Updated 02/11/2006
The Moorlyn was originally a Bowling Alley. It seems to have been built before 1905, after the Simms building at Moorlyn Terrace, and before the Music Pavilion. The property was purchased on April 3, 1902 for $375.
The upstairs held the Casino Club, or ballroom, with large windows overlooking the boardwalk.
And before there was Kohr Bros.® ice cream, there was Crane's Pure Ice Cream on the corner of Moorlyn Terrace and Boardwalk.
At some point the BOWLING CASINO sign was replaced with a "C. Ellwood Carpenter Casino Club" sign. There is no mention of bowling, and no mention of a theater either. I don't know why.
This seems to be an in-between time before it became the Moorlyn Theatre in 1922, and I wonder if it was still a bowling alley (without a sign) or if it was something else. Perhaps the bowling alley closed and only the Casino Club remained open. Who knows.
Blueprints show the theater seats being installed in 1922 and an organ installed the same year, so this was probably the first version of the Moorlyn Theatre.
%20No%20postmark.jpg "Casino Club")
