Delphi Theatre

The Elba Theatre was opened in 1912 by O.C. Hammond, who, along with his sons, operated a small chain of theaters on the South Side, including the Phoenix Theatre, the Fountain Theatre, the Pickford Theatre and their largest and best-known house, the Vendome Theatre.

The Hammonds' theaters were a place where African-Americans, pouring into the South Side of Chicago from the South during this time, could be entertained in comfort and class, which they were not able to enjoy at the majority of the theaters in the area which catered to white audiences and often treated African-Americans poorly or denied them admittance entirely.

The Elba Theatre was located on Indiana Avenue at 31st Street, across from Dunbar Park. The Elba Theatre was later renamed the Delphi Theatre and continued to operate at least through the 1930’s. It has been demolished.

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