The Levoy Theatre
P.O. Box 678
126 - 130 N. High Street
Millville, NJ 08332
Office Phone: 856-327-9870
Fax: 856-327-4076
Last modified
October 20, 2006
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The Beginning
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The first Levoy Theatre filled a ten year void left in Millville after the 1898 fire that destroyed the Wilson Opera House (once at High and Sassafras Sts.), Millville's largest theatre of the 19th century. By 1908 Millville needed a new source of entertainment, and William “Pop” Somers of Atlantic City and Somers Point fame came to Millville seeing the opportunity for his Levoy.
On a side note, Somers was one of the early Ferris Wheel designers, even before Mr. Ferris himself. Only after a lengthy court battle between Ferris and Somers did the famous ride become known as the “Ferris” Wheel and not the “Somers” Wheel.
On January 9, 1908, Somer's first Levoy was opened. It was much smaller than today's structure; there were two floors—the theatre on the lower floor and a dance floor on the upper. The first admission prices were 5¢ for one ticket or 25¢ for six.
The early silent flickering films shown in the original Levoy were often accompanied by a vocalist or piano player in the background to follow the action. Only four years after the first Levoy opened it was to be enlarged by Colonel Ellsworth Shaw, a job that took five months, 29 days to enlarge the theatre by two times its previous size.
The Levoy now had a larger stage, and a wrap around balcony. Its facade at this point slightly resembled the facade of the present Levoy. Reopening ceremonies began on November 4, 1912, with William Somers' renaming of his theatre as the “New Levoy”.
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