Ashland Theatre

ADDRESS: 205 England Street
BUILT: 1913
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Commercial Vernacular

The Ashland Theatre was not the first theater building in town. The first was built in 1931 by Douglas Halbert Covington at 301 S. Railroad Avenue. White patrons sat on the main floor and there was a balcony for African-Americans.

In 1948, D.H. Covington’s wife Dora is listed as owner of a new theater at 205 England Street called the Ashland Theatre. A small restaurant and snack bar were attached to the theatre on the east side of the building. The vibrant, two-story, neon-fluted facade topped with a giant neon “ASHLAND” is unapologetically Art Deco, as is the stylized geometric decorations around the marquee. The new theatre opened August 10, 1948. The feature picture for the grand opening was “Sitting Pretty” with Robert Young, Maureen O’Hara and Clifton Webb. The show began with a cartoon comedy. Admission was 14 cents for children and 40 cents for adults.

The new theater was not integrated until the 1970s. African-Americans used the old theater on Railroad Avenue until 1958 when Covington sold the building to Meade Jones, who established a stationery store and gift shop there. Dora and D.H. Covington and their daughter Landora Covington Turnage ran the Ashland Theatre until 1973 when they sold it to L.L. Duke. Duke later sold it to A.D.Whittaker. The theater closed in the 1990s. In October 2013, Whittaker donated the building to the Town of Ashland and it is slated for renovation soon.