Heart Theater

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

From the record

One of 3 National Register listings published here for Effingham County · listed in 2023 · category: Building.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 133 East Jefferson Ave., Effingham, 62401
When was it listed? April 2023
Category. building
Township. Douglas township
National Register reference number. 100008843 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Heart Theater: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Effinghham City Hwy Dept. Pit	Stone	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Effingham County

Storms near this property

60 of 78 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Effingham, the town this property stands in, in 78 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 42 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 8 flash flood, 2 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$50,000	Two tractor-semitrailers were blown over in Effingham while numerous trees and power lines were reportedly down across the county. The county sheriff also reported partial roof damage to two homes three miles south of Effingham.
June 2008	Flash Flood	Effingham	$45,000	Multiple roads flooded out in Effingham. Four people were rescued from stranded vehicles within the city.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$30,000	A large tree was blown onto a house, causing significant damage to the roof.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$25,000	Several trees and tree limbs were blown down. Some falling trees and tree limbs also downed power lines.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$25,000	Numerous trees and tree limbs were blown down. One large tree fell onto a house causing minor damage.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$20,000	Numerous tree limbs were blown down in Effingham. Spotty power outages were also reported around town.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$12,000	Several tree limbs were blown down and a tent collapsed at a church picnic.
May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$3,000	Two large healthy trees were snapped.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	$400	Numerous trees, tree limbs, and power lines were blown down in Effingham. One small tree landed on a car causing minor damage. No one was injured and damage was estimated around $400.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A power line was downed at Lakewood Manor Mobile Home Park.
April 2025	Tornado (EFU)	Effingham	-	Video evidence showed a tornado touched down in an open field just west of Highway 45 and south of County Road 1680 North at 8:14 PM CDT. The tornado tracked northeastward, crossing Highway 45 and I-57 before dissipating just east of I-57 and south of East 1800th Avenue at 8:16 PM CDT. No damage was observed.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A 3 to 6 inch diameter tree limb was blown down onto a vehicle, causing damage to the vehicle.
October 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A tree was blown down onto Merchant Street.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A powerline was blown down in the Lake Sara area.
March 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Several roads were blocked by downed powerlines.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Trees bent or snapped near southbound I-57. The size and health of the trees was not reported.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A large tree limb was blown down, causing roof damage.
August 2022	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	Several streets were closed in town due to flash flooding.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A weather observer reported an estimated wind gust of 60mph.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Tree limbs and power lines were blown down across town.
July 2022	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	Road closed due to flooding at Jefferson Avenue and Walnut St.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A large tree was blown down.
June 2022	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	Water was flowing across US-40 and US-45 in Effingham.
June 2022	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	The Fayette Avenue underpass in Effingham was closed due to high water.
April 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A large tree branch was blown down, damaging a chain link fence.
April 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A sign was blown over at Orchard Inn Tavern.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Several power poles were snapped or leaning on Rickleman Avenue.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A few tree branches and power lines were blown down in Effingham.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A tree was blown down near the intersection of US 40 and County Road 1000E.
February 2008	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	Many streets were flooded on the west side of Effingham. One vehicle become stuck in high water near the Little Wabash River.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A large tree was blown down.
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A few tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Effingham.
April 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Minor roof and siding damage.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Several tree limbs were blown down.
January 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Measured gust from CO-OP Observer.
January 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts tore an awning off a gas station and caused roof damage to a couple other buildings in Effingham.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Several tree limbs and power lines blown down.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Large maple tree blown down.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Tree blown down across county road.
August 2004	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	Very heavy rain caused US Routes 40 and 45 to become flooded in Effingham.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Several trees were blown down, one of which fell onto an unoccupied car damaging it in Mason.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Thunderstorm winds blew over a tree, knocked some shingles and siding off of a house and destroyed a section of fencing. No injuries were reported.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Several power lines were blown down.
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Thunderstorm winds destroyed an unoccupied mobile home. The winds blew another unoccupied mobile home over, as well as, two semis on I-70 near Montrose and numerous trees and tree limbs.
February 2001	Flash Flood	Effingham	-	Radar estimated 1 to 3 inches of rain falling on frozen ground across the area during the late morning and early afternoon hours. Numerous streets in Effingham were reported flooded and State Route 45 in Effingham was reported to be under water.
April 2001	Hail	Effingham	-	Hail from dime to golf ball size was reported as the storm approached and entered Efffingham.
May 2001	Hail	Effingham	-	Hail began at Lake Sara, roughly 5 miles west of Effingham and continued into Effingham.
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs and power lines.
April 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	A couple of road signs were blown over as well as several large tree limbs in Effingham.
May 1998	Tornado (F0)	Effingham	-	A tornado briefly touched down in a field 5 miles west of Effingham. No injuries were reported and only two trees were blown down. No structural damage was reported.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Effingham	-	As a severe thunderstorm moved through Effingham it blew down numerous large tree limbs throughout the town.
August 1993	Hail	Effingham	-	Heavy rain and dime- to nickel-size hail fell on the southeast edge of town. A shed was blown over.
March 2026	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
May 2025	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
August 2022	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
May 2018	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
May 2018	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
April 2016	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
May 2016	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed
October 2016	Hail	Effingham	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Effingham County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph	Property	Distance	Listed
	Effingham County Courthouse	under 500 feet	1985

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 100008843 in Record Group 79.
Effingham County	All 3 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.