Rehoboth’s Casino Theater lost in 1912 fire

The Casino Theater was a turn-of-the-century entertainment spot on Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach. It stood on the north side of the first block of the Avenue. It was owned by Harry S. Newman. The complex burned in 1912, and was replaced by the Blue Hen Theater in 1914.

According to the Aug. 17, 1912 edition of the Evening Journal, the fire was discovered by John B. Ritchie about 10 p.m. in a small storeroom of Charles S. Horn’s property, which bordered the Casino theater.

“Due to the lateness of the hour, no person was in the moving picture theater and nearly all of the residents had retired for the night,” the Evening Journal reads. “But when the fire bell was rung … nearly every inhabitant of the town was on the scene and soon went to work to fight the flames, which had already begun to assume threatening proportions, in view of the fact that all of the buildings were of frame.”

The fire company used its chemical engine and hose to battle the blaze. Many other residents “formed a bucket brigade and materially aided the firemen.”

Mayor Fred A. Ross, Ritchie and Horn led the fight against the fire. Eventually, firefighters from Lewes arrived on scene about two hours after the fire was discovered, but by then, the fire was mostly under control.

In addition to Newman’s theater, Horn lost his home, a barn and a roller skating rink. Ralph Wingate, who had a well-equipped printing office adjoining the theater, saw it completely wrecked, being torn down to prevent the spread of flames.

The Casino theater was not Newman’s only endeavor in that industry, as he also purchased and operated the Gem in Middletown in 1917. His wife, Annie, was a Middletown native. She was the first president of the Village Improvement Association, which was founded in Rehoboth Beach in 1909. She served as president for three years.  Her father Charles was a hotel proprietor.

In 1917, Harry S. Newman was ordered to report to the Navy Department in Washington, D.C., for service. That would’ve been during World War I; he served as a paymaster. As a result, the theater was sold to S. Rosenberg, and the Newman family moved to Washington, D.C. No other information about the Newman family was uncovered.