W.R. Gunn was a prominent architect of theaters in the American South. His work includes the Hawkinsville Opera House. He also designed the Grand Opera House (Macon, Georgia) (originally called the Academy of Music) at 651 Mulberry Street in Macon, Georgia. [1] He also designed Merchants Block (1892) in Ocala, Florida. It contained a post office, lending library, and an office for "the precursor of the chamber of commerce", with professional offices upstairs. It was demolished in the 1960s to make way for a parking lot. [2] He is also credited with the Perkins Opera House at Washington Street and Court House Square in Monticello, Florida. [3] [4]
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, one of the longest in the U.S., from southern Florida to the northeastern point of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It travels from State Road 826 and SR 924 on the Hialeah–Miami Lakes border to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Canadian border.
Macon, officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Macon lies near the state's geographic center, about 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Atlanta—hence the city's nickname, "The Heart of Georgia".
A movie palace is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped and many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple screen venues or performing arts centers.
Thomas White Lamb (1871–1942) was a Scottish-born, American architect. He is noted as one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century.
Macon City Hall serves as the seat of government for the city of Macon, Georgia, in the United States. It is located in the downtown area, surrounded by Cotton Avenue, First Street, Poplar Street, and D.T. Walton, Sr. Way. It is located diagonally across the street from the Macon City Auditorium.
Wallace Augustus Rayfield was the second formally educated practicing African American architect in the United States.
Joseph Neel Reid, also referred to as Neel Reid, was a prominent architect in Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 20th century as a partner in his firm Hentz, Reid and Adler.
William Robert 'Bertie' Crewe was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915.
The Perkins Opera House is a historic theatre in Monticello, Florida. It is located at the corner of Washington Street and Jefferson Street.
John Adolph Emil Eberson was a European born American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style.
William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina. More than 25 of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Edward Columbus Hosford, also known as Edward C. Hosford and E. C. Hosford, was a Georgia-born American architect noted for the courthouses and other buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and Texas.
Charles Henry Douglass was a leading businessman in Georgia State in his time and continues to be remembered today for his contributions to the African American community through his historical Douglass Theatre. He was a very wealthy man in his time and was a great community leader for equality. He was very reputable in the arts, for he was a part of TOBA and managed the Florida Minstrels and Comedy Company. He opened the Douglass Theatre in Macon, Georgia, and continued to be a prominent leader within his community. He ran his theatre until 1940 when he died. Throughout his life, Douglass made several contributions to his community and city. "Indeed, thanks to the vision of Charles Henry Douglass, the Douglass Theatre in Macon became a preeminent entertainment venue for African American Georgians outside of Atlanta. Today, with the restored Douglass Theatre again in operation, the inspiring legacy of Charles H. Douglass lives on in Macon".
Roy A. Benjamin (1887-1963) was a prominent architect in Jacksonville, Florida.
Hawkinsville Opera House, originally known as the City Auditorium and sometimes referred to as Hawkinsville City Hall-Auditorium, is a theater building in downtown Hawkinsville, Georgia. It was built in 1907 after the city awarded a contract for a performing arts building to be constructed at a cost of $16,470. It was designed by Macon, Georgia architect and theater designer W.R. Gunn. With 576 seats, the theater had the largest seating capacity of any public building in Pulaski County, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and underwent a 1.7 million dollar renovation 2000. It is managed by the non-profit Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Arts Council.
Alexander Blair III was an American architect. He designed the Grand Opera House (1884) in Macon, Georgia, eight Georgia county courthouses, and other buildings. His father was also an architect and his son Algernon Blair (1873-1952) was a prominent builder.
The Macon Historic District is a historic district in Macon, Georgia that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and was expanded in 1995. The original listing covered 587 acres (238 ha) and included 1,050 contributing resources; the increase added 101 acres (41 ha) and 157 contributing resources.
Ellamae Ellis League, was an American architect, the fourth woman registered architect in Georgia and "one of Georgia and the South's most prominent female architects." She practiced for over 50 years, 41 of them from her own firm. From a family of architects, she was the first woman elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in Georgia and only the eighth woman nationwide. Several buildings she designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In 2016 she was posthumously named a Georgia Woman of Achievement.
Henry Eli White, also known as Harry White, was a New Zealand-born architect who is best known for the many theatres and cinemas he designed in Australia and New Zealand in the 1910s and 1920s. Many of the major surviving historic venues in the two countries are White designs, including the St. James Theatre, Wellington, St. James Theatre, Auckland, the Capitol Theatre and State Theatre in Sydney, and the Palais Theatre and the interiors of the Princess Theatre and Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. He also designed the City Hall and the attached Civic Theatre in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Tignal Franklin (Frank) Cox (1854–1940) was an American artist and theater architect. He worked as a scenic artist, decorator, builder, architect, and developer.