Copyright © 2019 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1915, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Dropped in on Miles at Detroit and got $815.00 for some new work.” Chas. H. Miles was listed in the Detroit City Directory as the manager of the Orpheum Theatre, and lodging at the Statler hotel. Miles’ was a mover and shaker, opening one theater after another, and from 1910 to 1917 Sosman & Landis was the preferred scenic studio for Miles.
Miles’ Detroit theatre had a frontage of 152 feet on Griswold Street between State Street and Grand River Avenue. Once built, his theater’s policy included three shows a day, with extra matinees on Saturday and Sunday. On May 30, 1911, the “Detroit Press” included an advertisement to buy stock for the Miles Theatre, promising “You will be paid dividends every three months” (page 3). The advertisement commented, “It is the largest, most handsome, update and complete theatre in Detroit – the Miles Theatre has been in operation over one year and is earning money every day.” It continued to explain that the theatre was ideally located and convenient to every carline in the city, and near one of the busiest marts. Miles and Mr. C. W. Porter, local manager, personally looked after the sale of stocks in the Miles theatre building daily.
Miles had been in the theater business for quite some time. Already in 1910, Moses recorded that the studio sold $3,800.00 worth of scenery to Miles for his new theater at 1220 Griswold St., Detroit, Michigan. Three years later 1913, they provided an asbestos curtain for Miles, painted by Moses. The relationship between Sosman & Landis and the Miles was ongoing. The theater magnate also established the Miles Detroit Theatre Co. He was the president of the firm, operating many theaters across the country. By 1915, there were Miles theaters in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Scranton and Minneapolis.
The success of Miles’ theater in Detroit was noted on March 16, 1913. The “Detroit Free Press published, “People soon found that they could go down-town after supper, see an entire performance and get back home in time to retire at the usual house. Or, if they were detained down-town by business or a dinner party, they found it convenient to drop in for the second show and still get home at a reasonable hour. Thus, very shortly, going to the Miles came to be a regular habit and the Miles clientele steadily grew larger. In the meantime, stores and offices erected by Miles as part of the general structure were leased by various concerns and Griswold Street, north of State, began to take a commercial look. Property values around Capitol Park began to soar. Men of large means began to take an interest in the development of Griswold Street. Car lines were re-routed, old brick pavements were supplanted by the more modern creosote block…That is the story of the rejuvenation of Griswold street, and to Mr. Miles, as the man who took the initiative, is due a large share of the credit. It is just another illustration of how much can be accomplished through that happy combination of courage, determination and far-sightedness” (page 83).
The last show at the Miles Theatre was on Nov. 28, 1927. By May 1928 the theater was demolished to make way for the Griswold Building, designed by Albert Kahn, a structure that still exists today.
To be continued…
