On January 31, 1909 at about 4:00 AM, a fire started in the Fisher & Company building and before it could be extinguished twenty-two buildings in downtown Milton had been destroyed. Things got so bad that night that Milton had to call Pensacola for help with their new steam fire engine that they loaded on a special train and brought over. The total loss from the tragedy was $135,000 ($3.9 million in 2022), made worse by the high wind that fanned the flames throughout the business district. When talk of rebuilding commenced several suggestions were made such as extending the Pine Street Wharf and building a public opera house.
Thus, was born Milton's historical cornerstone that would become the Imogene Theater located at 6866 Caroline St, Milton, Florida. It was built in 1912 with funds provided by Stephen J. Harvey (1872-1915) from the Milton’s First National Bank. The 8,000 square foot building was built with the concept of "fireproofing" in mind by using six layers of brick in its walls. When all was finished and done the Milton Opera House was opened in October 1913. Not only were the ever-popular vaudeville acts played out on the stage but the advent of the silent movies made its way inside as well.
For whatever reason the Opera House was sold to Clyde Owen Gooch (1880-1921) and his wife Chloe Mae Roach (1885-1962) in 1921. Clyde was the son of a Confederate veteran of the Civil War by the name of Paul McKenzie Gooch (1845-1930). Paul had enlistment on April 1, 1863 as a private in Company "B" of the 6th North Carolina Infantry Regiment in Lenoir County, NC. He was wounded at Winchester, Virginia on October 29, 1864 and captured then paroled and exchanged on November 20th.
Clyde and Chloe were married in 1903 in Hopkins County, KY and would bring forth one daughter Imogene Loval Gooch (1909-1944), born on July 14, 1909 in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Her father had been a farmer in 1900 and a railroad switchman in 1910. During WWI he had moved his family to Marianna where he farmed for the George Paul Company out of Blountstown. Florida. Shortly thereafter in 1920, he was running a motion picture house in Marianna, which I'm sure brought him into contact with others in the industry. Hearing that the Milton Opera House was for sale, he bought it and moved his family there. Upon arrival he changed its name to the Imogene Theater after his beloved young daughter who loved to dance! In fact, it is said that Imogene performed on stage the very first night of her parent's ownership.
Sadly, Clyde died in 1921 shortly after his purchase and they sent his body north by rail to be buried in the Springdale Cemetery in Sebree, Webster County, Kentucky. Chloe and Imogene returned to Marianna where she would eventually marry Joseph O. Holland (1895-1968) prior to 1930. In the meantime, Imogene would enter Florida State College for Woman around 1928. She would join the Delta Zeta sorority that same year but after one year at FSUW she returned to Marianna. In 1930, she was living with her mother and stepfather while working as a bookkeeper for an automobile agency owned by her stepfather. The next year she would marry US Army Lt. Albert Jarrett Bell (1907-1971) in Marianna on December 25, 1931. One daughter would result from the marriage, Algene Bell (born 1935), whose name was derived from combining her parents first names together.
The newlywed’s family would move shortly to Miami where they raised their daughter and her husband took employment. There, Albert became a salesman for the Belcher Oil refinery company and is said to have played for the University of Miami's first football team. After WWII came, it appears that Albert may had returned to military duty since his tombstone states he was a veteran. Whether due to the war or other reasons Imogene and Algene returned to Pensacola and lived with her mother and stepfather at 818 North Baylen Street. There, Imogene would pass away on May 11, 1944 after a long illness and was buried alone in St. John's Cemetery.
Albert would remarry in Miami in 1947 to Ilene W. Jenkins and would eventually become the president of the Dixie Bell Oil Company there. He would pass away in 1971 at the age of 64-years old. As far as Algene, she would marry Cyrus Heyward Oemler on February 28, 1958 in Palm Beach, Florida.
As for the Imogene Theater, it has certainly survived as the center of Milton's historic district long past her namesake, or has she? Before long, a story surfaced about the ghost of a young girl that was seen performing on stage and was said to be about the height of the youthful Imogene was in 1921. Is it Imogene or some other forgotten haint from a previous era? The legend apparently was strong enough for Tammy Misner to open a paranormal investigation in 2018 in an attempt to substantiate the legend. But perhaps, after being left all alone by her family at St. John’s Cemetery, Imogene chose to return to the site of happier times when her father was alive and she could dance and sang for her father on stage!
But regardless of its ghostly apparition, the Imogene lives on and has seen the likes of Hank Williams, Hank Locklin, Minnie Pearl and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan adorned its stage. The old historic building is now under the ownership of the Santa Rosa Historical Society and hopefully does not follow the path of Pensacola's long-lost landmark of the San Carlos Hotel.
Photo by Edward A. McGrath
Pensacola News Journal 2-2-1909
Pensacola News Journal 2-2-1909
Pensacola News Journal 2-3-1909
Birth Certificate of Imogene Loval Gooch, July 14, 1909
Northwest Florida Daily News c2021 (2018)
Northwest Florida Daily News (2018)
Pledging of Delta Zeta 1928
Florida State College for Women
Pensacola News Journal 1-11-1931
Military Registration Card of Imogene's husband living in Miami, Florida 1939
Pensacola News Journal 5-12-1944
Pensacola News Journal 5-12-1944
St. John's Cemetery, Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida
Imogene's daughter Miami High
School 1953 and attended Florida State
Daughter 11-22-1958
Miami Herald
11-9-1971 obit Miami Herald
Pensacola News Journal 10-13-1913
Opening of the Milton Opera House
Milton fire, Pensacola News Journal 1-6-2009
Milton fire, Pensacola News Journal 1-6-2009
Damage to the Imogene Theater from the 1-6-2009 fire
Pensacola News Journal 8-6-1944.....During WWII, the Imogene Theater was declared "off limits" by the US Military. The legislative power to restrict military personnel in such a manner came from the "May Act" passed in 1941. The Act enabled the Department of Justice to override any local authority that they considered a threat to the safety of military or industrial workers. The forbidden establishments were placed under the authority of Federal agents and military police to control vice activities around military installations. Their main target was any form of vice or immoral activities including lewdness or prostitution. Those located in Milton were the Riverview Café, on Highway 90 (two miles east of Ellyson Field) and the Imogene Theater in downtown Milton.
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