Port Morris Theater

I can add much to this discussion from my family’s history at that location. In 1921, my grandparents, Aaron and Ida Greenberg, first operated a houseware shop at 574 E. 138th Street which was adjacent to the Port Morris Theater at 580 E. 138th Street. When the Port Morris closed, it was gutted, the sloped floor removed and it was converted into a two floor 9500 sq feet retail store. My grandfather and his brother in law, Herman Miller then opened Greenhill Hardware in the now converted Port Morris theater space in 1929. My father and my uncle later joined the business and they operated it until approximately 1960 when it was sold to another family. The new owner kept the Greenhill name and remained in the 580 E. 138th Street space until the mid 1990’s when the business relocated to E. 132nd Street where it remains to this day. I have some older photo’s, one from the 1940’s and another from the mid 1990’s if anyone would like to see them. If so, email me at Hope this helps! Shep Greenberg

I walked by this location today, and there is a functioning clothing shop in this storefront now. It’s not clear whether the building is still for sale or not.

But the more interesting discovery on my walk occurred 2 blocks to the east, where I noticed a building that is on an irregularly shaped block bounded by 138th and 139th Streets (east-west), and Jackson Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard (north-south). The front of the building faces Bruckner. It currently houses a lumber company. This area adjoins the Port Morris neighborhood, which has always been an industrial/manufacturing district. But what struck me was that the facade of the building and the curved shape of the roof strongly resembled an old theater building. Given its size, I’d estimate it could have held a couple thousand people. However, I’ve had no luck finding references to a theater at this location via any of my sources. Lost Memory, are you there? Got any tips? If you do a google map (satellite view) of E. 139th Street and Jackson Avenue, Bronx, it is the building to the southeast of that intersection.

Sohmer’s Highway was a real theater? I came across a message board that had some theater names and that was one of them. The site was a cached page so the conversation was already started and I couldn’t go to the beginning or end. I saw the words “movie' and "theater” and thought that I might have found something. I only wrote down two of the names because they seemed kind of “odd” for a movie theater. Sohmer’s Highway was one name and Sparta Hotel was another. I’ll see if I can find that page again. Thanks for taking the time to research Sohmer’s Highway.

While were on the subject of theater research, was there ever a theater called Sohmer’s Highway located somewhere in NYC, operating in the 1920’s?

I’ve just looked through the entire NY State in the 1914 -1915 A.M.P.D and it’s not listed either by name or address(:

In Trow’s Business Directory for 1911, Friedman & Petters are listed as operating two “Moving Picture Exhibitions”: 414 E. 149th and 580 E. 138th Streets. Once again Trow’s does not give theatre names.

Normally, a real estate wouldn’t suggest that a building could be used as a movie theater unless it was used for that purpose at one time. There must be some sign of a former theater inside that building.

Thanks for the info Ken. This is what is located at this address today. The building looks like it could have been a small theater at one time. When you click on the ‘Click for setup’ pdf. file at this link, it reads in part “Ideal for a large store, gym, movie theater, etc”.