Well, high wind and rain finally weakened the old girl to the point where the roof and east wall fell on the neighboring building below. As of Monday, March 21, 2016, the Showboat Theatre is being demolished.
Thanks! My daughter goes to Texas Tech University, and Worldcat tells me that they have a copy in reference. I’m going to have her check for me. But thanks so much for the tip about the Freeport Showboat.
Joe, is it possible that the Shult listing might have been in the ‘49-50 catalog? I got the 50-51 one to work in my browser, and at the end of the book in the cumulative index it mentions an “Index of Architects” in the 49-50 book. Of course that’s not in the drive-ins.com web site for some reason. Do you have the 49-50 book? It might be around page 115 or so. It’s hard to read.
The Broad Street address of the Port Theatre is now a vacant lot. I’m pretty sure the 119 W. Second Street address of the Freeport/Palace Theatre is also a vacant lot or has a different building on it.
The Ora was showing westerns on weekends only by May, 1953; by March 1954 there is a Bargain Furniture store in the “Old Ora Theatre.”
I spent some time in Freeport Facts archives, which only go back to 1928.
The Princess had listings for local vaudeville and dance performances (Blue Triangle Club, Miss Vera Kelly’s students) in 1928. On September 21, 1928, it was “repaired and repainted.” A Pentecostal revival was there in late December 1930 and early January 1931.
As far as the address, there is a mention of a “bank building between the Princess Theatre and McClendon’s” on Broad Street in August 1928.
The Palace was on Second Street. There were listings of church services and meetings in 1928. On June 1, 1936, M. N. Bussey bought it from longtime owner J. A. Phillips. Bussey remodeled the building, extended it 25 feet in length, added 105 seats and a new sound screen, and reopened it as the Freeport Theatre on August 5, 1936.
The last movie listing for it I can find is in August, 1944. By that time it was called “The House of Westerns” and was showing only Westerns. There is an ad for Darwood Furniture at 119 W. Second Street in the “Old Freeport Theatre Building” on March 15, 1945.
Mr. and Mrs. Bussey built and opened the Ora on East Park Avenue on June 11, 1940. Mrs. Bussey’s name was Ora and the theatre was named after her.
Mr. and Mrs. Bussey also started construction of the Port Theatre in late 1940. It was on West Second Street and was “tile and stucco.” There is mention of a “lower floor.”
The Busseys and their sister and brother-in-laws the A.R. Milentz’s were partners in the Freeport Amusements Company. They sold the Freeport, Ora, and newly completed Port Theatres to J.G. Long on January 25, 1941. The Port opened a week later on February 5, 1941. It must have been air conditioned eventually, an ad in August 1944 called it “The Coolest Spot in Freeport.”
The Busseys remained to manage the Ora for Long, but by April 1941 they were managing the Daisetta Theatre in Daisetta. M. N. Bussey died July 19 1944; on the same page of the Freeport Facts is a death notice for TSgt Chauncey Freeman, who had been manager of the Freeport Theatre until March 1943 when he entered the USAAF. Freeman was killed in action in a B-24 over Germany on June 29 1944.
On November 22, 1945, there is mention of a Lack’s Auto Store in “the building formerly occupied by the Port Theatre.”
Long announced the plans for “new Freeport theatre” and the Velasco Theatre on October 23, 1941. The Showboat opened June 6, 1942, with prewar RCA projectors and sound, air conditioning, and 1000 seats with balcony. The Texas City Showboat had just opened on April 16, 1942, with a similar design by Ernest Shult.
The Velasco Theatre finally opened on November 23, 1944. It was air conditioned and about three-quarters the size of the big Showboat. Apparently it was quite nice at the time. The address was 314 South Avenue A, Velasco. It ended its days as a porn or at least “blue” house, the last listing I can find for it is a showing of Gone With The Wind from April 7, 1972. I believe it was demolished in the 1980s. Further research in county records may reveal more information about the vanished movie theaters of Freeport. Unfortunately, an address for the Port hasn’t appeared. Movie listings didn’t give addresses for the theaters.
One thing I found interesting while looking around in the Freeport Facts is that there were no movie listings, per se, in the pre-war period. There were articles mentioning movies, and of course no address given. It sounds like the movie schedule was relatively flexible and in between there were church services and other meetings. And the Houston Symphony Orchestra gave two concerts at the Showboat in 1948, so they must have had a big stage or built out a platform over the seats.
The Freeport Facts, September 23, 1958, says “The Princess Theatre building has been repaired and is being repainted. This is one of the two movie buildings in Freeport and is located on Broad Street.” On the same page there is mention of the Palace Theatre. I haven’t found an address for either but there are mentions of fairly regular church services and revivals meeting in them and vaudeville productions by local organizations (not traveling entertainers.)
Looks like there are some Freeporters here, (hey, brucesw, buddy!) so I’ll pose the question that I asked Joe in a different thread: does anyone know if Houston/Rosenberg architect Ernest Shult designed the Freeport theaters built by Long? I suspect that he did but haven’t been able to confirm it.
The Velasco opened in November, 1944. There’s quite a lot about it in the Freeport Facts of October and November, 1944. There had been a massive influx of war workers between 1941 and 1944 into the area, so it is completely reasonable that there would have been so many theaters and the finances would have supported construction by late 1944. It was a pretty building, too, as I said it looked more like the Texas City Showboat than the Freeport Showboat did. It had an asymmetrical pylon over the corner entry.
Thanks, Joe. I did some looking too, but as I said, I can only blindly download individual pages without viewing them first (and then only with Google Chrome) and I haven’t found anything. The two new theaters in Texas that have feature pages are not by Shult. It was the 1950-51 catalog, right, not the missing 49-50 one? I did find an article in the Freeport Facts from 1941 or ‘42 which mentions the proposed new Long theaters in Velasco and Freeport, and while the Showboat in Freeport is not named yet, it mentions that it would be “built to the same plans as the Showboat in Texas City.” However, photos of the period show that the theaters were not identical, in fact the Velasco looks a little more like the Texas City Showboat than the Freeport Showboat does. However, they certainly look plausibly like Shult’s work.
By the end of WWII there were five theaters in the Freeport area: the Freeport, Port, Ora, and Showboat and the Velasco in the across-the-river town of Velasco. They were all part of the Long circuit and today only the Ora and Showboat buildings remain, as a dance club and jewelry store respectively. The Velasco ended its days as a porn house and was torn down in the 80’s, which is a shame because it was quite a nice building when new. Alden Dow’s Lake Theatre remains in Lake Jackson although it was gutted in an attempt to make it a music venue and its roof is in poor condition.
Joe, you are absolutely right about Lloyd Borget. Most of his work was with MacKie and Kamrath and they did do several theaters such as the Village Theatre in Houston. Borget worked at MacKie and Kamrath from 1949 to 1998, approximately. MacKie and Kamrath did several large projects in the Lake Jackson and Freeport area for the City of Lake Jackson and Dow Chemical Company, but Borget did some work on his own for the Lake Theatre and also designed about ten private homes in Lake Jackson. Other than a lake house in Central Texas, I have been able to find no other “under his own name” projects by Borget. I suspect he had a fondness for the area and was willing to undertake smaller projects that the big firm wouldn’t want to do. Borget’s biggest achievement was the design of the original M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Joe, I saw your comments on the Texas theaters in the greater Houston area designed by Ernest L. Shult for the Long theater chain. You cited the 1950 Theater Catalog. While I can find it on drive-ins.com, I can’t search or view, all I can do is download individual pages blindly. Can you tell me what page that list is on, or perhaps confirm for me if Shult did any theaters in Freeport, Clute, or Velasco? I’m working on a book about mid-century architecture in the area and I’m trying to find some more Shult buildings. I suspect the 1944 Velasco Theatre, now demolished, is a Shult building. Photos show that it was quite modern.
Thanks!
Alden Dow did design the original Lake Theater, and yes, the smaller Lake II theater which is on the back of the original building was built in the early 70s just as the 1971 Boxoffice article describes. You can see the entrance on the Circle Way part of Google Streetview. At the time it was intended to show more “adult” fare: Midnight Cowboy as opposed to The Sound of Music. Not porn, of course, just movies with an edgier appeal.
Yes, arch-ive.org is run by a good friend of mine. Those are her photos from a trip to Freeport.
Well, high wind and rain finally weakened the old girl to the point where the roof and east wall fell on the neighboring building below. As of Monday, March 21, 2016, the Showboat Theatre is being demolished.
Thanks! My daughter goes to Texas Tech University, and Worldcat tells me that they have a copy in reference. I’m going to have her check for me. But thanks so much for the tip about the Freeport Showboat.
Joe, is it possible that the Shult listing might have been in the ‘49-50 catalog? I got the 50-51 one to work in my browser, and at the end of the book in the cumulative index it mentions an “Index of Architects” in the 49-50 book. Of course that’s not in the drive-ins.com web site for some reason. Do you have the 49-50 book? It might be around page 115 or so. It’s hard to read.
The Broad Street address of the Port Theatre is now a vacant lot. I’m pretty sure the 119 W. Second Street address of the Freeport/Palace Theatre is also a vacant lot or has a different building on it.
The Ora was showing westerns on weekends only by May, 1953; by March 1954 there is a Bargain Furniture store in the “Old Ora Theatre.”
Lack’s Auto Supply: 217 West Broad in December, 1946, so that must be the address of the Port Theatre.
I spent some time in Freeport Facts archives, which only go back to 1928.
The Princess had listings for local vaudeville and dance performances (Blue Triangle Club, Miss Vera Kelly’s students) in 1928. On September 21, 1928, it was “repaired and repainted.” A Pentecostal revival was there in late December 1930 and early January 1931. As far as the address, there is a mention of a “bank building between the Princess Theatre and McClendon’s” on Broad Street in August 1928.
The Palace was on Second Street. There were listings of church services and meetings in 1928. On June 1, 1936, M. N. Bussey bought it from longtime owner J. A. Phillips. Bussey remodeled the building, extended it 25 feet in length, added 105 seats and a new sound screen, and reopened it as the Freeport Theatre on August 5, 1936. The last movie listing for it I can find is in August, 1944. By that time it was called “The House of Westerns” and was showing only Westerns. There is an ad for Darwood Furniture at 119 W. Second Street in the “Old Freeport Theatre Building” on March 15, 1945.
Mr. and Mrs. Bussey built and opened the Ora on East Park Avenue on June 11, 1940. Mrs. Bussey’s name was Ora and the theatre was named after her.
Mr. and Mrs. Bussey also started construction of the Port Theatre in late 1940. It was on West Second Street and was “tile and stucco.” There is mention of a “lower floor.”
The Busseys and their sister and brother-in-laws the A.R. Milentz’s were partners in the Freeport Amusements Company. They sold the Freeport, Ora, and newly completed Port Theatres to J.G. Long on January 25, 1941. The Port opened a week later on February 5, 1941. It must have been air conditioned eventually, an ad in August 1944 called it “The Coolest Spot in Freeport.”
The Busseys remained to manage the Ora for Long, but by April 1941 they were managing the Daisetta Theatre in Daisetta. M. N. Bussey died July 19 1944; on the same page of the Freeport Facts is a death notice for TSgt Chauncey Freeman, who had been manager of the Freeport Theatre until March 1943 when he entered the USAAF. Freeman was killed in action in a B-24 over Germany on June 29 1944.
On November 22, 1945, there is mention of a Lack’s Auto Store in “the building formerly occupied by the Port Theatre.”
Long announced the plans for “new Freeport theatre” and the Velasco Theatre on October 23, 1941. The Showboat opened June 6, 1942, with prewar RCA projectors and sound, air conditioning, and 1000 seats with balcony. The Texas City Showboat had just opened on April 16, 1942, with a similar design by Ernest Shult.
The Velasco Theatre finally opened on November 23, 1944. It was air conditioned and about three-quarters the size of the big Showboat. Apparently it was quite nice at the time. The address was 314 South Avenue A, Velasco. It ended its days as a porn or at least “blue” house, the last listing I can find for it is a showing of Gone With The Wind from April 7, 1972. I believe it was demolished in the 1980s. Further research in county records may reveal more information about the vanished movie theaters of Freeport. Unfortunately, an address for the Port hasn’t appeared. Movie listings didn’t give addresses for the theaters.
One thing I found interesting while looking around in the Freeport Facts is that there were no movie listings, per se, in the pre-war period. There were articles mentioning movies, and of course no address given. It sounds like the movie schedule was relatively flexible and in between there were church services and other meetings. And the Houston Symphony Orchestra gave two concerts at the Showboat in 1948, so they must have had a big stage or built out a platform over the seats.
Edna was designed by Houston/Rosenberg architect Ernest L. Shult. Not sure if he did the Alabama; probably not, actually.
Oops, wish I could edit! The “Princess Theatre building” entry in the Freeport Facts mentioned above was from 1928, not 1958!
I suspect that those became the Freeport and the Port, but I don’t know.
The Freeport Facts, September 23, 1958, says “The Princess Theatre building has been repaired and is being repainted. This is one of the two movie buildings in Freeport and is located on Broad Street.” On the same page there is mention of the Palace Theatre. I haven’t found an address for either but there are mentions of fairly regular church services and revivals meeting in them and vaudeville productions by local organizations (not traveling entertainers.)
Looks like there are some Freeporters here, (hey, brucesw, buddy!) so I’ll pose the question that I asked Joe in a different thread: does anyone know if Houston/Rosenberg architect Ernest Shult designed the Freeport theaters built by Long? I suspect that he did but haven’t been able to confirm it.
The Velasco opened in November, 1944. There’s quite a lot about it in the Freeport Facts of October and November, 1944. There had been a massive influx of war workers between 1941 and 1944 into the area, so it is completely reasonable that there would have been so many theaters and the finances would have supported construction by late 1944. It was a pretty building, too, as I said it looked more like the Texas City Showboat than the Freeport Showboat did. It had an asymmetrical pylon over the corner entry.
Thanks, Joe. I did some looking too, but as I said, I can only blindly download individual pages without viewing them first (and then only with Google Chrome) and I haven’t found anything. The two new theaters in Texas that have feature pages are not by Shult. It was the 1950-51 catalog, right, not the missing 49-50 one? I did find an article in the Freeport Facts from 1941 or ‘42 which mentions the proposed new Long theaters in Velasco and Freeport, and while the Showboat in Freeport is not named yet, it mentions that it would be “built to the same plans as the Showboat in Texas City.” However, photos of the period show that the theaters were not identical, in fact the Velasco looks a little more like the Texas City Showboat than the Freeport Showboat does. However, they certainly look plausibly like Shult’s work.
By the end of WWII there were five theaters in the Freeport area: the Freeport, Port, Ora, and Showboat and the Velasco in the across-the-river town of Velasco. They were all part of the Long circuit and today only the Ora and Showboat buildings remain, as a dance club and jewelry store respectively. The Velasco ended its days as a porn house and was torn down in the 80’s, which is a shame because it was quite a nice building when new. Alden Dow’s Lake Theatre remains in Lake Jackson although it was gutted in an attempt to make it a music venue and its roof is in poor condition.
Joe, you are absolutely right about Lloyd Borget. Most of his work was with MacKie and Kamrath and they did do several theaters such as the Village Theatre in Houston. Borget worked at MacKie and Kamrath from 1949 to 1998, approximately. MacKie and Kamrath did several large projects in the Lake Jackson and Freeport area for the City of Lake Jackson and Dow Chemical Company, but Borget did some work on his own for the Lake Theatre and also designed about ten private homes in Lake Jackson. Other than a lake house in Central Texas, I have been able to find no other “under his own name” projects by Borget. I suspect he had a fondness for the area and was willing to undertake smaller projects that the big firm wouldn’t want to do. Borget’s biggest achievement was the design of the original M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Joe, I saw your comments on the Texas theaters in the greater Houston area designed by Ernest L. Shult for the Long theater chain. You cited the 1950 Theater Catalog. While I can find it on drive-ins.com, I can’t search or view, all I can do is download individual pages blindly. Can you tell me what page that list is on, or perhaps confirm for me if Shult did any theaters in Freeport, Clute, or Velasco? I’m working on a book about mid-century architecture in the area and I’m trying to find some more Shult buildings. I suspect the 1944 Velasco Theatre, now demolished, is a Shult building. Photos show that it was quite modern. Thanks!
Alden Dow did design the original Lake Theater, and yes, the smaller Lake II theater which is on the back of the original building was built in the early 70s just as the 1971 Boxoffice article describes. You can see the entrance on the Circle Way part of Google Streetview. At the time it was intended to show more “adult” fare: Midnight Cowboy as opposed to The Sound of Music. Not porn, of course, just movies with an edgier appeal.