gem Theatre opened on December 19, 1927. , 1943 Changing Hands , After Wink’s death, Manning sold the Gem theatre to Martin Theatres, Inc. The name changed to the Martin Theatre, for a time, reflecting the growth of national movie theater chains. , [Insert]: Early “moving pictures” in Etowah were shown by traveling projectionists. When the Crescent Theatre opened, it featured silent films. , [Insert]: Manning and Wink’s renovation made way for offices upstairs and a drugstore next door. Kinser Drug Company opened in 1927. Two years later, W.H. Murphy purchased the business and renamed it Gem Drug Company and Murphy’s Corner Drug Store.