Strand Theatre

20 Alabama Street,
Alexander City, AL 35010

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Strand Theatre

Located in the main business district the Strand Theatre opened on November 4, 1920 with Mary Pickford in “Daddy Long Legs”. Seating was listed at 697. No information on owners/operators.

The theatre closed in the late-1970’s and has since been demolished. A park was created on the site named Strand Park.

Contributed by Chuck

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

smedleyt
smedleyt on July 11, 2011 at 9:25 pm

All theaters in the 40s and 50s were owned by Mack Jackson. When I worked projectors at the Pines Drive In in the late 60s Lane Hebson owned the Pines Drive In and the Strand. Another theater not mentioned is the Bama Theater. We saved Merita Bread wrappers to see The Lone Ranger at the Bama on Saturday mornings. The Rex Theater in Northside serveed the black community.

smedleyt
smedleyt on July 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm

In the street view if you were to turn riht at the cream colored building with brown awnings the rear of the strand would be one block down.

loraco1970
loraco1970 on April 21, 2012 at 9:47 am

The Strand did not close in 1958. I was born in 1970. I remember vividly going to The Strand many times. Awesome place….wish it was still around so my kids could enjoy the theatre like I did as a kid.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on February 23, 2018 at 3:12 pm

Here is a letter from the manager of the Strand Theatre in Alexander City that was published in the January 8, 1921, issue of Exhibitors Herald:

“‘I have left Ashland, coming here and putting in a modern house. Business is good, but I can’t depend upon my memory any longer. I must have "What the Picture Did for Me” if I expect to keep using the S. R. O. sign. Am enclosing a check for two years’ subscription.‘ — Mack Jackson, Manager, Strand Theatre, Alexander City, Ala.“
An article on this web page says that the site of the Strand Theatre is now part of Strand Park, which Google Maps shows lying between Alabama Street and Tallapossa Street at Bibb Street. The December 20, 2004, issue of the Alexander City Outlook noted that the City Council had voted to rename the park on the theater’s site from Tallapoosa Street Park to Strand Park.

Rjack
Rjack on March 21, 2018 at 5:22 pm

I am Mack Jackson’s grandson and would like to communicate with Joe Vogel to find out where and how he got the info in his comment above. Would really appreciate a response. Thanks!

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 21, 2018 at 8:44 pm

Rjack: There are scans of a large collection of theater industry trade journals at The Internet Archive, and your grandfather is mentioned in several issues. He was an active contributor of capsule movie reviews to the “What the Picture Did for Me” feature of Exhibitors Herald in the early 1920s. I’ve found him mentioned as early as June, 1919, but he must have begun operating the Strand in 1917, as this item appeared in the April 20, 1959, issue of Motion Picture Daily:

“ATLANTA, April 19.-Lane Hebson, for 20 years with Martin Theatres, is the new owner of the Strand Theatre, Alexander City, Ala., having purchased it from Mack Jackson, who had operated the house for 41 years.”
You should be able to find quite a few mentions of your grandfather by Googling his name (in quotes) along with the names of the various trade journals (also in quotes- but just search one journal name at a time.) In addition to Exhibitors Herald he is mentioned several times in the successor publication Motion Picture Herald and in Film Daily.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on January 24, 2021 at 10:40 am

The Strand Opened On November 4, 1920 With “Daddy Long Legs” (A Mary Pickford Company Film).

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