On November 24, 1913, in the little town of Pomeroy in Southeastern Washington, the Seeley Theatre opens at 67 - 7th Street. This new Seeley -- a three-and-a-half-story brick structure -- replaces the original Seeley Theatre, a turn-of-the-century woodframe building located at the corner of 7th and Columbia. The new Seeley seats 713 patrons.
The (re)opening night production at the Seeley was the play Bunty Pull the Strings. Tickets for the debut performance sold at advanced prices, with $10 securing box seats. Admission for “standing-room-onlies,” however, was as low as 75 cents per person.
The Seeley Theatre eventually became Pomeroy's only motion picture house, and remained virtually unchanged for the first four decades of its existence. Changes were afoot in the early 1950s, however, when the theater's original box seats were removed to accommodate a larger “Cinemascope” screen. Later, in the 1960s, the lobby was given a more modern look, while the old stage area -- long out of use -- was walled off and became part of a small business.
As of today (2003), the Seeley Theatre still operates in the town of Pomeroy.
