{"id":32204,"date":"2022-03-22T17:17:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T21:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bapl.org\/?p=32204"},"modified":"2022-03-24T09:30:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T13:30:37","slug":"a-farewell-to-the-boyd-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bapl.org\/a-farewell-to-the-boyd-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"A Farewell to the Boyd Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

The History of the Boyd Theater<\/h3>\n

by Julia Brennan\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, movies! The cultural time capsules preserved within a motion picture, full of great costume design and bad acting! Nah, just kidding, there are plenty of great movies out there. Movies have really kept society pushing through despite difficult times over the decades – they make us laugh, they make us cry, they terrify us – where would we be without movies?<\/p>\n

What was the Boyd Theater, really? A historical monument struggling to stay afloat despite the changing times? A dilapidated building whose time had come? A place for expensive popcorn? It was all of these things, but most importantly, its previous name was Kurtz. The Boyd has gone through lots of names over the years, to say the least. It was constructed in 1919 and finished in 1920. I wonder if the original building doubled as a speakeasy? It\u2019s not something they would have publicly advertised at the time, of course\u2026<\/p>\n

One of its incarnations was Colonial Billiard & Bowling Academy. And then <\/i>it was Kurtz Restaurant & Cafe. And theeeen <\/i>it was Kurtz Billiard & Bowling Academy. And finally it received its final name, Boyd Theater in 1934. The reason why it became the Boyd is because it was bought out by A. R. Boyd Enterprises in 1934 and the rest is, as they say, history.<\/p>\n

The Reference Department at BAPL and I dug deep within our ancient and mysterious archives for information on the beloved building. We have all this material within our \u201cBethlehem Room\u201d at the Main Library\u2013if you\u2019d like to dig deep into a local topic of your choice! Now, onward to some postcards that we found in our collection.<\/p>\n

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\"\"How can that be the Boyd Theater? Well, at the time, there was no internet and things were really boring back then. Where could you go to get dinner and\u00a0entertainment? Kurtz filled that void with lots of live music. (I\u00a0wouldn\u2019t mind a violin serenading me as I eat chicken fingers at a\u00a0restaurant, mind you).<\/p>\n

The Kurtz Brothers were named Charles & John, in case you were curious. They originally owned a carpenter\u2019s store that also manufactured equipment for \u201cBanks, Libraries, Churches, Colleges, etc\u201d and guess what? They\u2019re still operating today! Kurtz Brothers began in 1894 and you can see their About Us page here. While pouring over records, it does appear consistent that the Boyd was listed as either Kurtz, Colonial, or Boyd over the\u00a0years. I guess Kurtz thought Colonial sounded better but then it\u00a0evolved into the Boyd.<\/p>\n

Below is a piece of the Bethlehem City Directory <\/i>in 1920. (This is in Microfilm format\u2026what a #ThrowbackThursday moment, huh?)<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re really curious about the area even before <\/i>Kurtz, it was a bunch of private homes and a garage but that area was completely razed over to make room for the new buildings. Thankfully, they didn\u2019t tear down any historical Moravian buildings in the process!<\/p>\n

The Boyd area and its buildings were rented out to multiple businesses throughout its history. The Bethlehem Globe-Times <\/i>(December 27, 1966) reported that the following businesses were present at some point:<\/p>\n