Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1980. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
From the record
“The Palace Theatre was a historic movie palace in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Constructed at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties, it originally housed stage acts before conversion into a movie theater.”
Wikipedia article Palace Theatre (Cincinnati, Ohio), CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 314 National Register listings in Hamilton County · listed in 1980 · category: Building · one of 9 National Historic Landmarks in Hamilton County.
National Register reference number.80004067- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
The reader looks forward to this, the first history of Cincinnati that has yet found itself in print. The writers look back across its half-century of chapters and the century of years embraced by its annals, and have, chiefest of all, to regret many unavoidable errors, both of omission and commission. The more important of these, it is hoped, will appear in our page of errata; but there are still many, doubtless, that have escaped the compilers' attention. In a few cases, discrepancies appear between their statements and those of an extract immediately following. In those instances they must assure the reader that the former rest upon an authority believed to be superior to the other in regard to the matter in hand; but time and space could not always be taken for the discussion and settlement of points concerning which there are variant reports. In all really important matters, they believe the history will be found quite trustworthy, especially when corrected from the page of errata.
Within the decade whose annals have just been passed in review, fell the birth of Cincinnati township, to which was entrusted, for almost twelve years, the government of Cincinnati village, which it of course contained. The township was created, after Columbia, by the court of general quarter sessions of the peace, which then had jurisdiction in these matters, in 1791. To the time of the erection of these townships, the whole county, which contained but a few hundred white inhabitants, was most conveniently governed as one municipality.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 5,832 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Palace Theatre between 1819 and
1975: 2,846 Fungi, 1,704 Animalia, 933 Plantae, 298 Protozoa, 32 Unrecorded, 18 Chromista, 1 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A Schwartz, A. Braun, A. F. Braun and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
1 working within 5 miles of Palace Theatre: 1 unknown.
None of them still produces. What was taken out: Tin, Lead, Antimony. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Cincinnati, the town this property stands in, in 70 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 25 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 14 flash flood, 7 flood.
The reports record 1 injury. 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.
Numerous roads were flooded throughout the Cincinnati area and some basements were flooded. Flooding also caused some damage at Reading High School and Whitaker Elementary School.
Lightning struck a home causing a fire in the attic, which spread toward the second floor before being extinguished. Significant fire and water damage occurred to the home.
High water was reported on several roads in the downtown Cincinnati area and the near West Side. A retaining wall collapsed onto a roadway near the intersection of State Avenue and Ernst Street and a building was flooded on Poplar Street. Also, an apartment basement flooded on Linn Street and one resident needed to be rescued.
14 papers published in this town,
digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 0 issues,
0 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be
looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
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.
From the nomination file
2,368 words on record
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
dominated by a center arch over a series of doors leading into the theatre lobby; flanked on both sides by street-level shop space. ornamentation in railings and banisters are in Rococco motif, incorporating the letter "p" restored to a gold leaf with cream background. Three sets of double doors lead from the lobby into the 1400 seat orchestra. Inside, an is ornamented with wide bands of plaster relief and classical columns. The arch rises 26 In the upper area, seating 1200, a large, deep dome creates the ceiling for the central repaired or replaced, new rest rooms, new stage equipment and dressing rooms. and are of the same type and vintage of the original Palace fixtures removed many years ago.
CONDITION DETERIORATED 7DESCRIPTION FAIR UNALTERED _UNEXPOSED CHECK ONE *The chandeliers in the theatre were purchased from the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia XEXCELLENT oval dome rises above the seats with two crystal chandeliers.The 46 foot proscenium arch All side walls are treated with heavy molding and relief.Leading from the loge area is equipped with separate upholstered chairs that afford an excellent:view of the stage. The building has been completely restored to its original condition with all plaster relief The Palace Theatre:Exterior-- the facade of the five-story office portion is done ina feet above the stage in a series of arches that curve to meet the main ceiling vaulting.
The main lobby area is dominated by a set of matching grand staircases leading to the are the only remaining original chandeliers*in the building. a corridor giving access to the theater boxes on both sides of the hall.Each box is Interior --the decor throughout the theatre is in heavy plaster relief -GOOD All plaster relief work was originally highlighted with gold leaf.
Constructed in 1918, the Palace is the last great theatre still standing in Cincinnati. It was designed by the Chicago theatre architect, George Rapp and constructed by the Ohio It was owned and operated as a vaudeville house by the Keith Theatre interests. In 1925 the RKO Theatre Company purchased the Palace and operated it as a film and vaudeville phases of remodeling. The theatre closed its doors to the public in the spring of 1976. renovation was begun with a budget of 1.3 million dollars. The theatre was reopened and brought back to life on October 24, 1978. SIGNIFICANT FEATURES: The Palace is the last legitimate theatre built in Cincinnati before the advent of films. It is the only remaining theatre from that era.
experts the Palace is one of the finest examples of early 20th century theatre design, 1600-1699 1918 1700-1799 1400-1499 EDUCATION ENGINEERING ART AGRICULTURE ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC POLITICS/GOVERNMENT LAW PERIOD ARCHITECTURE INVENTION SCIENCE RELIGION SCULPTURE MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS PREHISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE _1800-1899 CONSERVATION HISTORY: LITERATURE _COMMERCE X1900- and vaulted ceilings have given the Palace its outstanding acoustics.According to _PHILOSOPHY sight lines. The ornate plaster work isof exceptional beauty and craftsmanship.
The use of arched -TRANSPORTATION X.THEATER In the summer of 1978,the theatre was purchased by a group of Cincinnati businessmen -1500-1599 The interior accomodates 2600 in a small space without pillars or obstructions to block notable for its economic use of space and attention to detail. Construction Company at the cost of $500,000. ECONOMICS ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC COMMUNITY PLANNING run films and presenting stars like Burns & Allen, Doris Day & Bing Crosby live on stage. EXPLORATIONSETTEMENT
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 80004067, 22 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 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.
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.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
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.
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