Constantine Theater

Pawhuska's Constantine Theater is a restored early twentieth-century performance hall with a history stretching back to the territorial-era community that became the heart of Osage County. Like many old theaters, it has collected stories of unexplained footsteps, voices, shadows and other strange activity from people who have worked in the building. The Constantine Theater in downtown Pawhuska is more than a century-old entertainment venue, but its story actually begins before there was a theater at all. The building at 110 W. Main Street incorporates part of one of Pawhuska’s earliest permanent commercial buildings, originally known as the Pawhuska House hotel. Constructed in the late nineteenth century from local sandstone, the Pawhuska House belonged to an early generation of buildings that appeared as Pawhuska developed around the Osage Agency. Portions of that old hotel would eventually become the entrance and front section of the Constantine, giving the theater a physical connection to Pawhuska’s earliest years. The transformation began after Charles A. Constantine arrived in Pawhuska in 1911. Constantine was a Greek immigrant and entrepreneur from Constantinople—modern-day Istanbul—who came to town during a period of tremendous economic change in Osage County. Oil development was beginning to generate extraordinary wealth in the Osage Nation, and Pawhuska was rapidly developing into an important commercial and cultural center. Constantine recognized an opportunity to create a first-class entertainment venue and began transforming the old Pawhuska House into an elaborate theater. He reportedly sought skilled craftsmen and acoustical expertise for the project, installing comfortable seating, heating and ventilation while creating an ornate auditorium intended to rival theaters in much larger cities. The Constantine began entertaining audiences in 1914, initially showing the silent film “Neptune’s Daughter.” Its formal grand opening followed on December 22, 1914, with a performance of the popular comic opera “The Prince of Pilsen.” The theater soon became one of Pawhuska’s primary gathering places. Traveling stage productions, vaudeville performers, musicians and motion pictures appeared there, giving residents of what was still a relatively young Oklahoma town access to forms of entertainment sweeping the country. The interior featured an ornate proscenium surrounding the stage, decorative plasterwork and architectural details that reflected the ambitions of Constantine and the prosperous community developing around him. The theater’s history is closely connected with one of the most remarkable economic periods in Oklahoma history. During the early twentieth century, enormous petroleum discoveries beneath Osage lands made Osage County one of the centers of the American oil industry. Pawhuska became the site of famous Osage oil lease auctions, where rights to drill on Osage mineral lands were sold to competing petroleum companies. Some of those auctions and related gatherings were held at the Constantine, bringing oilmen and investors into the theater during the height of the Osage oil boom. Figures associated with Oklahoma’s developing petroleum industry, including Frank Phillips and William G. Skelly, were among those who participated in the era’s Pawhuska lease auctions. For a time, the Constantine stood at the intersection of entertainment, business and the extraordinary oil wealth reshaping Osage County. That prosperity also existed alongside one of the darkest chapters in Oklahoma history. The tremendous value of Osage mineral headrights led to exploitation, fraud and a series of murders of Osage people during the 1920s that became known as the Osage Reign of Terror. While the Constantine itself was not the center of those crimes, the theater survives from the same period and landscape. Its connection to Pawhuska’s oil-boom years places it within the broader story of a time when extraordinary wealth flowed through Osage County while members of the Osage Nation were simultaneously being targeted for that wealth. Understanding that larger history adds important context to the world in which the Constantine flourished. The theater experienced its share of difficulties almost from the beginning. A major flood struck Pawhuska in 1915, but the Constantine survived and continued operating. Charles Constantine eventually encountered financial difficulties and sold the theater in 1926. Ownership changed several times afterward, but the building remained an important part of community life as entertainment shifted from traveling stage shows and vaudeville toward motion pictures. Like theaters across America, the Constantine adapted to changing technology and tastes, becoming increasingly associated with movies during the golden age of the neighborhood theater. By the later twentieth century, however, both the building and downtown Pawhuska were struggling. The theater eventually operated under the name Kihekah Movie Theatre before closing in 1974. For roughly a decade, the old building sat vacant as deterioration threatened a structure that had once been among the community’s most important gathering places. Pawhuska itself was experiencing population loss and economic decline, and the future of the Constantine looked increasingly uncertain. The theater’s survival became one of Pawhuska’s great historic-preservation stories. In 1984, local residents organized the Pawhuska Downtown Revitalization and Preservation Association and began working to save historic buildings in the community. The Constantine became a major focus of those efforts. Restoration work began in earnest in 1987, and much of it was accomplished not by a large commercial developer but by volunteers, community members and even local high school carpentry students. Donations and assistance arrived from throughout the region as residents worked to bring the theater back from decades of decline. The restoration revealed and preserved many of the features that had given the Constantine its character. Its historic auditorium, decorative proscenium, ceiling and other architectural details were repaired while efforts were made to recover the atmosphere of the early theater. By 1988, the structure had been declared sound, marking an important milestone in a preservation project that came to symbolize Pawhuska’s determination to protect its past. The Constantine is also a contributing historic building within the Pawhuska Downtown Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Constantine once again functions as a community performing-arts venue. Operated with significant volunteer involvement, it hosts performances, concerts, films and community events while preserving the character of an early twentieth-century theater. That continued use may be the most remarkable part of its story. Rather than simply preserving an empty building as an artifact, generations of Pawhuska residents have worked to return the Constantine to something close to its original purpose—a place where the community can gather and be entertained. Like many historic theaters, the Constantine has also developed a considerable collection of ghost stories. Visitors, volunteers and performers have reported unexplained footsteps, unusual sounds, shadowy figures and other strange occurrences inside the old building. One of the best-known stories concerns a female apparition sometimes identified in local folklore as Sappho Constantine, Charles Constantine’s daughter. Accounts vary considerably, and there is no historical evidence establishing that paranormal activity occurs at the theater. The stories are better understood as part of the folklore that has accumulated around a building where generations of people have gathered for more than a century. The ghost stories may add some mystery, but the real story of the Constantine is arguably much more interesting. Within one building are layers of Pawhuska history stretching from the territorial era and the early Pawhuska House through the Osage oil boom, vaudeville, silent movies, Hollywood’s golden age, downtown decline and the historic-preservation movement that eventually saved the theater. Even parts of the original nineteenth-century structure remain incorporated into the building visitors see today. For travelers exploring Pawhuska, the Constantine provides a different perspective on a community often associated primarily with Osage history, oil wealth and the modern revival of its downtown. Step inside the theater and you are entering a building that has witnessed nearly the entire development of modern Pawhuska. Its stage and auditorium tell the story of entertainment, but the building itself tells something larger—a story of boom and decline, changing generations and a community that ultimately decided an important piece of its history was worth saving.