The site where this theatre was is a shopping center. Originally this property was the YWCA or a YWHA. It was huge and it had a grand pool. I can’t remember when the YW was demolished, but the shopping center has been there for quite some time now.
That’s amazing. 1918, so it was a silent movie house for at least 11 years. You said the talkies came out in the latter 20s, 1929, I believe.
I tried going on to the Miami Herald website to do a search on this, but I wasn’t able to find anything. Is there a special website where you find all this stuff? You never cease to amaze me with the stuff you find out! Great work. BTW, were there any pictures?
Welcome to Cinema Treasures! I am happy to see another native participate in this fabulous website. I was born in 1957, so I missed out on a lot of the history of these theatres, when I was old enough to go to the movies, downtown wasn’t too secure, although I did frequent the movies, I never did get a chance to visit all of the theatres.
The Strand Theatre is still there, it is currently being used as a church. The building is on 33rd and on the east side of NW 7th Avenue. It is listed as the Sun Sun Cinema. The Strand went on to become a porn theatre, and later the Sun Sun, which specialized in martial arts films, then it became the Strand again, and it was closed. Today there is a church there, but the building hasn’t been changed.
Like you, there have been a lot of folks that lived in the Allapatah and Wynwood areas who have made contributions. It’s funny that you mention the Shrimp Place! I remember going there with my Dad in the 60s. I also remember the Royal Castle, as well as the Kwik Chek next to the Seaboard RR Station. That area is now what I like to call the rust belt of Miami. I don’t know if you know this, but Miami Stadium was finally demolished a few years ago. It was sad to see what that place had become after years of neglect. It ended up a crack house, and a place where gangs hung out. The graffiti, and filth that surrounded it was deeply disturbing to me, because as a child I grew up in Allapatah. We moved from the area in 72.
I don’t know if you still live in Miami or have moved on to another part of the country. Personally I still live in Florida, just further north, about 32 miles, in Pompano Beach. Thanks for all your posts, I look forward to reading more of them!
Great post! I never saw or witnessed Aromarama, however I remember reading something about it somewhere, and I think that it was one of Al Alvarez’s fantastic posts. Given the year, I am surprised that they didn’t try this out in some of the larger theatres such as the Paramount, Olympia, or the Miami theatre.
That could very well be it. That 26 hurricane was a bear, and then there was a second one in the latter 30’s, I believe it may have been 1936, but I may be wrong. Regardless, after these storms many buildings were trashed, so I could see where the changes in “landscape” could have occured. I wish there were someone who lived during those years that could shed a light on what happened at the Strand site, as well as downtown. That map you posted was just incredible, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.
I have been trying to get more info on the Strand. I have posted on several websites that could generate information, but so far, only what I have posted here has come to light. What amazes me about this theatre, is that other than the Lyric, the Tivoli, and the Olympia, this is the only theatre in Miami that looks like it did when it first opened. Given the 1924, or 1926 date, it is obvious that this theatre originally was a silent movie house, it had to be, due to the year. What surprises me is that no one has made an attempt to save the building, or that the property hasn’t been classified as a historic site. Personally, I think it should be. The problem with the Strand is the area where it sits. I think that if the theatre was brought back to it’s original intent, it wouldn’t survive. The area where the Strand sits is poor, it was literally doomed the second I-95 was completed. I recently stopped there to see if the church was open to take a peak, but it was closed. I decided to go across the street to get a soda at a local Honduran cafeteria, and it was obvious that the area is both poor, and a tad on the rough side, although not horrifically. The folks in the restaurant were very friendly, it’s just that the area is run down. At one time NW 7th Avenue where the Strand sits, and the neighborhood around it was a very popular area to live in. I lived on NW 34th Street just west of NW 7th Avenue, across Corpus Christi until age 5. I remember several stores lining both NW 7th Avenue and NW 36th streets. NW 36th Street has had a better survival as far as shopping is concerned, where NW 7th Avenue has had very little comeback, if any.
When I think that there was Dexter’s Roller Rink, the theatre, the 5 & 10, The Shrimp Place restaurant, Miami Stadium, a few other shops whose name I can’t remember, and Moore Park, that tells me that life in that neighborhood was as I remember it as a kid. Fun! Sadly I never went inside the Strand, wish I had.
Miami Guy, do you still live in Miami? I currently live in Pompano Beach about 38 miles north. It would be fun to have a local friend who shares some of the same interests I have in Old Miami! There are not too many of us “natives” running around these days, it seems everyone has moved further north or out of the state all together.
Yes it is. That theatre is still there. Has a lot of history too. I need to drive by there, haven’t been in that area in a long time. It’s a war zone down there, probably the most crime infested area of Miami.
After carefully checking out all the old Miami movie houses still standing, it appears that the Olympia and the Strand are the only ones who have kept their original theatre design. The Strand should be considered a historic landmark since it was around when silent films were the norm. There are not too many theatres from that time left, at least not here in South Florida.
Welcome to Cinema Treasures. Your links have 404 errors. These usually occur when the URLs (links) are wrong. Recheck your links, I am dying to see your pics!
Yes, Chesty Morgan was a regular, but she must have been quite an old burlesque performer. It seems she was the main attraction for a very long time. I remember she was still on the billboard after the theatre was closed.
Here is a recent picture of the Strand Theatre. Notice that on where the marquee sat, you can see where the name was changed back to the Strand. Originally this marquee was all metal and the Strand name was done vertically in neon letters. In it’s hey day, this theatre looked very sharp.
I just saw this theatre for the first time today, the address should be 17355 NW 59th Avenue. This theatre is north of the Palmetto Expressway on Red Road, 57th Avenue. This theatre is in Miami Gardens.
We now know the name of the skating rink next door to the Strand. It was called Dexter’s Roller Rink. Amazingly I found a CD on Ebay that has copies of the different logos these roller rinks used back in the day. Apparently it was sporting to put the stickers of the rinks on your skating duffles!
Does anyone know what happened to the Tony Theatre on Bergenline? Is it still open? I was trying to find it on CT, but couldn’t find it under Union City, NJ.
This area is known as Morningside. Overtown ends in Wynnwood, which ends where the Design District currently resides. The area north of channel 10 and south of Little River is known as Morningside. Miami’s Morningside Park is just a few blocks away on NE 55th Terrace.
Although us old timers ie" “Natives” still use these neighborhood names. Miami’s original neighborhood names have gotten lost over time. It seems that the only ones which have retained their original names are Overtown, Wynnwood, Allapatah, Miami Shores, and Liberty City. Little River has now metamorphisized itself into Little Haiti. Like Little River, some of the other neighborhoods, such as Riverside have been renamed and are known as something else, ie: Little Havana, etc.
The neighborhood was little Havana before the assasination. Riverside Elementary, Ada Merit Jr. High, and Miami High were the schools where spanish speaking teachers were hired to handle the kids that came from Cuba. Technically speaking, Cubans were segregated into what is known as Little Havana. This segregation took place due to the anticipated language barriers that were going to become reality once the larger numbers of people came to Miami. Most don’t know this because it wasn’t a racial thing, but the fact is that Cubans were segregated and that is how the SW area became what it is.
The theatres of the area, The Tivoli, and The Tower became the “spanish speaking” theatres, hence the movies and live shows you have posted about. In addition, places such as Miami Stadium became venues for larger audiences and Anti-Castro demonstrations. There is a film, “White Elephant”, that brings some of this history into view. I haven’t seen it, but it did have a limited engagement at The Tower a couple of years ago.
Teatro Marti had a late start given that it was founded in 1971, which was a good 10 years after the Cubans started coming to the US. The majority of Cubans came to Miami, but some went to Key West, Tampa, Clewiston, West Palm Beach, and Union City New Jersey. The smallest numbers were in Clewiston and West Palm, these were the Cubans who were involved in the sugar business. Key West as well as Tampa had much more influence, but a good portion of that influence was due to the Havana Key West Tampa cigar trade days, which were pre-revolution. Mind you the rum runners were also plentiful, although these colorful characters are rarely spoken about, they played a critical role in the Cuban influence on Key West, but mostly Tampa. This is why you do not see any theatres in the WPB and Clewiston areas that evolved in the manner that the Tivoli and Tower theatres did. I haven’t researched Tampa theatres.
Union City is another story. The Tony Theatre in Bergen Line, what I call the equivalent of SW 8th Street, is or was a theatre that evolved just like the Tower and Tivoli theatres of Miami. I haven’t looked up the Tony Theatre, hadn’t thought of it! I should see if it is listed on Cinema Treasures.
BTW, you should list the Hippodrome. You have such a wealth of information about all these theatres that we never knew existed. It’s always a pleasure to read your fascinating posts.
I had no idea the KKK had an office in the Riverside area. That is very interesting, but funny at the same time. What year did the “KKK club house” close?
This theatre was The Pussycat. It showed Deep Throat and The Devil in Ms. Jones for quite sometime. Across the street was the Playboy Club, which closed in the mid 80s and became the Ellis Rubin Law Firm. Mr. Rubin died recently, not sure what is there now.
The theatre’s name was changed to Rex Theatre in the earlier 70’s. I saw “Last House on the Left” there. They tried the non-porn theatre approach, but it didn’t fly.
The Little River area went down hill in the 70’s. Porn dominated all of the theatres of the area. I can’t remember any regular theatres in Little River that had not been converted to porn. In addition to the theatres there were several Adult Book Stores, and a small mini theatre called “The Little Adult Theatre” which was right on NW 79th Street one block West of Biscayne on the south side of the street.
During those years, Little River was “Manhattan’s 42nd Street” of Miami. This is where most of the adult businesses were located. This changed once the Little River area became “Little Haiti”. The area cleaned up pretty good.
The establishment that survived the area’s porn flair, was the Playboy Club, which was there until the mid 80s. Ellis Ruben’s law office took over that building when the Playboy Club was closed.
LM, as ALWAYS! That is a beautiful pic! Nice. I still don’t understand why Miami has a tendency to rename established institutions. I would have never used Gusman Hall to rename this popular theatre. If it started as the Olympia it should remain that way forever.
I remember the 2nd box office at the rear of the Miami theatre. It did exist. I always thought it was weird that the theatre had 2 entrances. I never saw that box office in use.
The site where this theatre was is a shopping center. Originally this property was the YWCA or a YWHA. It was huge and it had a grand pool. I can’t remember when the YW was demolished, but the shopping center has been there for quite some time now.
Al,
That’s amazing. 1918, so it was a silent movie house for at least 11 years. You said the talkies came out in the latter 20s, 1929, I believe.
I tried going on to the Miami Herald website to do a search on this, but I wasn’t able to find anything. Is there a special website where you find all this stuff? You never cease to amaze me with the stuff you find out! Great work. BTW, were there any pictures?
MayFairMan,
Welcome to Cinema Treasures! I am happy to see another native participate in this fabulous website. I was born in 1957, so I missed out on a lot of the history of these theatres, when I was old enough to go to the movies, downtown wasn’t too secure, although I did frequent the movies, I never did get a chance to visit all of the theatres.
The Strand Theatre is still there, it is currently being used as a church. The building is on 33rd and on the east side of NW 7th Avenue. It is listed as the Sun Sun Cinema. The Strand went on to become a porn theatre, and later the Sun Sun, which specialized in martial arts films, then it became the Strand again, and it was closed. Today there is a church there, but the building hasn’t been changed.
Like you, there have been a lot of folks that lived in the Allapatah and Wynwood areas who have made contributions. It’s funny that you mention the Shrimp Place! I remember going there with my Dad in the 60s. I also remember the Royal Castle, as well as the Kwik Chek next to the Seaboard RR Station. That area is now what I like to call the rust belt of Miami. I don’t know if you know this, but Miami Stadium was finally demolished a few years ago. It was sad to see what that place had become after years of neglect. It ended up a crack house, and a place where gangs hung out. The graffiti, and filth that surrounded it was deeply disturbing to me, because as a child I grew up in Allapatah. We moved from the area in 72.
I don’t know if you still live in Miami or have moved on to another part of the country. Personally I still live in Florida, just further north, about 32 miles, in Pompano Beach. Thanks for all your posts, I look forward to reading more of them!
Ken,
Great post! I never saw or witnessed Aromarama, however I remember reading something about it somewhere, and I think that it was one of Al Alvarez’s fantastic posts. Given the year, I am surprised that they didn’t try this out in some of the larger theatres such as the Paramount, Olympia, or the Miami theatre.
Miami Guy,
That could very well be it. That 26 hurricane was a bear, and then there was a second one in the latter 30’s, I believe it may have been 1936, but I may be wrong. Regardless, after these storms many buildings were trashed, so I could see where the changes in “landscape” could have occured. I wish there were someone who lived during those years that could shed a light on what happened at the Strand site, as well as downtown. That map you posted was just incredible, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.
I have been trying to get more info on the Strand. I have posted on several websites that could generate information, but so far, only what I have posted here has come to light. What amazes me about this theatre, is that other than the Lyric, the Tivoli, and the Olympia, this is the only theatre in Miami that looks like it did when it first opened. Given the 1924, or 1926 date, it is obvious that this theatre originally was a silent movie house, it had to be, due to the year. What surprises me is that no one has made an attempt to save the building, or that the property hasn’t been classified as a historic site. Personally, I think it should be. The problem with the Strand is the area where it sits. I think that if the theatre was brought back to it’s original intent, it wouldn’t survive. The area where the Strand sits is poor, it was literally doomed the second I-95 was completed. I recently stopped there to see if the church was open to take a peak, but it was closed. I decided to go across the street to get a soda at a local Honduran cafeteria, and it was obvious that the area is both poor, and a tad on the rough side, although not horrifically. The folks in the restaurant were very friendly, it’s just that the area is run down. At one time NW 7th Avenue where the Strand sits, and the neighborhood around it was a very popular area to live in. I lived on NW 34th Street just west of NW 7th Avenue, across Corpus Christi until age 5. I remember several stores lining both NW 7th Avenue and NW 36th streets. NW 36th Street has had a better survival as far as shopping is concerned, where NW 7th Avenue has had very little comeback, if any.
When I think that there was Dexter’s Roller Rink, the theatre, the 5 & 10, The Shrimp Place restaurant, Miami Stadium, a few other shops whose name I can’t remember, and Moore Park, that tells me that life in that neighborhood was as I remember it as a kid. Fun! Sadly I never went inside the Strand, wish I had.
Miami Guy, do you still live in Miami? I currently live in Pompano Beach about 38 miles north. It would be fun to have a local friend who shares some of the same interests I have in Old Miami! There are not too many of us “natives” running around these days, it seems everyone has moved further north or out of the state all together.
Yes it is. That theatre is still there. Has a lot of history too. I need to drive by there, haven’t been in that area in a long time. It’s a war zone down there, probably the most crime infested area of Miami.
Al,
After carefully checking out all the old Miami movie houses still standing, it appears that the Olympia and the Strand are the only ones who have kept their original theatre design. The Strand should be considered a historic landmark since it was around when silent films were the norm. There are not too many theatres from that time left, at least not here in South Florida.
Eddie,
Welcome to Cinema Treasures. Your links have 404 errors. These usually occur when the URLs (links) are wrong. Recheck your links, I am dying to see your pics!
I was at this location just this week. The theatre building is now an Office Depot.
Yes, Chesty Morgan was a regular, but she must have been quite an old burlesque performer. It seems she was the main attraction for a very long time. I remember she was still on the billboard after the theatre was closed.
Al,
Does that old film year book state the physical address of the Strand Theatre owned by H. A. Leach?
Here is a recent picture of the Strand Theatre. Notice that on where the marquee sat, you can see where the name was changed back to the Strand. Originally this marquee was all metal and the Strand name was done vertically in neon letters. In it’s hey day, this theatre looked very sharp.
Picture link:
<img src=“www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org/images/strand_theatre_miami.jpg”>
I just saw this theatre for the first time today, the address should be 17355 NW 59th Avenue. This theatre is north of the Palmetto Expressway on Red Road, 57th Avenue. This theatre is in Miami Gardens.
We now know the name of the skating rink next door to the Strand. It was called Dexter’s Roller Rink. Amazingly I found a CD on Ebay that has copies of the different logos these roller rinks used back in the day. Apparently it was sporting to put the stickers of the rinks on your skating duffles!
Thanks to Miami Jackson for the lead on Mr. Ward!
Does anyone know what happened to the Tony Theatre on Bergenline? Is it still open? I was trying to find it on CT, but couldn’t find it under Union City, NJ.
Al,
This area is known as Morningside. Overtown ends in Wynnwood, which ends where the Design District currently resides. The area north of channel 10 and south of Little River is known as Morningside. Miami’s Morningside Park is just a few blocks away on NE 55th Terrace.
Although us old timers ie" “Natives” still use these neighborhood names. Miami’s original neighborhood names have gotten lost over time. It seems that the only ones which have retained their original names are Overtown, Wynnwood, Allapatah, Miami Shores, and Liberty City. Little River has now metamorphisized itself into Little Haiti. Like Little River, some of the other neighborhoods, such as Riverside have been renamed and are known as something else, ie: Little Havana, etc.
Al,
The neighborhood was little Havana before the assasination. Riverside Elementary, Ada Merit Jr. High, and Miami High were the schools where spanish speaking teachers were hired to handle the kids that came from Cuba. Technically speaking, Cubans were segregated into what is known as Little Havana. This segregation took place due to the anticipated language barriers that were going to become reality once the larger numbers of people came to Miami. Most don’t know this because it wasn’t a racial thing, but the fact is that Cubans were segregated and that is how the SW area became what it is.
The theatres of the area, The Tivoli, and The Tower became the “spanish speaking” theatres, hence the movies and live shows you have posted about. In addition, places such as Miami Stadium became venues for larger audiences and Anti-Castro demonstrations. There is a film, “White Elephant”, that brings some of this history into view. I haven’t seen it, but it did have a limited engagement at The Tower a couple of years ago.
Teatro Marti had a late start given that it was founded in 1971, which was a good 10 years after the Cubans started coming to the US. The majority of Cubans came to Miami, but some went to Key West, Tampa, Clewiston, West Palm Beach, and Union City New Jersey. The smallest numbers were in Clewiston and West Palm, these were the Cubans who were involved in the sugar business. Key West as well as Tampa had much more influence, but a good portion of that influence was due to the Havana Key West Tampa cigar trade days, which were pre-revolution. Mind you the rum runners were also plentiful, although these colorful characters are rarely spoken about, they played a critical role in the Cuban influence on Key West, but mostly Tampa. This is why you do not see any theatres in the WPB and Clewiston areas that evolved in the manner that the Tivoli and Tower theatres did. I haven’t researched Tampa theatres.
Union City is another story. The Tony Theatre in Bergen Line, what I call the equivalent of SW 8th Street, is or was a theatre that evolved just like the Tower and Tivoli theatres of Miami. I haven’t looked up the Tony Theatre, hadn’t thought of it! I should see if it is listed on Cinema Treasures.
BTW, you should list the Hippodrome. You have such a wealth of information about all these theatres that we never knew existed. It’s always a pleasure to read your fascinating posts.
Al,
I had no idea the KKK had an office in the Riverside area. That is very interesting, but funny at the same time. What year did the “KKK club house” close?
This theatre was The Pussycat. It showed Deep Throat and The Devil in Ms. Jones for quite sometime. Across the street was the Playboy Club, which closed in the mid 80s and became the Ellis Rubin Law Firm. Mr. Rubin died recently, not sure what is there now.
The theatre’s name was changed to Rex Theatre in the earlier 70’s. I saw “Last House on the Left” there. They tried the non-porn theatre approach, but it didn’t fly.
The Little River area went down hill in the 70’s. Porn dominated all of the theatres of the area. I can’t remember any regular theatres in Little River that had not been converted to porn. In addition to the theatres there were several Adult Book Stores, and a small mini theatre called “The Little Adult Theatre” which was right on NW 79th Street one block West of Biscayne on the south side of the street.
During those years, Little River was “Manhattan’s 42nd Street” of Miami. This is where most of the adult businesses were located. This changed once the Little River area became “Little Haiti”. The area cleaned up pretty good.
The establishment that survived the area’s porn flair, was the Playboy Club, which was there until the mid 80s. Ellis Ruben’s law office took over that building when the Playboy Club was closed.
Fred,
Do you remember if the Strand had a stage?
LM, as ALWAYS! That is a beautiful pic! Nice. I still don’t understand why Miami has a tendency to rename established institutions. I would have never used Gusman Hall to rename this popular theatre. If it started as the Olympia it should remain that way forever.
Although I liked the Olympia, the Beach, Miami, and Carib theatres get my vote for the most impressive!
Al,
I remember the 2nd box office at the rear of the Miami theatre. It did exist. I always thought it was weird that the theatre had 2 entrances. I never saw that box office in use.
Fred,
Do you still live in Miami? Do you have any info on The Strand on NW 7th Avenue?