Royal Theater
116 S. Sycamore Street,
Archer City,
TX
76351
116 S. Sycamore Street,
Archer City,
TX
76351
3 people
favorited this theater
This great place is familar to anyone who has seen “The Last Picture Show” or its sequel, “Texasville”. It is located on the town square in Archer City.
When I visited in spring of 1992, the Royal and indeed the entire town looked just as it did when the movie was filmed in 1971, and probably as it did in 1952 when the movie was set. The theater burned in 1965 but the production dressed up the front to make it look like an operating theater. The lobby and auditorium were burned out and were too small for filming anyway, so the interiors were shot in a theater in Olney, Texas, a few miles to the south of Archer City.
Amazingly enough, in 1992 the ruin of the theater was accessible for exploration to anyone who wanted to brave the rattlesnakes or the burned out stairs to the balcony.
The detailed website for the theater gives an account of how the it was restored starting in 1996 and its re-opening in August of 2000. I have read that the burned out theater was leveled and is now a vacant lot next to the restored theater which is really in the space of the ajoining storefront. I don’t know about this. When I visited in 1992 there was already a vacant lot next to the ruin and the picture on the website looks like the same spot to me.
At any rate, it occupies the north end of the strip of stores that lines the west side of the square. If you are ever in north central Texas, this place is a must for fans of “The Last Picture Show” or old theaters in general.
Contributed by
StanMalone
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
Typo: First sentence should read “On "Snapped”.
Another photo of the Royal is here.
Wow. One has to wonder why such an exlaborate handicap access ramp, would have been built right next to what appears as the unsafe remains of the Royal Theater’s wall.
The wall looks about the same in this older photo taken before the handicap ramp was installed. Maybe the wall is in no danger of collapsing. If it was, it should have been fixed when the ramp was installed.
Yeah I guess so. You’d think the excavation to pour the ramp-concrete alone, would have undermined a freestanding wall in that condition. Maybe it has specific bracing behind it. But why is the wall even left in that manner? Does keeping the building hollowed out that way have some historic significance?
There’s no visible sidewalk to the right of the ramp anyway. Why such grandiose access to an empty structure? Strange. Must have been some egress code or something.
There might be a fire exit on that side of the building and people could walk through that opening. I doubt that it would have cost very much to knock that wall down when the ramp was being installed. It was probably left there for decorative purposes. It gives the building an “Old West” appearance. Maybe someone from Archer City can explain the mystery of the wall.
To quote President Reagan, “Tear down this wall!”. :)
Ha! Very good. I will admit, it does look cool.
I’d have filled the front windows with multiple stills from “The Last Picture Show”. So visitors could do their own comparisons on the property.
Wonder if that old Texaco is still down the street. Have to go out West again someday.
1981 Photo
Here is another 2009 photo.
An April 2006 Photo I took of the Royal Theatre in Archer Texas..
Randy A Carlisle — Historical Photographer