Capitol Theatre
124 W. Martin Street,
Raleigh,
NC
27601
124 W. Martin Street,
Raleigh,
NC
27601
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Showing 1 - 25 of 28 comments
Sorry to read it was demolished.
Once operated by North Carolina Theatres.
The Capitol theatre opened on January 17th, 1924 with “The Leavenworth Case”
The News & Observer press building now occupies land where the Capitol Theatre once stood. The Capitol and buildings that once stood on each side of it have been demolished.
For anybody interested in seeing exactly where the Capitol stood, use Google Earth to go to 158 W. Martin St. in Raleigh (nearer where the theatre actually was than the 124 W. Martin address in Earth). Go to street level and click on the 158 W. Martin St. icon. Look north. The Capitol box office was approximately behind where you see the small tree. A clue is in the slant of the sidewalk . Note the sidewalk in the linked picture of the Capitol begins a slight uphill slant toward the left in front of the theatre. The same slant is visible in Google Earth.
I was present when the State Theatre was torn down for the Wake County Jail in the summer of 1987 on Salisbury St. The theatre was in ruins. The building in front of the State Theatre facing Salisbury St. is called the Lawyers Building and it is still there. The main entrance for the State Theatre was a foyer through the Lawyers Building. Surely someone in Raleigh remembers that and can reminisce on that.
(For the previous poster: The Capitol Theatre was on Martin St. not Salisbury St.)
Secondly, I was present when the Ambassador on Fayetteville St. was torn down in March of 1989. The city of Raleigh was secretly trying to have it demolished and I called up Channel WPTF Channel 28 at that time they were a NBC affiliate so they could alert the local Preservation Historic group in Raleigh. But, too late. I still have a video of myself being interviewed on that fateful day.
The news crew met me out there to film the demolition.
Whatever’s there, this it isn’t. According to research done by the UNC Library, the address of the Capitol was 124-126 W. Martin
Raleigh, NC. If you map that on Google…there’s nothing in that area that remotely resembles a theater, looking at the street view. I’d say it’s gone.
The Wake County Jail now stands where the Capitol Theatre once stood.
The photos that I viewed were among the CT links that you sent to me in regards to the 4 Raleigh theatres…2 closed and 2 demolished. The Wake and the Ambassador were both art deco in style!
I wonder what the current status of this theatre in Raleigh is? It’s listed as “closed” so there might still be hope.
Lost: Thanks………again!
Lost: Please add these theatres with the hopes that someone will be able to add some description, history, etc.
It would probably be best if someone with some knowledge of these theatres would add them…such as CT member, “travistarrant”. He and his mother are both natives of the area.
I wouldn’t know too much about either of them as I am only 40 years old. Maybe the Raleigh City Museum or the News and Observer would have the information.
Lost Memory: Yes, would you?
I see that the Ambassador is CT listed, but not The Wake nor the State in Raleigh NC.
I talked to my mother just awhile ago as we are both natives of the area and I asked her about the Capitol. She honestly couldn’t recall it and she is 70, but she did remember the State Theatre which I don’t believe is listed on the list of Raleigh theatres which was on Salisbury St. that is now a parking deck for county employees. She did remember the Ambassador and another theatre called The Wake, but the Capitol just doesn’t ring a bell with her.
travistarrant: Thanks for this additional info…let us know what you locate at that address the next time you are in downtown Raleigh. If it is a business in that same space, you might find reminders of when it was once a theatre such as slanted floor, projectionist windows, balcony, etc. This has happened to me when visiting a marine store in Buffalo NY. Upon entering the business it had that “former theatre look” to the facade so I asked and was then taken on a tour of the upstairs where evidence of it being a theatre was found!
The next time I make it to downtown Raleigh, I will look, because it may not be demolished after all. If it ever had been demolished, then a new business was put in its place. I say this because the map I’m looking at from mapquest states that it’s across from the Garland Jones building which used to be the old First Federal Savings and Loan Building, which would mean it was just up from the Wake County Jail and catty cornered across from the Federal Building/Post Office and the Wake County Courthouse.
http://theatreorgans.com/au/opus/ This link has been helpful in finding many Wurlitzer organs, but doesn’t give any further information concerning opus 1567.
And I wonder what happened to the Wurlitzer B Special (opus 1567)?
And what is at 124 W. Martin Street now? I hope not another parking lot!
travistarrant: Sorry to read the word…demolished as the b/w photo on this link shows it to have been a neat theatre.
The theatre is demolished
I never got my answer to the closed or demolished question posted Dec 28, 2007 as my friend recently moved from Raleigh. Perhaps a CT member can fill in the theatre blanks.
The Robert-Morton organ was replaced by a Wurlitzer B Special (opus 1567) in January 1927. A standard B was 2/4, but the “Special” status indicates an additional rank of pipes or other departure from specs.