I added a 1922 map of the location to the photo section. The building was originally a Unitarian church going back to the early 1880s. They added the part along Meridian st when the theatre went in.
This is a puzzle. 581 Washington st was on the north corner of Avery st, adjacent to the Clark’s Hotel, as mentioned above, and owned by Abraham Shuman. However, it was the other side of Avery st that was torn down when Avery st was widened. This is where the Avery hotel was then built. The name Pastime doesn’t show up on the maps, so they would have been leasing space.
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/pastime1908.jpg
Star Theatre location, 1917. Notice that the Peter Bent Brigham hospital owned the building.
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/startheatre1917.jpg
I was just told by a friend who works for the post office in West Roxbury that the building was torn down about five years ago. It was replaced with townhouses.
The access to the drive-in was from Elm street. The screen was near Elm street and faced north. I’m pretty sure Redstone owned the drive-in in the mid-70s when I was there. A friend’s mother ran either the concession stand or the whole operation.
Mattapan was carved out of the town of Dorchester, so there are no hard boundary lines, but Morton street was long considered the ‘border’ between Dorchester and Mattapan in that area. So that would put the theatre just inside Dorchester, but I doubt people thought of it that way – you could call it either one depending on your mood.
I added a 1922 map of the location to the photo section. The building was originally a Unitarian church going back to the early 1880s. They added the part along Meridian st when the theatre went in.
Here’s a view of the property in 1928.
[IMG]http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/keithalbee1928.jpg[/IMG]
This is a puzzle. 581 Washington st was on the north corner of Avery st, adjacent to the Clark’s Hotel, as mentioned above, and owned by Abraham Shuman. However, it was the other side of Avery st that was torn down when Avery st was widened. This is where the Avery hotel was then built. The name Pastime doesn’t show up on the maps, so they would have been leasing space. http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/pastime1908.jpg
The Egleston and the Jamaica theatres were both advertised under the M&P banner in the Boston Globe They sometimes ran the same films at the same time
A Boston Globe article reports an armed robbery at the Rivoli 2/21/1960, so it was still open then.
I just learned from someone who would know that the Egleston closed in 1961.
1938 map:
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/puritantheatre1938.jpg
Good content from the Dorchester Atheneum:
http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=244
Star Theatre location, 1917. Notice that the Peter Bent Brigham hospital owned the building. http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/startheatre1917.jpg
For the program above, Thursday the 29th occurred in 1917, 1906 and 1894.
Here’s the location in 1917.
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j324/MarkBul/theatrecomique1917.jpg
This theatre doesn’t come up when you search Boston. I can’t figure out how to edit it to list it under Boston.
In 1912 there was a Waverly Hall at 1231-1243 River street – that’s a short way from Hyde Park ave.
I was just told by a friend who works for the post office in West Roxbury that the building was torn down about five years ago. It was replaced with townhouses.
I was just told that the Madison burned in about 1956-57. For some reason, the property has never been built on since.
The Fenway in 1948 can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofbostonarchives/4404135227/sizes/l/in/photostream/
The access to the drive-in was from Elm street. The screen was near Elm street and faced north. I’m pretty sure Redstone owned the drive-in in the mid-70s when I was there. A friend’s mother ran either the concession stand or the whole operation.
I just added a photo.
Mattapan was carved out of the town of Dorchester, so there are no hard boundary lines, but Morton street was long considered the ‘border’ between Dorchester and Mattapan in that area. So that would put the theatre just inside Dorchester, but I doubt people thought of it that way – you could call it either one depending on your mood.
There’s a single story brick block there now. There’s a non-profit in the building.
Here’s the Niagara Temple, 1915:
View link
Here’s the Rialto in 1924, listed as C.J. Gorman’s Amusement Enterprises.
View link
I remember driving by in the mid-1970s after they tore it down, and being amazed how small the footprint of the building seemed to be.
Ron – here’s the Niagra in 1915. It was still there in 1931, listed as Public Netoco Theatres Corp. It’s the only wood frame building of the bunch.
View link
Ron – did the Opera House become Hibernian Hall?
Humboldt, 1931:
View link