BAZETTA — Fairgoers visiting the Trumbull County Fair this week can check out the latest addition to the historical village — a 1930s-era Penny Theater.

Jeff Ford of Vienna and his brother, Scott of Austintown, spent the spring restoring the small theater, which debuted at the fair last year, but wasn’t finished. The theater will be open noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through July 13, with a live performance at 4 p.m. Tuesday by Two Fiddles and a Pick of Canfield.

Ford said the name Penny Theater came from seats once used by the members of the former Copper Penny Masonic Lodge.

“When the Robins Theater in Niles was in the process of being torn down, Shawn Curry from the Fowler General Store and I got a chance to go inside and tour it,” he said. “I thought of building a small theater at the fairgrounds. We had blue theater-style seats from the Copper Penny Lodge.”

The theater features a stage with theater decorations, and framed pictures and information about theaters and opera houses throughout Trumbull County.

“People can see what the theater looked like back then,” Ford said.

On the ceiling are 1930s-style chandeliers.

There is also an old-style radio display, portraying a time when families used to sit around and listen to the radio before the advent of television. The radio will play mystery and crime shows.

“This year, we will have 1930s and 1940s swing music playing both inside and outside the building,” Ford said.

Ford said there are plans to get a projector and screen to show old “shorts” in the future.

RECREATING PAST

Ford and his wife, Christine Novicky of the Vienna Historical Society, researched information on the different theaters and got the photos together, including the Liberty Palace Theater that was in Tylee Park in Hubbard and the Robins Theater in Warren.

There were many theaters built in the 1800s, and in the 1930s and 1940s, theaters were booming, Ford said.

Theaters were visual entertainment, since at home they only had radios. The cool spaces were another big draw, Novicky said.

“One of the things the theaters advertised was air conditioning,” Ford said. “In old photos, you see on the theater marquee, ‘air conditioning,’ which would bring people in. Very few people had air conditioning in their house in the 1930s.”

Ford said there are very few historic theaters left in the area.

“I have people who come to the fair every year and tell me they enjoy coming through the buildings. It is nice to know the people enjoy it,” he said.

The one-floor theater was donated by MillCraft Barns in Niles, who were impressed by the Ford brothers’ dedication. DB Heating and Cooling of Vienna donated the HVAC system and the fair board handled the electrical work.

Construction of the theater building began in February 2024 at MillCraft Barns in Millersburg. Within a month, the structure was finished and delivered to the fairgrounds on Feb. 28, 2024. After it was delivered, the Ford brothers began searching for items for the theater’s interior. Chandeliers from the 1920s, wallpaper, sconces and several other items were purchased to furnish it.

Besides the theater in the historical village, Ford said people can tour a coal mine, jail, saloon, blacksmith shop and church. Novicky said the historic church will feature displays from several Trumbull County historical societies.

Local groups scheduled to exhibit inside the historic church include the Bazetta-Cortland Historical Society, Fowler Historical Society, Leavittsburg Heritage Center, National McKinley Birthplace Museum, Trumbull County Historical Society, Vienna Historical Society, Warren Heritage Center, Local History and Genealogy Center, and Warren-Trumbull County Public Library.

Ford said he remembers family vacations to Greenfield Village in Michigan, which has small replica buildings set up from the Thomas Edison era.

“I was 9 years old and always remember going there. You could learn so much from walking through the buildings. I found that so interesting. I want to do the same thing here to teach local stuff about our county. You don’t always learn that at school,” Ford said.

He said at some point, he would like to have local schools tour the historic village.

“They could come here and eat their lunch in the pavilion, and we could take them through the building and talk about the history,” Ford said.