Historic Plaque honors the Star Theatre

Main Street Toccoa unveiled the second historic plaque of the 2018-19 series, last week, at the Star Theatre on West Doyle Street.

Main Street Manager Christian Hamilton says the Star Theatre was the first movie house in Toccoa.

The theatre closed down around 1950, and later, opened as both a dry cleaner and a barber shop.

Then, in 2016, new owner Chris Irvin meticulously restored the theatre back to its original look.

During the unveiling, Irvin told those gathered, how he found and restored the original ticket window.

“The ticket window was on top of the backdrop which was about to fall, and when I originally saw it looked like a half of a piece of door. But I thought, why would someone cut a 1930s door. And so I got up there and I grabbed it. I just thought, ‘man, that’s a find right there,” Irvin said.

Following the ceremony, Irvin gave a tour of the facility.

Hamilton says the historic plaque program celebrates the historic buildings in Toccoa, and the remaining plaques are set to follow each month, including one extra plaque that was recently added to the list.

“We have five more plaques after this,” he said. “We actually have added a plaque. We’ll putting a plaque on the American Legion building on Doyle St. As well. They’re celebrating their 50th anniversary here in Toccoa.”

Once all plaques have been installed, they will be added to Main Street Toccoa’s Historic Walking Tour Guide.

For questions regarding the Main Street Toccoa Historic Plaque Program contact Hamilton at 706-898-5777.