A 1925 vaudeville house in Sanford with original Art Deco stonework, hidden trap doors, and two documented paranormal investigations by The Ghost Guild in 2017 and 2024.
120 Carthage Street, Sanford, NC 27330
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by production. See website for current show listings and pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored commercial theater building with accessible seating areas; some backstage areas with original period flooring
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1925 · National Register of Historic Places · Art Deco / Colonial Revival Architecture · Vaudeville Era Entertainment · Lee County Historic Landmark
The Temple Theatre at 120 Carthage Street in Sanford, North Carolina opened in 1925, commissioned by Robert Ingram Sr., owner of the Sanford Coca-Cola Bottling Company, when the city had a population of roughly 3,500. The name came from the building's position next door to Sanford's Masonic Lodge. Ingram built a two-story brick structure measuring 50 feet wide by 92 feet deep and appointed it with cut stone details in a blend of Colonial Revival and Art Deco styles — among the more ambitious architectural undertakings in Lee County at the time.
The building served as a vaudeville house and movie theater through the mid-20th century. The original interior features include tin ceilings, hidden trap doors in the stage floor, and the structural bones of the original performance space. The theatre closed in the 1960s, and for a period the building gathered the kind of stories that attach to shuttered commercial buildings in small downtown cores.
The Temple Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1983. Subsequent restoration work brought the building back into active use; it is now home to the Temple Theatre Company, which stages a full season of productions in the historic space.
The building's resurrection has not entirely displaced its haunted reputation — WRAL News featured the theatre in a segment titled 'Hidden Secrets Inside a Century-Old Vaudeville House in Sanford,' noting ghost stories among its architectural curiosities. The Ghost Guild, a paranormal investigation group, has visited and documented findings at the venue twice.
Sources
The Temple Theatre's ghost reputation developed during the years it sat closed, when the combination of an empty performance space, period architectural details, and a downtown small-town setting generated the stories common to such buildings. The hidden trap doors — a standard vaudeville stage feature — became a focal point for the lore: stage crew working in the empty building before restoration reported unease near the stage floor access points.
The Ghost Guild, a North Carolina-based paranormal investigation group, has visited the Temple Theatre twice in recorded history: a 2017 investigation and a 2024 return documented on their site. The specific findings from those sessions are not fully detailed in publicly available write-ups, but the fact of two separate visits separated by seven years suggests the group found the location productive enough to revisit.
A 2019 WRAL News segment on the theatre's 'hidden secrets' included ghost stories alongside the architectural curiosities as part of what makes the building interesting to visitors. The stories are integrated into the identity of the restored building rather than treated as a liability — a common outcome for historic theaters that successfully reclaim their audience.
Media Appearances
Live theatrical productions at this 1925 vaudeville house, now operated by the Temple Theatre Company. The season includes musicals, dramas, and community productions. Visitors can see the original Art Deco stonework, tin ceilings, and the stage area above which the building's hidden trap doors were discovered.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Salisbury, NC
The building at 212 S Main St in downtown Salisbury was constructed in 1922 as a Baptist church. It later converted to use as a community theater and now operates as the Old Courthouse Theatre, one of Salisbury's primary performing arts venues.
Memphis, TN
The Orpheum Theatre opened November 19, 1928, replacing the Grand Opera House that had stood on the same Main-and-Beale corner since 1890 before burning to the ground in 1923. Designed by Chicago's Rapp and Rapp at a cost of $1.6 million, it served vaudeville, then movies, and today operates as a 2,308-seat Broadway-touring house.
Wausau, WI
The Grand Theater opened in November 1927 on the site of the 1899 Grand Opera House, which it replaced after the original structure was demolished. It serves as Wausau's primary performing arts venue and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.