Monday, December 21, 2009

Old Theaters on H Street

33082v
Demolished in 1955, it stood at 624 H Street. Photo from the Library of Congress.

Other old theaters on H Street and Florida Ave:

[1910-?]
The Maycroft
621-23 H St NE
Outdoor theater
(Mike Rivest presentation referenced below)
Cinema Tour says it was also called the Crystal and the Pastime.

[1913-1955]
Apollo Theatre*
624 H St NE
AKA: Grandalls Apollo
 *this is also the location given for Imp Park, which is described as an outdoor theater (Mike Rivest presentation referenced below).

[1910-?]
Dixie Theatre
800-02 H St NE


[1913-?]
Empire Theatre
911 H St NE

[building permit issued in 1909, demolished 1948 per Cinema Treasures]
Princess Theater
1119 H St NE
*Mike Rivest gives a rough earliest date of 1930 for this one, also indicating that it was owned by KB.

[1938-current]
The Atlas
1333 H St NE

[1906-?]
Diamond Theatre
1342 H St NE

[1943-1952]
The Plymouth
1365 H St NE
An African-American 300 seater.
(Mike Rivest presentation referenced below).

 [1945-1977]
Langston Theatre
2501-07 Benning Road NE
Demolished
(CinemaTour)
District Theatre owned 696 seater (Mike Rivest).

[1913-1925]
Florida Theatre
1438 Florida Ave NE

The Imperial
821 12th St NE
(Mike Rivest presentation referenced below).

[1915-1952]
Home Theatre
1228-30 C St NE
(CinamaTour)
Mike Rivest says Stanley Warner owned this 645 seater.

Unless otherwise stated, I found this info here. In case you were wondering, the Atlas was built in 1938.

*************************
UPDATE
*************************
I added the Princess Theater, The Imp, The Imperial, the Maycroft, and some links above. Also check out this presentation by Mike Rivest or movie-theatre.org.

8 comments:

poo likes old bldgs said...

pretty cool. too bad that it was knocked down. ugh. so many cool bldgs wer're torn down...

Eric Sibley said...

I looked up all of the addresses you listed. A lot of those theaters must have been really, really old. Even the buildings there now are pre-WW2. The Apollo (pictured) however, was replaced by the building that now houses Murray's, Good Danny's and King's Discount Store. Maybe not what the original purpose what, but certainly not far from it. I'd have to say, a waste.

Anonymous said...

Anybody know how to get prints of these?

Derek said...

anon 11:26 - click onto the highlighted link Library of Congress Inked created and it should direct you to how you can get copies.

Margaret said...

Movies are coming back to the Atlas theater!! A new screen will soon be installed and it should be in place for the Intersections Festival, to be held over three weekends in late February and early March. http://intersectionsdc.com/

There may be a second smaller screen as well. Lots of plans pending for film festivals.
The Atlas started out as a movie house on H. Won't it be great to have our own movie theater again?
Where are you, Jen??? Got more details for us?

Tom A. said...

"LIKE"

Jen said...

It's true, the Atlas Performing Arts center will be getting a movie screen in the new year.

We are working with someone who will be the film programmer but are still finalizing details so I can't say for sure what sort of films we will feature but it's safe to say we won't be offering the latest blockbuster.

More than likely they will feature fine arts films, older film (I'm really hoping for a Hitchcock series.)...maybe some new release indies...The Atlas will also be another venue available to film festivals.

Personally, I think we should try to screen the very first film ever shown at the old Atlas Theater, a Mickey Rooney flick called Love Finds Andy Hardy. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030386/plotsummary

And yes Margaret, the screen will definitely be used during the upcoming Intersections festival, Feb 19- March 7 2010. http://www.intersectionsdc.org/

have a great holiday everyone! Happy New Year!
Jen

Sean Hennessey said...

very cool.