Orpheum Theatre
326 N. Main Street,
Jacksonville,
FL
32202
326 N. Main Street,
Jacksonville,
FL
32202
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The Orpheum Theatre was among the first commercial venues to present motion pictures in Jacksonville but was primarily an outlet for live presentations. It was in operation as early as June 1908 and was screening movies full time by 1914. It was no longer listed in the city directory after 1930.
Contributed by
John Coursey
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The Orpheum at Jacksonville is mentioned in Variety at least as early as the issue of June 6, 1908. It is mentioned frequently in show business journals Variety, The Billboard and The New York Clipper through the 1910s. An item in The Billboard of August 31, 1918 mentions the Orpheum as having been part of the Southern Circuit of burlesque theaters in the early 1910s.
Nevertheless, the Orpheum must have been operating as a movie house at least part of that period, as it is one of seven movie theaters listed at Jacksonville in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The earliest (and so far only) mention of it I’ve found in a regular movie theater trade journal is in the August 12, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World. The Orpheum’s time as a movie house was clearly limited, though, as it is never listed in the FDYs from the 1920s that are available online.