Florence Mills Theatre
3511 S. Central Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90011
3511 S. Central Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90011
1 person
favorited this theater
The Florence Mills Theatre still stands in South Central Los Angeles.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 36 comments)
No, I only photographed it from outside.
By the way, another Florence Mills theatrical link with LA is the old downtown Pantages theatre, long closed and now an electronics goods store or similar, but the name Pantages can still be seen over the entrance. See:
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Florence Mills played there in 1920 as one of the Panama Trio
Bill Egan
http://www.florencemills.com
It looks like she only lived to the age of 31, but her husband died at the age of 102 in 1990. Quite a disparity.
He outlived four wives, the last one being Dr Gertrude Curtis, New York’s first Black dentist, and also the widow of Cecil Mack (R.C. McPherson), joint songwriter of The Charleston, Just a Cousin of Mine, That’s Why They Call me Shine and many others. Florence Mills' husband ended up owning a share of the royalties from the Charleston, enough to make anyone wealthy
Bill Egan
The introduction is a bit bewildering. That section of Los Angeles is hardly “long lost.” It still exists, but is no longer a hub of theatrical activity.
Hello all, I feel I should chime in as I grew up there. I first at least since the 1970’s, this theater has Never functioned as a movie house. I has been like Noah’s Ark sitting their. The structure looks pretty much the same as the photo’s Ken has shared with us here. It’s kinda weird because the neighborhood has changes dramatically since I was a boy but I do not think the locals know or knew it was a theater.
‘The introduction is a bit bewildering. That section of Los Angeles is hardly “long lost.”’
I thought the long lost referred to the theater district, not the actual area. Another thing that has changed is that it’s largely Hispanic now, not black.
Bill, in the last shot Ken posted on 3/3/09, we’re looking up past the liquor store sign at the front right corner of the building. At the very top are white letters on a black background that read Florence. From other angles, it’s possible to see that it reads Florence Mills Theatre.
Don S, The “long lost” meaning for the theatre district that once was in this area. Just like how Main Street once had many theatres before Broadway became the new district.
Yes, William. I was commenting to Warren, who was “bewildered.”
South Central is a good area for a photographer interested in architecture: old buildings tend to get reused, rather than knocked down.
I think that this item from an April, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World must be about the Globe/Florence Mills Theatre, which was built that year: