The East 6 Drive-In opened around 1966 as a 475-car drive-in. The reason why I said 1966 is because it doesn’t appear in the 1964 aerial view but it does in the 1968 topo.
The Aztec Theatre was renamed the Royal Theatre during its final years of operation until the theater’s destruction from the December 9, 1956 fire.
The fire was first witnessed by Howard Moore who was walking on the streets of Van Alstyne exactly an hour after midnight. He rushed to the telephone booth and called the only operator online, Mrs. Janice Overstreet. She sounded the siren from the fire department but was either broken or malfunctioned, so she ended up calling one of the firemen. Alongside Van Alstyne comes neighboring fire departments from Anna, Sherman, and McKinney who raced on-scene to fight the blaze. The fire melted the only telephone cable in the alley as well as the rear of the theater building and damage being reported by some of the T&PL Co. electric lines, causing 3/4th of the town’s phones being disconnected and dead. Only those east of the Southern Pacific railroad line were unaffected. The fire left Van Alstyne without a movie theater for the rest of time, leaving residents to watch movies either in McKinney or Sherman.
The Cimarron Theatre opened its doors on Pearl Harbor Day, or December 7, 1941, with Cary Grant in “Gunga Din” (unknown if any extras added). The Cimarron Theatre closed in 1954 and was converted into a gift shop which opened the following year.
This started life as the Mission Theatre in either late-October or early-November 1911 by Mr. James Wickeser, and was renamed the Roxy Theatre on November 15, 1931.
The Airline Drive-In opened its gates on July 3, 1953 with Edmond O'Brien in “Silver City” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks show was displayed after the movie) and was first managed by Don R. Hall.
The original screen didn’t last long. The screen itself was destroyed by destructive 75 MPH winds during a severe weather outbreak on August 27, 1954. The extensive of the tower was leveled and fragments of the screen and timber were hurled across the highway and scattered over a pasture 100ft away. Scrambled mounds of debris were littered all around the highway until theater employees were managed to clean it up. The screen was eventually replaced by a super-steel CinemaScope tower at the start of the 1955 season.
The Poncan Theatre opened its doors on September 20, 1927 with Richard Dix in “Shanghai Bound” along with a variety of stuff, including the Our Gang comedy “Yale Vs. Harvard”, a few local novelty units, a couple of newsreels, a dancing presentation of Mack & Long (either live or a merchant reel), a performance of three girls named Barnett, Edmunds, and Clark as well as a piano player, a performance by the Poncan Orchestra (or “Earl Moon And His Stars”), and Vera Byerhoff playing several songs on his Mighty Wurlizer (the same-modeled organ that was used at various large movie theaters around the country from New York to Chicago to St. Louis).
The actual Melba Theatre opening date is May 7, 1929 with Willard Mack in “The Voice Of The City” along with several Vitaphone acts, featuring sound installations of Vitaphone and Movietone.
The Thomas Theatre opened its doors on November 12, 1936 with Barbara Stanwyck in “The Bride Walks Out” along with an unnamed cartoon and an MGM News Of The Day newsreel. For its first thirteen years of operation, the Thomas Theatre served as Kingfisher’s first-run theater until the launch of the 89er Theatre on the former site of the Temple Theatre on September 27, 1949. Since the 89er’s launch, both theaters began to share an equal amount of first-run features but this didn’t last long.
Due to the popularity of the 89er Theatre, the Thomas Theatre tried again by renaming the theater the Marcy Theatre in June 1950. The Marcy retaining only a minimum of first-run films such as Walt Disney’s “Treasure Island” and a few then-latest Abbott and Costello films, but this was an ultimate failure. The 89er Theatre became the only first-run movie theater in Kingfisher, which forced the Marcy Theatre to downgrade to an almost all-B-film theater until closing in March 1951.
The Paramount-Publix chain opened the Arcadia Theatre on October 10, 1930 with Charles Delaney in “The Lonesome Trail” and Rin Tin Tin The Wonder Dog in Chapter 1 of “The Lone Defender”.
The Billings Theatre was first constructed in April 1920 with an estimate $125,000 under the direction of Walt Billings, and opened its doors on February 22, 1921 with Agnes Ayres in “Forbidden Fruit” with no extras. It was renamed the Criterion Theatre on March 31, 1922.
After a short remodel, the theater reopened as the Chief Theatre on May 21, 1940 with Joan Blondell in “2 Girls From Broadway” along with a travelogue short on New Hampshire and a March Of Time reel on the mounting war fever on the Philippines.
The 416-seat Rita Theatre opened its doors on Christmas Day 1933 with Lew Cody in “By Appointment Only” along with an unnamed comedy, unnamed musical, and an unnamed cartoon. It was renamed the Rivoli Theatre on February 7, 1937, and closed in 1940.
The Miller Theatre opened its doors on May 27, 1947 with Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” with no extras. It was first owned by Maurice DeFord and managed by the husband-and-wife team of Mr. and Mrs. M.H. Miller.
The Miller originally housed 960 seats when it opened (with 780 seats in the orchestra pit and 180 seats in the balcony) as well as Western Electric’s “Voice Of The Theatre” sound system.
The Arbuckle Drive-In opened its gates on September 18, 1952 with Joseph Cotton in “Untamed Frontier” and Tom Ewell in “Finders Keepers” with no extras. The Arbuckle name came from a theater naming contest led by manager Walter T. Kerr. The second and third place names went with “77” and “Moonlite”.
The East 6 Drive-In opened around 1966 as a 475-car drive-in. The reason why I said 1966 is because it doesn’t appear in the 1964 aerial view but it does in the 1968 topo.
The Aztec Theatre was renamed the Royal Theatre during its final years of operation until the theater’s destruction from the December 9, 1956 fire.
The fire was first witnessed by Howard Moore who was walking on the streets of Van Alstyne exactly an hour after midnight. He rushed to the telephone booth and called the only operator online, Mrs. Janice Overstreet. She sounded the siren from the fire department but was either broken or malfunctioned, so she ended up calling one of the firemen. Alongside Van Alstyne comes neighboring fire departments from Anna, Sherman, and McKinney who raced on-scene to fight the blaze. The fire melted the only telephone cable in the alley as well as the rear of the theater building and damage being reported by some of the T&PL Co. electric lines, causing 3/4th of the town’s phones being disconnected and dead. Only those east of the Southern Pacific railroad line were unaffected. The fire left Van Alstyne without a movie theater for the rest of time, leaving residents to watch movies either in McKinney or Sherman.
Opened with Joel McCrea in “Ramrod” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks display was presented after the movie).
The Cimarron Theatre opened its doors on Pearl Harbor Day, or December 7, 1941, with Cary Grant in “Gunga Din” (unknown if any extras added). The Cimarron Theatre closed in 1954 and was converted into a gift shop which opened the following year.
This started life as the Mission Theatre in either late-October or early-November 1911 by Mr. James Wickeser, and was renamed the Roxy Theatre on November 15, 1931.
The Airline Drive-In opened its gates on July 3, 1953 with Edmond O'Brien in “Silver City” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks show was displayed after the movie) and was first managed by Don R. Hall.
The original screen didn’t last long. The screen itself was destroyed by destructive 75 MPH winds during a severe weather outbreak on August 27, 1954. The extensive of the tower was leveled and fragments of the screen and timber were hurled across the highway and scattered over a pasture 100ft away. Scrambled mounds of debris were littered all around the highway until theater employees were managed to clean it up. The screen was eventually replaced by a super-steel CinemaScope tower at the start of the 1955 season.
The Poncan Theatre opened its doors on September 20, 1927 with Richard Dix in “Shanghai Bound” along with a variety of stuff, including the Our Gang comedy “Yale Vs. Harvard”, a few local novelty units, a couple of newsreels, a dancing presentation of Mack & Long (either live or a merchant reel), a performance of three girls named Barnett, Edmunds, and Clark as well as a piano player, a performance by the Poncan Orchestra (or “Earl Moon And His Stars”), and Vera Byerhoff playing several songs on his Mighty Wurlizer (the same-modeled organ that was used at various large movie theaters around the country from New York to Chicago to St. Louis).
The actual opening date is September 18, 1899. This was Guthrie’s second or third opera house.
The actual Melba Theatre opening date is May 7, 1929 with Willard Mack in “The Voice Of The City” along with several Vitaphone acts, featuring sound installations of Vitaphone and Movietone.
The Thomas Theatre opened its doors on November 12, 1936 with Barbara Stanwyck in “The Bride Walks Out” along with an unnamed cartoon and an MGM News Of The Day newsreel. For its first thirteen years of operation, the Thomas Theatre served as Kingfisher’s first-run theater until the launch of the 89er Theatre on the former site of the Temple Theatre on September 27, 1949. Since the 89er’s launch, both theaters began to share an equal amount of first-run features but this didn’t last long.
Due to the popularity of the 89er Theatre, the Thomas Theatre tried again by renaming the theater the Marcy Theatre in June 1950. The Marcy retaining only a minimum of first-run films such as Walt Disney’s “Treasure Island” and a few then-latest Abbott and Costello films, but this was an ultimate failure. The 89er Theatre became the only first-run movie theater in Kingfisher, which forced the Marcy Theatre to downgrade to an almost all-B-film theater until closing in March 1951.
The State Theatre opened on December 2, 1936 with Irene Dunne in “Show Boat” (unknown if any extras added), and closed on April 26, 1941.
The Ann Theatre opened on August 8, 1934 with Joe E. Brown in “Circus Clown” (unknown if any extras added). The Ann Theatre closed in early-1953.
The actual opening date is February 23, 1927 with Antonio Moreno in “The Temptress” along with an unnamed Aesop’s Fables and Pathe News.
The Paramount-Publix chain opened the Arcadia Theatre on October 10, 1930 with Charles Delaney in “The Lonesome Trail” and Rin Tin Tin The Wonder Dog in Chapter 1 of “The Lone Defender”.
The Billings Theatre was first constructed in April 1920 with an estimate $125,000 under the direction of Walt Billings, and opened its doors on February 22, 1921 with Agnes Ayres in “Forbidden Fruit” with no extras. It was renamed the Criterion Theatre on March 31, 1922.
After a short remodel, the theater reopened as the Chief Theatre on May 21, 1940 with Joan Blondell in “2 Girls From Broadway” along with a travelogue short on New Hampshire and a March Of Time reel on the mounting war fever on the Philippines.
Reopened as Esquire Theatre on December 22, 1950 with Patricia Neal in “Three Secrets” with no extras.
The 416-seat Rita Theatre opened its doors on Christmas Day 1933 with Lew Cody in “By Appointment Only” along with an unnamed comedy, unnamed musical, and an unnamed cartoon. It was renamed the Rivoli Theatre on February 7, 1937, and closed in 1940.
Renamed Thompson Theatre on February 14, 1940.
The Miller Theatre opened its doors on May 27, 1947 with Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” with no extras. It was first owned by Maurice DeFord and managed by the husband-and-wife team of Mr. and Mrs. M.H. Miller.
The Miller originally housed 960 seats when it opened (with 780 seats in the orchestra pit and 180 seats in the balcony) as well as Western Electric’s “Voice Of The Theatre” sound system.
The Caddo Drive-In opened its gates on June 22, 1951, and was first owned by Shirl Butler.
Opened with Ray Milland in “California” (unknown if extras added).
Opened on April 30, 1997.
Closed on November 29, 1981 with Walt Disney’s “Alice In Wonderland” and Walt Disney’s “Swiss Family Robinson”.
Closed on January 5, 2003.
The Arbuckle Drive-In opened its gates on September 18, 1952 with Joseph Cotton in “Untamed Frontier” and Tom Ewell in “Finders Keepers” with no extras. The Arbuckle name came from a theater naming contest led by manager Walter T. Kerr. The second and third place names went with “77” and “Moonlite”.