Jeffery Theater
1952 E. 71st Street,
Chicago,
IL
60649
1952 E. 71st Street,
Chicago,
IL
60649
4 people
favorited this theater
The Jeffery, constructed in 1923 in the heart of the South Shore neighborhood’s then-bustling commercial center, 71st Street between Euclid Avenue and Jeffery Boulevard, was opened a year later as a vaudeville and movie house for the Cooney Brothers circuit.
The neo-classical style theater could seat just under 1800, and was designed by architect William P. Doerr (who also designed the neo-Georgian style East Park Towers in Hyde Park). It had a tall vertical marquee which rose over the facade of the theater, and could be seen up and down 71st Street.
The Jeffery was operated by Warner Brothers in the 30s and 40s, under a movies-only policy from then on. It was later run by the Coston family, which also operated such South Side houses as the Beverly and the Hamilton.
The Jeffery, a long-time South Shore landmark, was demolished during the late 1990s, except for its facade and lobby area, which now houses a bank. A drive-up is now located where the auditorium formerly stood.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
I was a frequent customer at the Jeffery between 1967 and 1969.
It was often a unique entertainment experience with audience members shouting advice to the characters on the screen.
Here is a May 1951 ad from the Southeast Economist:
http://tinyurl.com/5gz8sc
Hello Ken…thanks for the ad. It was nice to see. I noticed the ad for the Hamilton theatre, which was a few blocks east of the Jeffery.
Also fun to see ads from the Highland,Shore, and Ogden shows.
The Jeffery Theatre had a 2m 6r Barton Theatre organ. It was badly water damaged. I was working for a local pipe organ service company at the time and a friend and I tried to restore the organ to playing condition. It was so far gone that it would have taken considerable money to repair, money which I didn’t have at the time. Coston Enterprises decided to donate the organ to a local church which only wanted the unit flute. My employer removed the organ, installed the flute at the church and sold off the rest of the parts. I still have the traps. The console was purchased by Jimmie Keating, at teacher at Lane Tech HS, who beautifully restored the console and used it to play his home pipe organ.
Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cq53cj
Here is a 1954 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ng5ctt
great pictures ken, thanks again.
It’s amazing how small the theaters were compared to my memories of them
I saw “The Robe” at the Jeffery.
Richard Jacobson
my Dad owned a cocktail lounge/bar at 71st and Jeffrey, but no living family members can recall exactly where it was….it was somewhere at that intersection, and he owned it in the late 50’s/early 60’s….it was called “the Boulevard Room”….anyone with any info would be greatly appreciated.
Great old place, Chris Demos the manager in the 60’s was one my Dad’s best friends. Big, silent Al Wartenberg. What a great, quite man. Smoked a pipe. I loved that old office, it was like a bunker. —-Nick Coston
According to Google Street View the facade behind where the marquee stood is still standing although the entrance has been modified. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2840/photos/5405/
http://maps.google.com/maps?msid=115314776543347973137.0004609dda6c1996245e4&msa=0&hl=en&ll=41.76606,-87.57653&spn=0.000988,0.003664&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.766061,-87.576655&panoid=7gPmLKf9lAUBbNhV2qjw-g&cbp=12,57.29090500000001,,0,0&photoid=po-47850825/