Pex Theatre
123 S. Jefferson Avenue,
Eatonton,
GA
31024
123 S. Jefferson Avenue,
Eatonton,
GA
31024
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Functions: Restaurant
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: New Pex Theatre, Town Square Cinema
Nearby Theaters
The New Pex Theatre opened on May 2, 1942 with 750-seats. By 1945 it had seating for 550, on the main floor and a balcony reserved for African-Americans, accessed through a separate entrance. The movie house hosted a special gala showing of “The Color Purple” in January 1986 attended by Eatonton native Alice Walker, the author of the novel.
The Pex Theatre closed in 1979 and was used for a short time for special events and occasional movies. It was converted into office space. In 2017 it was converted into a country style restaurant.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Could this be the Pex? (I took this photo in Eatonton this weekend.)
Hmm, well the address at the top of the page here just says “Jefferson Avenue”… and since Eatonton is a pretty small place, I’d say it’s a safe bet this is the same theatre. Maybe it was the Pex first, and then the Town Square Cinema later?
Outside of the Adelle Theater which is around the corner and off the square, this is the only other theater in Eatonton.
Thanks for the pictures.I think I have been by this movie theatre.
The 1986 photo looks like it has a sign that said Yarborough,another A.K.A name as someone posted above.
Owner was J W Peck. The last time I was through Eatonton, it was still intact but closed. There was no name on it.
Yarbrough’s was adjacent to the Pex. Yarbrough’s was a jewelry/record store. As years went by, the locals affectionately nicknamed their only movie theater the pitiful Pex.
We have brought back the Pex theater in a new way. Even Mr Yarborough would be happy with what my family has done. We have remodeled the inside and turned it into a country style all you can eat buffet. The kind of cooking that will remind you of the good old days. That food that your granny cooked. No frozen food or stuff that comes out of a box. Just good old country cooking from scratch. Hope y'all will join us at the Country Kitchen. Sunday thru Friday 11 til 3.
There is a period photo of the Pex Theatre at the Georgia Writers Museum. Construction of the Pex had been announced in August, 1941, and the project continued through the fall and winter that year. I’ve been unable to find the opening date, but it must have been late 1941 or early 1942. The original seating capacity was 750.
On October 10, 2019, the Pex Theatre was acquired by the Eatonton Downtown Development Authority with a grant from the Fox Theatre Institute of Atlanta. The EDDA’s intention was to restore the house for use as a single-screen movie theater, but the project appears to have suffered delays as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Renovation has continued, however, and a new marquee was installed in April, 2022. I’ve been unable to discover anything about the state of the interior renovations. A date for reopening has not yet been announced.
Throughout its history, the theater was operated by members of the Peck family. The name Pex is a unique variant spelling of Peck’s.
The New Pex Theatre opened its doors on May 2, 1942. This was generically supposed to be the replacement of the Old Pex Theatre (formerly the Dixie Theatre from July 1923 until May 1937) but it never happened until the following year. Unlike most towns, both the Old and New Pex Theatres served as movie houses at the same time, but for only a short time until the Old Pex Theatre closed in 1943, leaving the New Pex Theatre as the only movie house in Eatonton which became eventually as simply Pex Theatre.
The Pex closed as a full-time movie house in 1979 but briefly reopened a few times in the 1980s as both a special events (and partially movie house but only for special occasions).