[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 88 (Friday, May 22, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





      COMMEMORATING THE WORLD'S OLDEST PURPOSE-BUILT MOVIE THEATER

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                          HON. SHARICE DAVIDS

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 22, 2026

  Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Plaza 
1907 located in Ottawa, Kansas, in the district I have the honor of 
representing. Plaza 1907 is celebrating its 119th anniversary, opening 
its current doors on May 22, 1907, as the oldest purpose-built movie 
theater in the world. Listed on the National Register of Historic 
Places, Plaza 1907 is a critical part of the lifeblood of the Ottawa 
and Franklin County communities.
  In the early 1900s, Ottawa citizens saw their first moving picture--
the ten-minute film The Great Train Robbery from 1903--at a local 
street fair. This inspired the founding of Plaza 1907 as the Bijou 
Theater, where patrons watched early silent films from France like Bad 
Mother and A Voyage Around a Star. When it first opened, the two-screen 
theater played 12 shows each day and tickets cost patrons five cents 
each. In those early days, the theater offered live music alongside 
these silent films before the first talking picture in 1927.
  Today, Plaza 1907 remains an important piece of Kansas and American 
history. Kansans and visitors alike can enjoy new films and Classic 
Movie Mondays along with a memorabilia museum amongst the charm of 
Ottawa, Kansas.

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