Thursday, May 20, 2010

after 2 years, 11 months, and 5 days - Warner Brothers historical marker back up on Federal Street

Almost three years ago in June 2007, a massive storm ripped through the Youngstown city limits.

The storm knocked out a few things, including the sign in front of the Golden Dawn, the largest and oldest tri-colored beech tree in Ohio, and the the Warner Brothers historical marker on Federal Street.

Sheared it in two.

pictures of the aftermath here.


Then this week - *boom* - the sign is back up.

It took a while (I wonder, why three whole years?) but the plaque telling the story of the Warner Brothers of Youngstown going to Hollywood is now back on display.




from the marker:
The Warner Brothers - Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack - were members of a Jewish immigrant family from Poland that settled in Youngstown in the mid-1890s.

The brothers attended local schools and worked in their father's shoe repair shop and meat market before entering the motion picture business.

They purchased a projector and opened the first of several theaters in the Mahoning Valley in 1903.

The brothers left Youngstown for New York and Hollywood as their company developed into an industry leader.

Warner Brothers Pictures, founded in 1923, released Don Juan in 1926, the first "talking picture" using Vitaphone technology.

On May 14, 1931, the family gathered in Youngstown to dedicate a luxurious new Warner Theater to the people of the city where it all started, and to memorialize Sam, who died in 1927.

1 comment:

Leann Rich said...

Just about as long as Forrest Gump ran across America.