Capitol Theater
1521 Elm Street,
Dallas,
TX
75201
1521 Elm Street,
Dallas,
TX
75201
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The Capitol Theater was opened December 19, 1922. The theater was next door to the Rialto Theater, and the Mirror Theater was on the west side.
The Capitol Theater specialized in Saturday westerns and serials. Popular during its hey-day, with the arrival of television, the old show house bit the dust in 1956 and was torn down during the 1960’s.
Contributed by
Billy Holcomb
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
A view of the Capitol Theater from 1938 at the world premier of “Under Western Stars” with western stars Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette in attendance.
From 1933, a postcard view of the Capitol Theater on Elm Street in Dallas along with the Mirror, Old Mill and Palace.
From the 1930s a postcard view of the Capitol Theater on Theater Row in Dallas.
The exterior is very impressive. Sure wish someone could post some interior shots. I can’t imagine the style is “unknown”.
kathy, if you can get a copy of Jeanette Crumpler’s book about Dallas’s downtown movie theaters, “Street of Dreams,” there is an interior shot showing the screen/stage area on page 94.
75050 zipcode in address maps to Carrolton, TX, not Dallas; correct zip is 75201; that’ll get you to the correct block of downtown Dallas. Of course, the entire block of buildings in which the Capitol (and the Old Mill/Rialto, Ritz/Pantages/Mirror, Queen/Leo, and Telenews) sat is long, long gone.
The Capitol Theatre was designed by architect Bertram C. Hill. This item appeared in the July 13, 1922, issue of Manufacturers Record:
Two photos of the Capitol survive in the collection of Hill’s papers at Southern Methodist University.$50,000 doesn’t sound like a whole lot, esp.compared to the $2,000,000 price tags for the Majestic and Palace, both built the previous year – even considering they were each about 2-3 times the seating capacity.
BTW, Interstate did NOT open the Capitol, as it says in the introductory remarks, above; although, IIRC, the company did acquire it and the adjacent Rialto (Old Mill) at some time in the lives of these respective theatres.
Pictured in 1938 with a “Negro Western” as the main attraction: Boxoffice