Strand Theatre
118 S. Church Street,
Louisville,
MS
39339
118 S. Church Street,
Louisville,
MS
39339
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My wife was born in 1945 in the clinic or hospital above the theater. The movie playing playing was “When Irish Eyes are Smiling.” This would indicate that it was both a hospital and a theater at the same time (at least in 1945).
trip, thanks for the info, I am familiar with the Caduceus but not that symbol.
Chuck, it is not a sawastika. If you look,the lines do not run the same. It is a native american symbol for medicice. The upstairs portion of this building was a medical clinic long before it was a theater.
If memory serves correctly, the Strand was operated in the mid-1950s by the West family who moved on to operate the Hollywood Theatre in Memphis. Malco operated it for a time until about 1960. Then, the Clark family, who ran drive-ins in Louisville and Philadelphia, took over. In the early 1970s it was twinned by building a wall down the center of the auditorium and walling off the balcony, making the front of the balcony into booths for the two auditoriums. Originally, it was a pretty poor job of twinning-the sound bled terribly. Nevertheless, improvements took place over the years, correcting the sound problems and adding drapes and comfortable rocking chair seats. Eventually, there were two jewel box auditoriums which were really, really nice for a small town like Louisville. A new theatre was built elsewhere in town. Since then, the Strand has returned to being a single auditorium.
The building supposedly pre-dates the Nazi era of world history. Not really sure what the symbol signifies though. I am meeting with the owners of the theatre this week about showing films there and one of the items on my agenda is the building’s history. I will share what I learn.
Another 1982 photo is here.
Did they show German movies here? Maybe that symbol means something different to the people that built this theater. I wonder if anyone else ever noticed that symbol. You should report it to ACLU. :)
LM, did you notice the sawastika at the top of the building too? Wonder what the significance was.
Here is a 2008 photo.
1982 photo of the Strand Theatre.
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