story by Kelly Parker
In 1985, a group of dedicated citizens from all around Dillon County came together to form the Dillon County Theatre Board. Their mission was to raise the capital necessary to restore the former movie theatre as a venue to hold performances for the community and to have a building that could be rented by other organizations or individuals for the same purpose. The theatre, built in 1917, is one of the few remaining examples of pure Spanish Colonial architecture in South Carolina and is on the National Register of Historic Places. On January 26-28, 1990 the Dillon County Theatre was opened with a weekend filled with entertainment and activities. The Theatre has been thriving since.
Most recently, Dillon County and the surrounding community have been chosen by SC Humanities through a competitive application process to host Crossroads: Change in Rural America as part of the Museum on Main Street program—a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. Crossroads: Change in Rural America is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions. The exhibition will tour six communities in South Carolina from September 2018 through June 2019.
Crossroads offers small towns a chance to envision their futures and engage in discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that occurred. Despite the massive economic and demographic impacts brought on by these changes, America’s small towns creatively continue to find new opportunities for growth and development. Many wonderful activities will be held in conjunction with the exhibit, including a writing workshop entitled Communal Pen: A Writing Workshop Celebrating Memories, Stories, and Traditions of Place to be held on June 8 at the Dillon Library.
For more information visit our website www.DillonCountyTheatre.com.