Ritz Theatre
150 E. Thomas Street,
Rocky Mount,
NC
27801
150 E. Thomas Street,
Rocky Mount,
NC
27801
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The address should be 150 East Thomas Street if the Ritz Theatre and the Manhattan Theatre are the same. The Manhattan and Booker T Theaters are east of the railroad tracks in Edgecombe County; the tracks divide East Thomas Street (Edgecombe County) from West Thomas Street (Nash County). Locals never refer to the Manhattan Theatre as the Ritz; the Ritz could have been a different theater. East Thomas Street was Rocky Mount’s primary African-American business district during the days of segregation.
The April 13, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News had this item:
I believe this new house was the Savoy-Booker T Theatre.The Manhattan Theatre was listed in city directories at 118 W. Thomas Street. The address was listed as vacant in the 1930 directory, but the Manhattan Theatre was listed there in the 1934 and 1936 directories. The Manhattan must have closed for a while after the Savoy was opened. The Ritz first appears in the 1948 directory, but at 133 W. Thomas (I think this might have been an error, as the Ritz is listed at 120 W. Thomas beginning with the 1950 directory.)
I don’t know if the address of the building was shifted from 118 to 120 sometime between 1936 and 1950, or if the Ritz was actually next door to the site of the Manhattan. There are currently no adjacent buildings.
In any case, the modern address of the theater is 150 W. Thomas, as can be seen in Street View. This web site has a brief history of the neighborhood and has short videos of the Booker T and Manhattan Theatres, showing photos of the buildings before and after the recent renovations.
This theatre has received a facelift as part of a block redevelopment project that included the nearby Booker-T Theatre. The Ritz was also known as the Manhattan Theatre (which is the name most locals use).
Thats what I thought Mike but did not want to say it.
You sure that picture isn’t from Mexico.reminds me of several i saw in the seventies.
I bet it does.Looks like a church in that photo.Not a nice looking church but a church anyway.
If a church owns this former theatre, I hope it doesn’t look like the photo!