Paramount Theatre
257 East Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33131
257 East Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33131
2 people
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Originally opened as the Fairfax Theatre, in the 1930’s it was largely re-built and renamed Paramount Theatre.
Contributed by
Al Alvarez
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Recent comments (view all 47 comments)
The first Paramount opened in 1916 and ran until at least 1928 at 26 East First Street.
The Fairfax was opened in 1922 by the Leach family and Publix Theates and was renamed Paramount in 1931 when Publix gained major interest in the theatre due to the depression woes of the Leach family. At this time the Sparks chain was created and named after Publix' Florida General Manager Edward Sparks.
It was given a major Art Deco treatment in 1938. By 1940 when the courts forced the Paramount-Publix Monopoly to split up, regional company Florida State Theatres was formed.
The Leach family, major local owner/partners of the Fairfax prior to 1931 also had interests in the Airdome and Strand and half-interest in the Fotosho.
1954 Picture
Fairfax interior view:
View photo
I got my hands on a copy of the 1927-28 Miami-Miami Beach phone book hoping to find a wealth of theater information in it, but it turned out to be pretty boring. The entire section only included 7 true theaters. (I’m not sure exactly what the “Miami Beach Auditorium” was.)
I also checked under “Arcades” and “Nickelodeons,” but nothing was listed. I guess by 1927 everything had been converted to full movie houses.
There’s only a few minor differences in addresses between this phone book and what is listed here on Cinema Treasures for the Tivoli and Fairfax theaters —probably due to Flagler being re-numbered several times over the years.
miamiguy, I have found at least 17 movie theatres operating in the area around 1927.
RIVIERA (Homestead)
COCONUT GROVE
CORAL GABLES (Gables)
COMMUNITY
BISCAYNE PLAZA
CAPITOL
FLAGLER
PARAMOUNT
OLYMPIA
HIPPODROME
FAIRFAX
FOTOSHO
7th AVENUE (Strand)
TIVOLI
TOWER
ROSETTA
RIALTO (79th St)
I have seen some mention of the Miami Beach Auditorium (1949-50) but I don’t know what that was either.
I guess the rest of them were too cheap to spring for a phone book listing.(G)
There is a listing for a “Hippodrome Cigar Store” located at “7 NE 2nd Ave.” Does that sound like the Hippodrome Theater’s location?
The Cigar Store appears to have located near at the entrance of the theatre next to a Hippodrome Bar also located there or in the lobby.
I noticed several different phone books in the library during that period so that Coral Gables and Miami Beach theatres were not all listed in the Miami book but had their own directory. There were also listings under “Motion Picture Theatre”.
The new Paramount Hotel and theatre post card.
View link
Nice slideshow AlAlvarez.
This was renamed Paramount on December 10th, 1931. Ad uploaded in the photo section.