Interstate opened here on August 17, 1949 with “The Stratton Story.” The venue made it to the end of its 25-year leasing agreement closing with a ‘Farewell Day’ on May 1, 1974 with “Silence” and “Seal Island.” As ABC Interstate, the circuit replaced it with its new-build ABC Cinema 1 & 2 opening the next day. Two original Majestic-ers made the move to the new venue in Carmen Abete and Raul Davilla.
The building was best known as home of the Rockingham Motor Company for some 50 years. A theater space was carved into the building in 1998 named after the car dealership opening as the Rockingham Theatre. The Arts Council of the Valley (ACV) formed renaming it as the Court Square Theatre in 1999.
The 216-seat theatre housed live events, art films, and repertory films. On December 17, 2025 after the venue had screened, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as part of a Chirstmas film series, the ACV Board of Directors - led by Mr. Potter - voted to cease operations of the theater at the end of the calendar year. Harry Bailey burst into that meeting and said, “I got nothing.” The Court Square Theatre ended after a 25-year run on December 31, 2025.
This is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande project as conceptualized in 1966-1972. It was designed as a Disneyland-esque marriage of harmony and history at the Texas / Mexico border in a different era and through a different lens. It was also in response to the Six Flags Over Texas project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
At upper left, the Amigoland entry signage is conceptualized and the working logo is provided. To the right and also shown in the bottom right corner is the original footprint (1966-1969) for the Amigoland project. In 1970, the project plans were enlarged significantly to include the Melvin Simon Mall and readied for condominiums and hotels (ad in light blue at right) as drawn up with contractors assigned. Look at another posted photo for the revised plan and including the cinema functions.
The original Amigoland on the Rio Grande had 8 “worlds” - later reduced to 7 planned worlds. Aztecland was one of the seven worlds and its is shown in bottom left after Bovay Engineers of Houston entered the project providing that drawing. Another drawing is found on the right edge.
Some accounts say that Amigoland project morphed into the Amigoland Mall which is inaccurate. Satellite views from that era show that the area was readied and, very technically, the building showing at top right and at left under the logo is the office and welcome center for the Amigoland Amusement Park. A spiral staircase took visitors to the top of that circular building and had the proposed seven worlds of Amigoland on display.
The amusement park was scheduled to open in 1971 with the Amigoland Mall and its UA Cinema Twin opening in 1972. Four high rise condos by Condo-Rio were to be built and planned for launch in December 1974. The Amusement Park stalled not long after the visitor building was constructed. The Mall opened partially in November of 1973 with the UA Cinema 1&2 opening on February 20, 1974 and the Amigoland Mall celebrating its official grand opening the next day. The Amigoland logo was trademarked in 1974. Amigoland on the Rio Grande had spurts of activity in 1974, 1977 and 1981 that brought no noticeable improvements.
Amigoland, Inc., the company behind the theme park, dissolved and the trademark fell into public domain after non-usage and non-renewal. Amigoland, Inc.’s final stand was in a legal notice listing condemning the non-Mall properties which were to be associated with Amigoland on the Rio Grande in January of 2010 - a move which appears to more or less have liberated the 40-year old, unimproved property elements for future use.
These elements are related to the Amigoland Mall and its cinema.
In the upper left corner is the poster frames for the Cinemark Amigoland Cinema 1&2 in early August of 1994 with “The Crow” and “The Shadow” playing along on a discount, sub-run policy. The venue would close at year’s end. Below that it’s the opening ad as the UA Cinema 1 &2 February 20, 1974 with Steve McQueen in “Papillon” and Dean Jones in “Mr. Superinvisible".
At the top middle is the original directory for the Amigoland Mall with the theatre in purple between Montgomery Ward and Dillard’s.
The grand opening ad is (at bottom) for the entire mall was on February 21, 1974 (the day after the Cinema opened and three months after J.C. Penney’s had opened).
Next to that is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande revised footprint including the amusement park, the condos, the hotel/motel and everything else that didn’t get completed other than the visitor center.
At bottom right is the first ad for Plitt Theatres which took over for UA in Harlingen and Brownsville on October 4, 1985. A coupon got you into the Amigoland cinema for free that day. And above that ad is a 1994 ad as the Cinemark which had taken over the Plitt locations in Harlingen and Brownsville.
Note: I think I would simply replace the entire two sentence synopsis of the venue’s 1950 to 1952 timeline and the muddled transfer of names (didn’t quite stick that factually) with the better information above. I think it’s far more solid from the 1910s to 1956 - although feel free to stick with the original.
There were two Eltex Theaters in diminutive Elgin, Texas. The second was opened in 1941 lasting until a fire in April of 1983 - a streamline moderne house that has its own CinemaTreasures page. This entry contains the original Eltex which began as the silent-era Imp Theatre and ended as the Elgin Theatre.
This venue began in the the nickelodeon era by the E.W. Nichols family as the 250-seat Imp Theatre - according to some reports - in 1911. It co-existed with the town’s more fancy live event house, the Bassist Opera House. One of the Nichols’ five sons, John E., returned from his World War I duty and was assigned theatre operation duties.
The Imp reduced to four day a week operation in January of 1918 as a result of “Hooverization” - a national World War I strategy to save food in order to win the War effort. On October 10, 1918, it closed briefly along with the great majority of U.S. movie houses for the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Other than those anomalies, the Imp operated on a daily basis into the late 1920s.
As the film industry was transitioning to sound and looking for names to call the fledgling talkies industry, Nichols suggested Seephonic Pictures as a possible branding of the new technology. The Imp closed in 1930. The closing was a confluence of many issues including the lack of attendance for the Imp’s silent film and live programming fare, the great cost of transitioning the Imp to sound technology for a small town cinema, and the onset of the Depression - to say nothing of the passing of father, E.W. Nichols in late 1928. But the non-support of the term “Seephonic" suggest by Nichols must have also stung somewhat. The Nichols lost the theatre to a receivership auction and the venue ended up with new operator Dale Wilson.
Wilson wired the Imp for sound calling it the New Theater temporarily. He changed the name to the Eltex (sometimes El-Tex, short for Elgin, Texas). Wilson operated it for most of the decade (although he had hired two managers in the early 1930s neither of whom lasted long in their positions). By the 1940s, with the town’s two brick factories heating up and Camp Swift nearby, Wilson would create a new build cinema in 1941. The new showplace was ready September 25, 1941 opening as the New Eltex. The original Eltex closed on September 24, 1941 with Constance Moore in “Las Vegas Nights.”
Less than a year later, Wilson would refresh the shuttered Imp turned Eltex - creating a second theater to accommodate the War effort and the larger crowds. It was scaled back to 210 seats as the Elgin Theatre relaunching in February of 1942. The venue struggled in the TV age converting to Spanish language theaters. It appears to have closed on September 23, 1956 with María Elena Marqués in “El Marido de mi Novia.” The newer Eltex would continue into the 1980s.
The New Eltex opened on September 25, 1941 with Edward G. Robinson and Marlene Dietrich in “Manpower.” The New Eltex replaced the former nickelodeon-era Imp Theatre that had been wired for sound and renamed the New Theatre and the Eltex Theatre in the early 1930s.
Operater Dale Wilson and partner Joe I. Diddy built the new streamline moderne moviehouse here in the existing Standifer Building in 1941. They closed the nickelodeon-era venue and original Eltex on September 24, 1941. Less than a year later, Wilson would reopen the original Eltex to accommodate the WW2 era crowds as the Elgin Theatre. In the 1950s, the Elgin closed as the town continued with one hardtop theater.
The venue operated with a balcony for African American and Hispanic patrons. There were no rest room facilities provided for non-White customers. That policy changed in the 1960s. Art Gomez was the final Eltex Theatre operator. It was twice set afire by an arsonist or arsonists in the 1980s. The final Eltex Theatre showtime was April 24, 1983 when the second fire gutted the interior. The building was considered a total loss and later demolished. By all accounts, it had a single operational name as the Eltex Theatre.
Closed permanently on November 30, 2025 with Santa in the house and “Zootopia 2” and “Polar Express” on Screen 1 and “Wicked for Life” and “Elf” on Screen 2.
So on the two fire / same day question, there are a number of eyewitness claims that two seemingly separate fires occurred at early movie theaters but would be considered as the same incident call - and likely can’t be totally confirmed as separate incidents. The State Theatre in Sacramento (1927) seems to fit that two-fer category. And there is at least one fire during the evening of a theatre’s operation that is contained and the theatre still burns down later that night because it wasn’t as contained as hoped.
But to have a “matinee fire” followed by resumption of business the same day and then a nightcap, second fire that permanently ends the business during the operating day is far more unusual. Hard to believe that the writer of the story didn’t work in the “fire double feature at the Dowling” angle. Seems like a missed opportunity; but give them credit for working in the Timberland “smoking guns” approach. Well played.
Closed permanently by B&B on January 4, 2026. Demolition was set to commence soon thereafter.
Interstate opened here on August 17, 1949 with “The Stratton Story.” The venue made it to the end of its 25-year leasing agreement closing with a ‘Farewell Day’ on May 1, 1974 with “Silence” and “Seal Island.” As ABC Interstate, the circuit replaced it with its new-build ABC Cinema 1 & 2 opening the next day. Two original Majestic-ers made the move to the new venue in Carmen Abete and Raul Davilla.
Apex steered the venue to its 30-year leasing expiry and closure December 31, 2025.
The building was best known as home of the Rockingham Motor Company for some 50 years. A theater space was carved into the building in 1998 named after the car dealership opening as the Rockingham Theatre. The Arts Council of the Valley (ACV) formed renaming it as the Court Square Theatre in 1999.
The 216-seat theatre housed live events, art films, and repertory films. On December 17, 2025 after the venue had screened, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as part of a Chirstmas film series, the ACV Board of Directors - led by Mr. Potter - voted to cease operations of the theater at the end of the calendar year. Harry Bailey burst into that meeting and said, “I got nothing.” The Court Square Theatre ended after a 25-year run on December 31, 2025.
The theatre auditorium was completely demolished in 2025. I would opt for demolished unless facade is good enough for the site.
This is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande project as conceptualized in 1966-1972. It was designed as a Disneyland-esque marriage of harmony and history at the Texas / Mexico border in a different era and through a different lens. It was also in response to the Six Flags Over Texas project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
At upper left, the Amigoland entry signage is conceptualized and the working logo is provided. To the right and also shown in the bottom right corner is the original footprint (1966-1969) for the Amigoland project. In 1970, the project plans were enlarged significantly to include the Melvin Simon Mall and readied for condominiums and hotels (ad in light blue at right) as drawn up with contractors assigned. Look at another posted photo for the revised plan and including the cinema functions.
The original Amigoland on the Rio Grande had 8 “worlds” - later reduced to 7 planned worlds. Aztecland was one of the seven worlds and its is shown in bottom left after Bovay Engineers of Houston entered the project providing that drawing. Another drawing is found on the right edge.
Some accounts say that Amigoland project morphed into the Amigoland Mall which is inaccurate. Satellite views from that era show that the area was readied and, very technically, the building showing at top right and at left under the logo is the office and welcome center for the Amigoland Amusement Park. A spiral staircase took visitors to the top of that circular building and had the proposed seven worlds of Amigoland on display.
The amusement park was scheduled to open in 1971 with the Amigoland Mall and its UA Cinema Twin opening in 1972. Four high rise condos by Condo-Rio were to be built and planned for launch in December 1974. The Amusement Park stalled not long after the visitor building was constructed. The Mall opened partially in November of 1973 with the UA Cinema 1&2 opening on February 20, 1974 and the Amigoland Mall celebrating its official grand opening the next day. The Amigoland logo was trademarked in 1974. Amigoland on the Rio Grande had spurts of activity in 1974, 1977 and 1981 that brought no noticeable improvements.
Amigoland, Inc., the company behind the theme park, dissolved and the trademark fell into public domain after non-usage and non-renewal. Amigoland, Inc.’s final stand was in a legal notice listing condemning the non-Mall properties which were to be associated with Amigoland on the Rio Grande in January of 2010 - a move which appears to more or less have liberated the 40-year old, unimproved property elements for future use.
Closed Nov. 30, 2025 with “Elf”
These elements are related to the Amigoland Mall and its cinema.
In the upper left corner is the poster frames for the Cinemark Amigoland Cinema 1&2 in early August of 1994 with “The Crow” and “The Shadow” playing along on a discount, sub-run policy. The venue would close at year’s end. Below that it’s the opening ad as the UA Cinema 1 &2 February 20, 1974 with Steve McQueen in “Papillon” and Dean Jones in “Mr. Superinvisible".
At the top middle is the original directory for the Amigoland Mall with the theatre in purple between Montgomery Ward and Dillard’s.
The grand opening ad is (at bottom) for the entire mall was on February 21, 1974 (the day after the Cinema opened and three months after J.C. Penney’s had opened).
Next to that is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande revised footprint including the amusement park, the condos, the hotel/motel and everything else that didn’t get completed other than the visitor center.
At bottom right is the first ad for Plitt Theatres which took over for UA in Harlingen and Brownsville on October 4, 1985. A coupon got you into the Amigoland cinema for free that day. And above that ad is a 1994 ad as the Cinemark which had taken over the Plitt locations in Harlingen and Brownsville.
This is a live events space that does revival screenings only. It is none of the above functions - not second run, not indy, not foreign.
This is a first run cinema. This is definitely not a second run cinema.
They play current Japanese features. It doesn’t appear to be a second run cinema.
They are running first run and sporadic revival. This is definitely not a second run cinema.
This is a live event house and is not a second run cinema.
Google lists it as closed and it’s not one of the cinemas listed on the PlayArte website.
This is a first run, revival and indy theater. It is definitely not a second run house.
This is a live theatre. It is not a second run cinema.
First run and revival film titles along with sporadic live events. Definitely not a second run house.
Definitely only a first-run house. Not a second run house.
Ray Pace - fourth person with Jack Dickerson to his right
You can delete this one - I added the comments to the Elgin Theatre as it housed the Imp, Eltex and Elgin theaters.
Note: I think I would simply replace the entire two sentence synopsis of the venue’s 1950 to 1952 timeline and the muddled transfer of names (didn’t quite stick that factually) with the better information above. I think it’s far more solid from the 1910s to 1956 - although feel free to stick with the original.
There were two Eltex Theaters in diminutive Elgin, Texas. The second was opened in 1941 lasting until a fire in April of 1983 - a streamline moderne house that has its own CinemaTreasures page. This entry contains the original Eltex which began as the silent-era Imp Theatre and ended as the Elgin Theatre.
This venue began in the the nickelodeon era by the E.W. Nichols family as the 250-seat Imp Theatre - according to some reports - in 1911. It co-existed with the town’s more fancy live event house, the Bassist Opera House. One of the Nichols’ five sons, John E., returned from his World War I duty and was assigned theatre operation duties.
The Imp reduced to four day a week operation in January of 1918 as a result of “Hooverization” - a national World War I strategy to save food in order to win the War effort. On October 10, 1918, it closed briefly along with the great majority of U.S. movie houses for the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Other than those anomalies, the Imp operated on a daily basis into the late 1920s.
As the film industry was transitioning to sound and looking for names to call the fledgling talkies industry, Nichols suggested Seephonic Pictures as a possible branding of the new technology. The Imp closed in 1930. The closing was a confluence of many issues including the lack of attendance for the Imp’s silent film and live programming fare, the great cost of transitioning the Imp to sound technology for a small town cinema, and the onset of the Depression - to say nothing of the passing of father, E.W. Nichols in late 1928. But the non-support of the term “Seephonic" suggest by Nichols must have also stung somewhat. The Nichols lost the theatre to a receivership auction and the venue ended up with new operator Dale Wilson.
Wilson wired the Imp for sound calling it the New Theater temporarily. He changed the name to the Eltex (sometimes El-Tex, short for Elgin, Texas). Wilson operated it for most of the decade (although he had hired two managers in the early 1930s neither of whom lasted long in their positions). By the 1940s, with the town’s two brick factories heating up and Camp Swift nearby, Wilson would create a new build cinema in 1941. The new showplace was ready September 25, 1941 opening as the New Eltex. The original Eltex closed on September 24, 1941 with Constance Moore in “Las Vegas Nights.”
Less than a year later, Wilson would refresh the shuttered Imp turned Eltex - creating a second theater to accommodate the War effort and the larger crowds. It was scaled back to 210 seats as the Elgin Theatre relaunching in February of 1942. The venue struggled in the TV age converting to Spanish language theaters. It appears to have closed on September 23, 1956 with María Elena Marqués in “El Marido de mi Novia.” The newer Eltex would continue into the 1980s.
The New Eltex opened on September 25, 1941 with Edward G. Robinson and Marlene Dietrich in “Manpower.” The New Eltex replaced the former nickelodeon-era Imp Theatre that had been wired for sound and renamed the New Theatre and the Eltex Theatre in the early 1930s.
Operater Dale Wilson and partner Joe I. Diddy built the new streamline moderne moviehouse here in the existing Standifer Building in 1941. They closed the nickelodeon-era venue and original Eltex on September 24, 1941. Less than a year later, Wilson would reopen the original Eltex to accommodate the WW2 era crowds as the Elgin Theatre. In the 1950s, the Elgin closed as the town continued with one hardtop theater.
The venue operated with a balcony for African American and Hispanic patrons. There were no rest room facilities provided for non-White customers. That policy changed in the 1960s. Art Gomez was the final Eltex Theatre operator. It was twice set afire by an arsonist or arsonists in the 1980s. The final Eltex Theatre showtime was April 24, 1983 when the second fire gutted the interior. The building was considered a total loss and later demolished. By all accounts, it had a single operational name as the Eltex Theatre.
Closed permanently on November 30, 2025 with Santa in the house and “Zootopia 2” and “Polar Express” on Screen 1 and “Wicked for Life” and “Elf” on Screen 2.
So on the two fire / same day question, there are a number of eyewitness claims that two seemingly separate fires occurred at early movie theaters but would be considered as the same incident call - and likely can’t be totally confirmed as separate incidents. The State Theatre in Sacramento (1927) seems to fit that two-fer category. And there is at least one fire during the evening of a theatre’s operation that is contained and the theatre still burns down later that night because it wasn’t as contained as hoped.
But to have a “matinee fire” followed by resumption of business the same day and then a nightcap, second fire that permanently ends the business during the operating day is far more unusual. Hard to believe that the writer of the story didn’t work in the “fire double feature at the Dowling” angle. Seems like a missed opportunity; but give them credit for working in the Timberland “smoking guns” approach. Well played.