The Hill Theatre, was located in Chestnut Hill at 8320 Germantown Avenue. It opened in 1916 as the Belvedere Theatre and the name was changed in 1936 to the Hill Theatre when it was remodeled. This was a relatively small theatre with just less than 500 seats. It closed in the mid 1970s and was torn down. Thia was a theatre that wasn’t before my time. I do remember it, but was never in it. I recall that this theatre was showing the same artsy type movies as the Bandbox Theatre in Germantown. Both theatres were probably owned by the same owner as I remember they ran joint ads together to promote the movies they were showing.
The Sedgwick Theatre located at 7137 Germantown Avenue, north of both the Rialto and the Upsal, in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia. This 1,600+ seat theatre was built in 1928 in the art deco style. As with most theatres of the time, it had a stage for live shows but was never used for that purpose on the scale as the Orpheum, the Germantown (Vernon), the Colonial or the Tulpehocken (Rialto). Mostly, it was used as a motion picture theatre. It closed in 1966 as a movie theatre. Today, the striking art deco façade is still in place with its elaborate detailing. You can’t miss it driving along Germantown Avenue. It is today used as the Sedgwick Cultural Center, that offers various programs for the community, but is no longer a theatre. Mount Airy is considered one of the current Philly “hot spots” and this building is part of that revitalization effort.
The Rialto Theatre was opened as the Tulpehocken Theatre in 1914 at 6153 Germantown Avenue (Germantown Avenue & Tulpehocken Street). It was built at a cost of $20,000. It was a 834 seat theatre that was remodeled in the Art Deco style in 1931 by William H. Lee (a major theatre builder at the time) and given the new name “Rialto Theatre”. As with many of Germantown’s theatres and despite its smaller size, this was built as a vaudeville house with a stage for live shows as well as movies. In the early years as the Tulpehocken Theatre, live shows was its primary purpose. Eventually, it sole purpose was as a movie theatre. It closed in 1957 and, in 1960, was converted into a church, which is still housed there today. The facade was totally remodeled to the point where you cannot tell that it was a theatre at one time. Unlike some of the remodeling of these old theatre facades, this one actually looks nice.
The Wayne Theatre, also known as the Wayne Avenue Theatre, was located at 4910 Wayne Avenue, about a block from the Happy Hollow Recreation Center. Opened in 1919 with a seating capacity of 480, it first opened as the Wayne Avenue Playhouse, with the name later changed to the Wayne Avenue Theatre. According to a newspaper clipping from the time, it was a “one-story motion picture theatre 46 x 138 feet located on the south side of Wayne Avenue, east of Logan Street, erected at a cost of $12,000”. It closed as a motion picture theatre in 1968. It was later converted to retail use. In October 1990 it was purchased by St. Andrews Fellowship Baptist Church and is today used as a church.
The Chelten Theatre, located at 1159 E. Chelten Avenue (Chelten & Anderson Street), was an 800 seat theatre that opened in 1935. Never inside the theatre myself, the exterior is a modern, contemporary style that one site refers to as “art moderne”. As a movie theatre that showed current films, this theatre actually had a short run. The theatre started showing Christian films around 1953 or 1954. That is how I remember this theatre, as a Christian film cinema. It continued to show Christian films until 1973, when it was converted into a church. Today, it is still a church and still very resembles the theatre that opened in 1935, but the marquee is now gone.
The Bandbox Theatre was a small theatre located at 20 E. Armat Street, just off of Germantown Avenue, near Germantown & Chelten. It was built in 1930 and bucked the trend for the large, opulent theatres. This was probably because it was built during the depression years. The seat capacity is not clear to me. I’ve found where it was said to have 499 seats when it opened, while in a theatre directory, it is shown to have 220 seats. Maybe seats were removed over the years. Unlike most of Germantown’s theatres, this was not before my time. But, it was one I was never in, a regret of mine. I had the opportunity, but didn’t take it. My fondness for old theatres came about later, after the Bandbox closed. From recollections of others, the general consensus was that it was a neat little theatre. From recollections of another, it had a art-deco styled interior and had a separate basement lounge. During my time, the Bandbox was showing artsy, independent films. It closed in the mid 1970s and has been used as warehouse storage ever since. The Bandbox outlasted all of Germantown’s theatres, with the exception of the Walton Theatre. The Bandbox also outlasted all of the Mt. Airy theatres and closed roughly the same time as the Hill Theatre, which was owned by the same people.
The Colonial Theatre, located at 5526 Germantown Avenue (near Germantown Avenue and Maplewood Avenue) was a large theatre built in 1913. Records show a seating capacity of 2,552, but press releases indicated that it had a seating capacity of over 3,000. As with the Orpheum and the Germantown, it was built as a vaudeville house with a deep stage for live shows and stage productions. It was built at a cost of $450,000, which was a huge sum at the time, and was described then as “one of the largest playhouses of its kind in the country”. From early press clippings, I gather that this was a very elaborate theatre. In its earliest days, it was known as the Nixon Colonial Theatre, in deference to other theatres that had the Colonial name.
As with the Orpheum, the Germantown and the Tulpehocken (later the Rialto), the Colonial’s early bills combined a program mix of vaudeville shows, films and stage productions. By the 1930s and 1940s, movies dominated the bill, but the Colonial and those other theatres were still used for special stage shows and big band shows as well.
The Colonial continued to show films until 1960, when it was demolished.
This was the “grande dame†of Germantown’s theatres. It truly was a gem in its day, very opulent and elegant. It opened as a vaudeville house with a deep stage that could (and was) used for stage productions and concerts. It was also used to show films. By the 1930s, ½ of the time it was used to show films. By the 1950s, except for an occasional concert, it was used mostly as a movie house. It closed and was demolished in 1967. Retail stores are now on the site of the old Orpheum.
I don’t believe the info being presented here on this theatre is correct. I show the Riviera Theatre to have been located here, 4441 Main Street in Manayunk, from 1914 to 1962. The building is still there but converted for use by the Loring Building Products, not the Unitied States Bar and Grill (this was always an old-time bar).
Anybody know of an old picture of the Bandbox?
The Hill Theatre, was located in Chestnut Hill at 8320 Germantown Avenue. It opened in 1916 as the Belvedere Theatre and the name was changed in 1936 to the Hill Theatre when it was remodeled. This was a relatively small theatre with just less than 500 seats. It closed in the mid 1970s and was torn down. Thia was a theatre that wasn’t before my time. I do remember it, but was never in it. I recall that this theatre was showing the same artsy type movies as the Bandbox Theatre in Germantown. Both theatres were probably owned by the same owner as I remember they ran joint ads together to promote the movies they were showing.
Here is a memory I came across on the internet of the Sedgwick (the author is listed)
View link
The Sedgwick Theatre located at 7137 Germantown Avenue, north of both the Rialto and the Upsal, in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia. This 1,600+ seat theatre was built in 1928 in the art deco style. As with most theatres of the time, it had a stage for live shows but was never used for that purpose on the scale as the Orpheum, the Germantown (Vernon), the Colonial or the Tulpehocken (Rialto). Mostly, it was used as a motion picture theatre. It closed in 1966 as a movie theatre. Today, the striking art deco façade is still in place with its elaborate detailing. You can’t miss it driving along Germantown Avenue. It is today used as the Sedgwick Cultural Center, that offers various programs for the community, but is no longer a theatre. Mount Airy is considered one of the current Philly “hot spots” and this building is part of that revitalization effort.
The Rialto Theatre was opened as the Tulpehocken Theatre in 1914 at 6153 Germantown Avenue (Germantown Avenue & Tulpehocken Street). It was built at a cost of $20,000. It was a 834 seat theatre that was remodeled in the Art Deco style in 1931 by William H. Lee (a major theatre builder at the time) and given the new name “Rialto Theatre”. As with many of Germantown’s theatres and despite its smaller size, this was built as a vaudeville house with a stage for live shows as well as movies. In the early years as the Tulpehocken Theatre, live shows was its primary purpose. Eventually, it sole purpose was as a movie theatre. It closed in 1957 and, in 1960, was converted into a church, which is still housed there today. The facade was totally remodeled to the point where you cannot tell that it was a theatre at one time. Unlike some of the remodeling of these old theatre facades, this one actually looks nice.
The Wayne Theatre, also known as the Wayne Avenue Theatre, was located at 4910 Wayne Avenue, about a block from the Happy Hollow Recreation Center. Opened in 1919 with a seating capacity of 480, it first opened as the Wayne Avenue Playhouse, with the name later changed to the Wayne Avenue Theatre. According to a newspaper clipping from the time, it was a “one-story motion picture theatre 46 x 138 feet located on the south side of Wayne Avenue, east of Logan Street, erected at a cost of $12,000”. It closed as a motion picture theatre in 1968. It was later converted to retail use. In October 1990 it was purchased by St. Andrews Fellowship Baptist Church and is today used as a church.
The Chelten Theatre, located at 1159 E. Chelten Avenue (Chelten & Anderson Street), was an 800 seat theatre that opened in 1935. Never inside the theatre myself, the exterior is a modern, contemporary style that one site refers to as “art moderne”. As a movie theatre that showed current films, this theatre actually had a short run. The theatre started showing Christian films around 1953 or 1954. That is how I remember this theatre, as a Christian film cinema. It continued to show Christian films until 1973, when it was converted into a church. Today, it is still a church and still very resembles the theatre that opened in 1935, but the marquee is now gone.
The Bandbox Theatre was a small theatre located at 20 E. Armat Street, just off of Germantown Avenue, near Germantown & Chelten. It was built in 1930 and bucked the trend for the large, opulent theatres. This was probably because it was built during the depression years. The seat capacity is not clear to me. I’ve found where it was said to have 499 seats when it opened, while in a theatre directory, it is shown to have 220 seats. Maybe seats were removed over the years. Unlike most of Germantown’s theatres, this was not before my time. But, it was one I was never in, a regret of mine. I had the opportunity, but didn’t take it. My fondness for old theatres came about later, after the Bandbox closed. From recollections of others, the general consensus was that it was a neat little theatre. From recollections of another, it had a art-deco styled interior and had a separate basement lounge. During my time, the Bandbox was showing artsy, independent films. It closed in the mid 1970s and has been used as warehouse storage ever since. The Bandbox outlasted all of Germantown’s theatres, with the exception of the Walton Theatre. The Bandbox also outlasted all of the Mt. Airy theatres and closed roughly the same time as the Hill Theatre, which was owned by the same people.
The Colonial Theatre, located at 5526 Germantown Avenue (near Germantown Avenue and Maplewood Avenue) was a large theatre built in 1913. Records show a seating capacity of 2,552, but press releases indicated that it had a seating capacity of over 3,000. As with the Orpheum and the Germantown, it was built as a vaudeville house with a deep stage for live shows and stage productions. It was built at a cost of $450,000, which was a huge sum at the time, and was described then as “one of the largest playhouses of its kind in the country”. From early press clippings, I gather that this was a very elaborate theatre. In its earliest days, it was known as the Nixon Colonial Theatre, in deference to other theatres that had the Colonial name.
As with the Orpheum, the Germantown and the Tulpehocken (later the Rialto), the Colonial’s early bills combined a program mix of vaudeville shows, films and stage productions. By the 1930s and 1940s, movies dominated the bill, but the Colonial and those other theatres were still used for special stage shows and big band shows as well.
The Colonial continued to show films until 1960, when it was demolished.
Here is a link to thumbnail view of the old Orpheum. I have a picture of it and will upload it when I can.
View link
This was the “grande dame†of Germantown’s theatres. It truly was a gem in its day, very opulent and elegant. It opened as a vaudeville house with a deep stage that could (and was) used for stage productions and concerts. It was also used to show films. By the 1930s, ½ of the time it was used to show films. By the 1950s, except for an occasional concert, it was used mostly as a movie house. It closed and was demolished in 1967. Retail stores are now on the site of the old Orpheum.
I don’t believe the info being presented here on this theatre is correct. I show the Riviera Theatre to have been located here, 4441 Main Street in Manayunk, from 1914 to 1962. The building is still there but converted for use by the Loring Building Products, not the Unitied States Bar and Grill (this was always an old-time bar).