Plaza Grill and Cinema

The Plaza in Ottawa, Kansas, holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest purpose-built cinema still in operation anywhere on Earth, having opened in 1907 — beating a Danish rival by a mere two days when it formally applied for the record in June 2017. Built during the Edwardian era specifically as a movie house, it has never stopped showing films, making it a living document of early cinema history rather than a restored relic. The attached grill serves moviegoers before and after screenings, preserving the small-town neighborhood-cinema experience that most cities lost decades ago. Catching a film here means sitting in the same purpose-built screening room that audiences have used for over a century.