Walton Theatre
735 E. Chelten Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19138
735 E. Chelten Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19138
2 people
favorited this theater
The Walton Theatre was a 650 seat theatre built in 1915 at a cost of $12,000. Given its smaller size, it was built primarily as a movie house. This was the last of Germantown’s theatres to close. I don’t know exactly when it closed for good, but I believe it was in the late 1970s. It remained vacant for a few years and was destroyed by fire in the early to mid 1980s.
Contributed by
DennisMcG
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The Walton Theatre Closed in 1974. In its later years until the time it closed it was called the Walton Art Theatre. The site is now a dry cleaners and laundry owned by Helen Garofalo.
It did close as the Walton Art Theatre in 1974. From roughly 1961 to 1974, the Walton showed XXX films, to the chagrin of the neighborhood. It re-opened, I believe, in 1976 and attempted to operate as a legitimate theatre showing 2nd-run films. I’m really going off memory but I believe that lasted until 1978. When it closed, it closed for good and remained vacant for several years. It caught fire in the early to mid 1980s. The building was demolished shortly after that. There are two retail stores on the site today.
Here is a tumbnail picture of the Walton, when it was vacant and after it was destoyed by fire.
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This was my neighborhood theatre, but was never in it because of the films they showed there. The Walton was a legitimate theatre for most of its life, but was an XXX theatre in my growing-up years. Curious about the interior. Anybody remember, please email me at or post what you remember here. Thanks
A Gottfried theater organ was installed in the Walton Theater in 1923.
If anyone has any stories about going to/ working at this threatre in its adult days, I would love to hear them. I am chronicling the histories of adult theatres in the US. Please contact me at Thanks!