Description
Photograph of William “Billy” Dalke, Sr., who lived in Woodstock and was best known for the string of successful movie theaters he owned and managed in Shenandoah County.
By the 1940’s, two of his theaters were in Woodstock: The Uptown Theater in the Hotel Woodstock (aka Holtzman Hotel) which later burned and the Dalke Theater on Main Street (opened in 1940 and, as of 2023, is still operating as the Woodstock Community Theater).
Born in “West Prussia” (now Germany), his parents were Bernard Michael Dalke (1861-1904) and Louise Henriette Schumann (1863-1937). He married Nora Amanda Carroll (1897-1988), the daughter of William and Sarah (Stoner) Carroll. Together, they had a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, William F. Dalke, Jr. His son later built the Family Drive-In Theater outside Winchester in 1956.
Contributor
Identified by Virginia Rutz who was subject's distant cousin and also by Miriam M. Irwin.
Additional biographical information compiled from public records.