Ken Roe’s upload, “The secondary 42nd Street entrance to the American Theatre in the 1890’s,” is actually the 8th Avenue entrance. The Franklin Savings Bank is at far left.
In this 1927 map the name seems to be Hollywood Theatre (admittedly it’s hard to make out), which confirms Judith’s comment that it was called that right from the beginning.
Here is a map from 1925, in which the buildings occupying the site look like a row of houses, so it seems unlikely a smaller theater preceded the Hollywood.
An article in The New York Times of January 19, 1913, describes the Jefferson Theatre and Hamilton Theatre (http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1353), which opened on the 23rd and 25th, respectively. Of the Jefferson, it reports: “A life-sized bust of Thomas Jefferson adorns the main entrance.…A large mural painting over the sounding board shows Thomas Jefferson addressing an assemblage of people of his time.”
“Two New Theatres,” col. 6, The New York Times, January 19, 1913.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E0DE1D6123BE633A2575AC1A9679C946296D6CF
I do not think it is correct that the theater opened with the name Mark Strand Theatre, which was the name of the realty company that owned it; the first evidence of that name I can find is an ad from September 1919, in The Evening World (NY) (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1919-09-02/ed-1/seq-19.pdf); that was long after Rothapfel had left. Googling turns up nothing earlier, and “Cinema Treasures” by Melnick and Fuchs (p. 27f.) doesn’t mention it. So it seems the opening name was Strand Theatre.
Ken Roe’s upload, “The secondary 42nd Street entrance to the American Theatre in the 1890’s,” is actually the 8th Avenue entrance. The Franklin Savings Bank is at far left.
I’m guessing the photo labeled as taken in 2014 was actually taken in 1914.
In this 1927 map the name seems to be Hollywood Theatre (admittedly it’s hard to make out), which confirms Judith’s comment that it was called that right from the beginning.
Here is a map from 1925, in which the buildings occupying the site look like a row of houses, so it seems unlikely a smaller theater preceded the Hollywood.
An article in The New York Times of January 19, 1913, describes the Jefferson Theatre and Hamilton Theatre (http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1353), which opened on the 23rd and 25th, respectively. Of the Jefferson, it reports: “A life-sized bust of Thomas Jefferson adorns the main entrance.…A large mural painting over the sounding board shows Thomas Jefferson addressing an assemblage of people of his time.”
“Two New Theatres,” col. 6, The New York Times, January 19, 1913. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E0DE1D6123BE633A2575AC1A9679C946296D6CF
A few photos at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:RKO_Fordham_Theatre,_Bronx
Photos at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pilgrim_Church,_formerly_Loew%27s_Gates_Theatre
The url in my comment above has changed to https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Loew%27s_Sheridan_Theatre,_Manhattan
Some photos at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sheridan_Theatre,_Manhattan
More on the name at Wikipedia: Strand Theatre (Manhattan) and its Talk page.
I do not think it is correct that the theater opened with the name Mark Strand Theatre, which was the name of the realty company that owned it; the first evidence of that name I can find is an ad from September 1919, in The Evening World (NY) (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1919-09-02/ed-1/seq-19.pdf); that was long after Rothapfel had left. Googling turns up nothing earlier, and “Cinema Treasures” by Melnick and Fuchs (p. 27f.) doesn’t mention it. So it seems the opening name was Strand Theatre.