Ray Theater
116 SE Fifth Avenue,
Olympia,
WA
98501
116 SE Fifth Avenue,
Olympia,
WA
98501
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Theater opened on Saturday April 18, 1914 and closed on Tuesday December 2, 1924. The manager of the theater was a Mr. H. T. Moore. The last movie shown at the theater was “Single Wives” starring Corinne Griffith and Milton Sills. The openings in 1924 of both the Liberty Theater (later called the Olympic) and the Capitol Theater forced the Ray Theater to close.
Good. I’m on the other end of town anyway.
You can stop walking. According to this document the building at 116 SE Fifth Avenue was built in 1941. That means that the theater is gone. The status should be demolished.
The address at the top of this page reads South East.
The building at 116 E. Fifth is an indoor mall, newer construction. I don’t know if 116 Fifth SE is a different address. I will keep walking on Fifth.
If it’s open today, I will take a look inside.
The bank extensively remodeled this theater. Hidden up behind the suspended ceiling are some artwork from the theater.
I’ll take a look today, but if the bank is there my opinion would be that the theater was demolished long ago.
A Wurlitzer organ Opus 481 Style 135A was installed in the Ray Theater on 12/15/1921.
this link suggests that the original building may have been demolished:
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This theater was operated by the Zabel family. They operated many local Olympia, Washington theaters over the years. Back in the early years (around 1910 to 1930) their company was known as Olympia Amusement Company. Later, the name was changed to Zabel Theater Company.