Qualla: Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina)

Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina): Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Indy beetle, CC0. Robert Ingram, Sr. ran the Coca-Cola bottling plant in a railroad town of 3,500 people, and in 1925 he decided that Sanford needed a theatre worthy of bigger places. He spent freely. The local Sanford Express promised readers that he had spared no expense to make it an up-to-date playhouse, and the brick building that rose half a block from the depot - 50 feet wide, 92 feet deep, two stories of Colonial Revival and Art Deco trim - was meant to last. It took its name from the Masonic Lodge next door. Almost a century later, the same building still hosts six professional productions a season, and a copper marquee still spells TEMPLE above Steele Street.

Image: Indy beetle | CC0

Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina): Vaudeville to Vacancy

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD, CC BY-SA 3.0. For decades the Temple was Lee County's principal seat of entertainment. Its location half a block from the rail station made it a natural stop on the vaudeville circuits, then a destination for 1930s touring road shows and burlesque, and finally a movie house. By the 1960s the S...

Image: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0

Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina): The Bottler's Son

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Upstateherd, CC BY-SA 4.0. Rescue came from the family that built it. In 1981 Robert Ingram, Jr. deeded the vandalized shell to the citizens of Lee County, a gift that gave the rescue effort something to work with. Sam Bass shepherded the building onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, whic...

Image: Upstateherd | CC BY-SA 4.0

Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina): Going Professional

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD, CC BY-SA 3.0. The community-theatre era ended faster than anyone expected. By 1987 the Temple was producing three fully paid summer shows. By 1989 it was signing Actors' Equity contracts. In the spring of 1990 the board accepted a budget that paid actors during the regular season, which effect...

Image: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0

Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina): What the Lobby Remembers

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD, CC BY-SA 3.0. The interior tells the story the most clearly. The original hexagonal-tile floor still runs through the lobby, painted walls and wooden trim flanking it, a crystal chandelier hanging above. Twin staircases sweep up to a balcony where the restored painted tin ceiling shows best - ...

Image: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0

Temple Theatre (Sanford, North Carolina): Who Has Played Here

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD, CC BY-SA 3.0. The list of names the Temple's stage has held is unreasonable for a town this size. Count Basie and the Glenn Miller Band. The Kingston Trio. The Red Clay Ramblers and the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Mark Wills, The Embers, and Nantucket. As a Comedy Zone venue it has ho...

Image: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0