Capitol Theatre
286 Saratoga Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11233
286 Saratoga Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11233
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The Capitol Theatre opened in 1921 and was one of the first theatres designed by Charles Sandblom after he left Thomas Lamb to form his own firm. It had an original seating capacity for 1,801. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 2 manual/16 ranks organ. For much of its life, the Capitol Theatre was part of the Randforce Circuit.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
A II/6 (2-manual, 6-rank) “Style 160 X” Wurlitzer, Op. 465 (1921) was shipped on October 30, 1921 to “Miller’s Capitol Theatre.”
From the Google Maps photo of this address, it looks as if the theater has been demolished.
I agree with that. The Bonita Beauty Salon is at 283 Saratoga. Across the street, which would be 286, is a new building that looks like a school. Status should be closed/demolished.
When I moved into the neighborhood in 1969, the building was still standing with the words “Miller Capitol Theatre inscribed on the outside about 2 stories up. By then, it had become a little grocery store owned by an elderly woman named Miss Fanny. After she died, the building was vacant, then taken over by The Afro Carting Co. After they went out of business, this building still stood, but during that time, the crack epidemic took hold passing that building became somewhat dangerous. Eventually, the building was razed & replaced by "affordable” 2-family housing. I’ll be uploading pictures for the site, both when they were building the new housing, as well as how it looks today.
gthe new building which is visible is on the opposite side of the street, across from where the Pacific St. entrance of the theatre would’ve been located, but by then been long bricked in. That entire building that you see across from the salon used to be an apartment building on the corner, several 3 family homes, a restaurant which was a fish & chips place, a liquor store & closest to Atlantic Avenue side, a store that sold knick-knacks & books. before that, the store sold used appliances. This would’ve been from the 60s through the 80s & early 90s. That building is kinda like a Home Depot, selling roofing supplies & the like. If you go to this link:
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=363591&imageID=706192F&total=68&num=0&word=Pacific%20street%20brooklyn%20new%20york&s=1¬word=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=15&e=w.
And use the zoom function & zoom all the way out to the top-right of the picture, you can see the Pacific St. entrance of The Miller Capitol Theatre.
What in the world happened to the formatting?
Here’s the link again…
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=363591&imageID=706192F&total=68&num=0&word=Pacific%20street%20brooklyn%20new%20york&s=1¬word=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=15&e=w
Since the link won’t take, simply go to digitalgallery.nypl.org and search for Brooklyn: Pacific Street – Hopkinson Avenue After doing so, use the zoom function & soom all the way in & at the top of the picture you’ll be able to see the Pacific St. entrance of The Miller Capitol Theatre on the corner of Saratoga Avenue.
Does anyone have evidence of vaudeville or stage shows being presented at the Capitol, or was it just a cinema right from the beginning?
Tinseltoes, Precious little information is found about the theatre &most of the people whom lived here back then have either moved away long ago, or have passed on. The only thing that I can find in reference to it is that it catered to a Negro audience. I have also been saying how I remembered seeing “Miller Capitol Theatre” being engraved on the building. While searching theatres, I found this link to the theatre which shows that in 1921, an organ was shipped to the MILLERCapitol Theatre.
http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Bkln/html/CapitolTheatre.html
I have a great memory & knew that I wasn’t imagining it. I’ll keep digging to see what more I can find out. By the way, I have a picture that has been blown up, taken from Pacific Street showing the entrance on Pacific Street & Saratoga Avenue, which is close to the view which appears above. It’s pretty blurred, but it’s the best that I can do for now.