Clifton Theater

1016 Main Street,
Lubbock, TX 79401

Unfavorite No one has favorited this theater yet

Additional Info

Architects: W.R. Kaufman, O.R. Walker

Styles: Beaux-Arts, Streamline Moderne

Previous Names: Palace Theater

Nearby Theaters

Clifton Theater

Originally opened as the Palace Theater on December 15, 1924. In 1934 it was enlarged to the plans of local architect O.R. Walker. In the early-1950’s it was given a ‘Modernistic’ make-over and re-opened as the Clifton Theater.

It specialized in horror movies in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it was located near the Lindsey Theater in old downtown Lubbock. The Clifton Theater was closed August 29, 1959 and demolition began the following month.

Contributed by curtis cates

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

webfox
webfox on June 2, 2005 at 2:56 pm

I saw “RODAN the FLYING MONSTER” at the Clifton. It was a grand old movie palace that ran a lot of horror movies. Played “CREATURE from the BLACK LAGOON” in Double-interlock polaroid 3-D there.

seymourcox
seymourcox on August 28, 2007 at 12:49 pm

Courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Society is this 1948 architectural drawing of the contemporary Clifton Theatre. To view sketch type in word “clifton”, then search,
View link

irpworks
irpworks on August 29, 2007 at 12:21 am

Many Lubbock theaters shown. El Capitan; Plaza; Clifton; Lindsey; Cactus; Westerner Drive-In; Corral; Broadway; Midway; Plains Drive-In; Arnett-Benson; Arcadia.

View link
From the drop-down box choose: Buildings-Commercial-Movie Theaters

Search theatre and drive-in and there are other arial shots of other drive-ins, etc.
ENJOY!

seymourcox
seymourcox on August 29, 2007 at 9:15 am

Recently uncovered vintage photographs reveal that the Clifton was a makeover of the old Palace Theater.

irpworks
irpworks on August 29, 2007 at 6:13 pm

The Clifton was the old Palace. It was across the street from what became the Pride of the Plains Lindsey Theater. It was in a large 3 story stucture that was part of the old Hilton Hotel city block. All of the buildings are now gone. It was one of the only buildings of its size in downtown Lubbock.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 7, 2009 at 3:53 pm

Lost memory, the link above has died, but I found the opening ad pages, which can be found at the link below.
View link

purpleplay
purpleplay on April 13, 2012 at 9:52 am

The Clifton had the coolest art deco you ever saw, and the seats slid forward, like a recliner! I never saw seats like that again after the Clifton closed.

rivest266
rivest266 on June 13, 2015 at 4:39 pm

December 14th, 1924 & November 7th, 1948 grand opening ads in photo section.

robboehm
robboehm on June 13, 2015 at 6:21 pm

Uploaded two photos from the Texas Tech University Special Collection.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 29, 2016 at 7:51 pm

The Palace Theatre was remodeled and enlarged in 1934. The July 22 issue of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal said that the formal opening was to take place the following night. Plans for the project had been prepared by local architect O.R. Walker.

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.