Former Ada Icon owner-editor Fred Steiner still has his eye on Ada, as this post for www.BlufftonForever.com reveals. 

By Fred Steiner

This isn’t Bluffton; it’s Ada, home of the Odeon movie theatre.

In case you wonder, Odeon is a word describing ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing, musical shows and poetry readings.

The photo, taken in 1939, shows a marquee announcing the Western comedy “Destry Rides Again,” staring Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.

According to the sign, the movie was shown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In addition “short subjects” were featured.

The Odeon was located at 222 N. Main, Ada, on the east side of Main Street between Buckeye and Highland Avenue, near the First United Methodist Church.

The second photo of this series, taken in the late 1940s, shows the Odeon marquee on the far right and Peper Drugs, Ada’s popular pharmacy, across the street.

The Odeon opened in 1914 in a building erected by Jacob Clum. Thomas and Bradley were the operators. The first show was “The Girl at the Curtain.”

The theatre operated until sometime in the 1950s.

END