I found one date that it opened in 1911 at 1608 Elm (previous owner of property was a Theodoro Bragni in 1920 listed at what was then numbered 370 Elm which later became 1608.) Part of a chain of Texas theatres owned by G. K. Jorgensen. It also had the first Wurlitzer organ installed in the southwest. Had a small Wurlitzer at first then in 1917 a larger Wurlitzer was installed.
So great having the above post! Carl Wiesmann was the organist at first but then many others played the magnificient second Wurlitzer Publix #1 a 4 manual/20 rank organ. That console is now with Dick Taylor in California along with some of the relay boards & switchboards. He is building a small museum to house it altho' it is just the console. The rest of that organ (ranks of pipes, blower, generator, etc.) is installed in the Fox Theater in San Jose, CA. Good to know. You can visit that theater’s website for more info. Thanks again for the fine post and detailed history of the Palace Theater.
I took a couple of photos of the 2 story organ chamber building behind the Arcadia Theater. There was a 4 keyboard/14ranks of pipes installed in the theater when it opened November 4, 1927. After sound came in, the organ was finally sent to Baylor University in Waco and was combined with a 2/12 Pilcher organ from the old Hippodrome/Strand theater that had been donated to Baylor Univ. The ranks of pipes usually were about 72 per rank ranging from the size of a pencil to 32 feet tall ones. So interesting how these theater organs were enormous in the amount of parts, blowers, relays and more. Fascinating too were the incredible sounds they could produce.
BTW Julie has a picture of the Roxy Theatre on her Photos page of the WFHistory Facebook website. I’m so grateful for her and for Don Lewis too in preserving much of the past.
Jeanette Crumpler in Dallas, TX
On the Wichita Falls History Facebook pages, Julie Coley who used to run an antique store in the old Roxy Theatre building posted a recent article from the WFTimesRecordNews that a man in Wichita Falls has bought the entire strip and wants to restore all of the buildings as to their outside facades. That would be great to see.
Jeanette Crumpler in Dallas, TX
The owner of the Cosmic Squire Book & Music store died in Nov. 2009 and the family was considering selling the building or they may already have done so.
There are a couple of pictures on the Wichita Falls History Facebook page. I remember going to the Roxy and actually saw a silent movie there with my grandmother in the early 1940s. Don’t know why they were showing a silent movie since they showed sound films all of the time. The WF History Facebook page is great. I’ll be telling them about the Cinema Treasures website.
The building is still there, owned by a church “La Luz del Mundo” but the whole facade is now destroyed so the owners can make it look more “church-like”. So sad.
A bit more info on the Palace Theatre in Dallas, TX. It was built by the Fred A. Jones & Company of Dallas and Volmer-Burdal Company of New York. Thomas W. Lamb was the designer along with C. E. Hill & Company of Dallas.
Jeanette Crumpler www.tomatolady.net
View link
This is an interesting article from 1944 telling about the Dr. I Q broadcast that will be done for 6 weeks from the Palace Theatre. James McClain (Dr. I Q) wanted a house to rent for the 6 weeks that the broadcast would be taking place. It seems Dr. I Q although it originated in Houston would go to various theatres including the Palace in Dallas to do a six week broadcast.
Interesting.
Regards,
Jeanette Crumpler www.tomatolady.net
More on the Palace Theatre in Dallas, TX. I have written many times about the Palace Theatre and its theatre organs. My own personal experience was in 1948 when I heard and saw Weldon Flanagan was playing it.
The first organist on the small 3/11 Wurlitzer Opus 235, 411 that was installed in 1921 was Carl Weismann. Then in 1930 it was repossessed and moved to the Fair Park Band Shell outdoors. This didn’t work out so it was sold in 1932 to the Ambassador Hotel Coconut Grove room in Los Angeles, CA. Finally it was sold to WHEC in 1934 in Rochester NY. And later to an individual in Colorado.
The Palace Theatre changed hands in Dallas more than once after having been built by Earl Hulsey of Southern Enterprises, then later Karl Hoblitzelle sold it to RKO and finally Publix Paramount, but then Hoblitzelle was asked to buy it back as part of Interstate which he did. In 1930 a huge Publix Wurlitzer 4/20 was installed in the theatre even though sound had already come in. (after the console was displayed in a music store window for a year). Dozens of organists played the organ including Mr. LePere, Dwight Brown, Harold Ramsay (who in the 1930s played on a regular basis)and later followed by C. Sharpe Minor, Billy Muth, Leonard Holland, Johnnie Winters, Charles Evans and finally in the late 1940s Weldon Flanagan who became the permanent Palace Organist from then until 1969 when the Palace closed and was demolished in 1970. Weldon was given the organ because he had literally restored it and kept it going for twenty years. There will be an article in the January 2009 issue of the Theatre Organ Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society about Weldon and the Palace organ as well as some great pictures. The article will also tell the final fate of the organ. My latest book, “The Theatre Organ Murders” also tells the whole story of the theatre and the organs.
Regards,
Jeanette Crumpler www.organmurders.com
Just wanted to tell more about the Melba Wurlitzer. The first one was installed in 1922 Opus 235 was a 3 keyboard (manual) 11 ranks of pipes (70 or so pipes in each rank). After a small fire in the theatre which damaged the console, the management ordered another console, Opus 503 (3/11) and it was installed in 1927. Mr. Wright told me in my interview of him in 2003 that he removed the organ in 1974 and it is still installed in his home here in Dallas. It is played for private functions. He also stated he and several others had tried to restore some of it in the theatre in the 1950s but it had been covered over by the large screen in the early 50s. It was never on a lift (that was the Palace organ). Several organists played it including Jack Caldwell,Lawrence Bolton, Caezar Borea, Lloyd Hill (known as Wild Oscar), J. D. Carlisle & Mr. LePere in the 1920s and several others as well on into the 1930s. Even Jerry Bacon played the organ a few times in the 1960s but it was rare. When the Kid Show was moved from the Palace to the Melba, Inez Teddlie played a Hammond that was brought in.
There were dozens of organists in Dallas during the theatre organ years. I have lists of them in my “Street of Dreams, A History of Dallas' Theatre Row” and “The Theatre Organ Murders” books. I was fortunate to have several interviews of several of them before they passed away. Dr. I Q was broadcast over a station in Houston (KTRH)and often was re-broadcast as if it was coming from a Dallas theatre as was also done in other cities. Norvel Slater was the featured organist for the Early Birds radio show for many years. Weldon Flanagan, the Palace organist from 1948 to 1969 was featured in live radio and TV broadcasts from the Palace. He and I are good friends and I’ve seen and have many articles about his performances. I saw him myself from 1948 until the Palace closed in 1969. There will be an article about Weldon coming out in the January 2009 issue of the Theatre Organ Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society.
Regards,
Jeanette Crumpler
I found one date that it opened in 1911 at 1608 Elm (previous owner of property was a Theodoro Bragni in 1920 listed at what was then numbered 370 Elm which later became 1608.) Part of a chain of Texas theatres owned by G. K. Jorgensen. It also had the first Wurlitzer organ installed in the southwest. Had a small Wurlitzer at first then in 1917 a larger Wurlitzer was installed.
So great having the above post! Carl Wiesmann was the organist at first but then many others played the magnificient second Wurlitzer Publix #1 a 4 manual/20 rank organ. That console is now with Dick Taylor in California along with some of the relay boards & switchboards. He is building a small museum to house it altho' it is just the console. The rest of that organ (ranks of pipes, blower, generator, etc.) is installed in the Fox Theater in San Jose, CA. Good to know. You can visit that theater’s website for more info. Thanks again for the fine post and detailed history of the Palace Theater.
I took a couple of photos of the 2 story organ chamber building behind the Arcadia Theater. There was a 4 keyboard/14ranks of pipes installed in the theater when it opened November 4, 1927. After sound came in, the organ was finally sent to Baylor University in Waco and was combined with a 2/12 Pilcher organ from the old Hippodrome/Strand theater that had been donated to Baylor Univ. The ranks of pipes usually were about 72 per rank ranging from the size of a pencil to 32 feet tall ones. So interesting how these theater organs were enormous in the amount of parts, blowers, relays and more. Fascinating too were the incredible sounds they could produce.
I should have asked was the Majestic named the Palace before. I remember going to the Majestic in the 1940s but don’t remember a Palace Theatre in WF.
Wasn’t the Palace the Majestic before? The building showing the Palace was the same as the Majestic or at least looks like the same building.
BTW Julie has a picture of the Roxy Theatre on her Photos page of the WFHistory Facebook website. I’m so grateful for her and for Don Lewis too in preserving much of the past.
Jeanette Crumpler in Dallas, TX
On the Wichita Falls History Facebook pages, Julie Coley who used to run an antique store in the old Roxy Theatre building posted a recent article from the WFTimesRecordNews that a man in Wichita Falls has bought the entire strip and wants to restore all of the buildings as to their outside facades. That would be great to see.
Jeanette Crumpler in Dallas, TX
The owner of the Cosmic Squire Book & Music store died in Nov. 2009 and the family was considering selling the building or they may already have done so.
There are a couple of pictures on the Wichita Falls History Facebook page. I remember going to the Roxy and actually saw a silent movie there with my grandmother in the early 1940s. Don’t know why they were showing a silent movie since they showed sound films all of the time. The WF History Facebook page is great. I’ll be telling them about the Cinema Treasures website.
The building is still there, owned by a church “La Luz del Mundo” but the whole facade is now destroyed so the owners can make it look more “church-like”. So sad.
A bit more info on the Palace Theatre in Dallas, TX. It was built by the Fred A. Jones & Company of Dallas and Volmer-Burdal Company of New York. Thomas W. Lamb was the designer along with C. E. Hill & Company of Dallas.
Jeanette Crumpler
www.tomatolady.net
View link
This is an interesting article from 1944 telling about the Dr. I Q broadcast that will be done for 6 weeks from the Palace Theatre. James McClain (Dr. I Q) wanted a house to rent for the 6 weeks that the broadcast would be taking place. It seems Dr. I Q although it originated in Houston would go to various theatres including the Palace in Dallas to do a six week broadcast.
Interesting.
Regards,
Jeanette Crumpler
www.tomatolady.net
More on the Palace Theatre in Dallas, TX. I have written many times about the Palace Theatre and its theatre organs. My own personal experience was in 1948 when I heard and saw Weldon Flanagan was playing it.
The first organist on the small 3/11 Wurlitzer Opus 235, 411 that was installed in 1921 was Carl Weismann. Then in 1930 it was repossessed and moved to the Fair Park Band Shell outdoors. This didn’t work out so it was sold in 1932 to the Ambassador Hotel Coconut Grove room in Los Angeles, CA. Finally it was sold to WHEC in 1934 in Rochester NY. And later to an individual in Colorado.
The Palace Theatre changed hands in Dallas more than once after having been built by Earl Hulsey of Southern Enterprises, then later Karl Hoblitzelle sold it to RKO and finally Publix Paramount, but then Hoblitzelle was asked to buy it back as part of Interstate which he did. In 1930 a huge Publix Wurlitzer 4/20 was installed in the theatre even though sound had already come in. (after the console was displayed in a music store window for a year). Dozens of organists played the organ including Mr. LePere, Dwight Brown, Harold Ramsay (who in the 1930s played on a regular basis)and later followed by C. Sharpe Minor, Billy Muth, Leonard Holland, Johnnie Winters, Charles Evans and finally in the late 1940s Weldon Flanagan who became the permanent Palace Organist from then until 1969 when the Palace closed and was demolished in 1970. Weldon was given the organ because he had literally restored it and kept it going for twenty years. There will be an article in the January 2009 issue of the Theatre Organ Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society about Weldon and the Palace organ as well as some great pictures. The article will also tell the final fate of the organ. My latest book, “The Theatre Organ Murders” also tells the whole story of the theatre and the organs.
Regards,
Jeanette Crumpler www.organmurders.com
Just wanted to tell more about the Melba Wurlitzer. The first one was installed in 1922 Opus 235 was a 3 keyboard (manual) 11 ranks of pipes (70 or so pipes in each rank). After a small fire in the theatre which damaged the console, the management ordered another console, Opus 503 (3/11) and it was installed in 1927. Mr. Wright told me in my interview of him in 2003 that he removed the organ in 1974 and it is still installed in his home here in Dallas. It is played for private functions. He also stated he and several others had tried to restore some of it in the theatre in the 1950s but it had been covered over by the large screen in the early 50s. It was never on a lift (that was the Palace organ). Several organists played it including Jack Caldwell,Lawrence Bolton, Caezar Borea, Lloyd Hill (known as Wild Oscar), J. D. Carlisle & Mr. LePere in the 1920s and several others as well on into the 1930s. Even Jerry Bacon played the organ a few times in the 1960s but it was rare. When the Kid Show was moved from the Palace to the Melba, Inez Teddlie played a Hammond that was brought in.
There were dozens of organists in Dallas during the theatre organ years. I have lists of them in my “Street of Dreams, A History of Dallas' Theatre Row” and “The Theatre Organ Murders” books. I was fortunate to have several interviews of several of them before they passed away. Dr. I Q was broadcast over a station in Houston (KTRH)and often was re-broadcast as if it was coming from a Dallas theatre as was also done in other cities. Norvel Slater was the featured organist for the Early Birds radio show for many years. Weldon Flanagan, the Palace organist from 1948 to 1969 was featured in live radio and TV broadcasts from the Palace. He and I are good friends and I’ve seen and have many articles about his performances. I saw him myself from 1948 until the Palace closed in 1969. There will be an article about Weldon coming out in the January 2009 issue of the Theatre Organ Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society.
Regards,
Jeanette Crumpler