Timberland Theatre

Joe Vogel on September 25, 2024 at 7:06 am

The Texas section of the “Theatre Changes” column in the October 4, 1937 issue of Film Daily listed the Timberland Theatre at Diboll under the heading “Openings.” It was first listed in the 1938 FDY with 400 seats.

A quick check of earlier FDYs shows no listing for Diboll in 1935, 1936, or 1937, nor in 1926 or 1929, but the town had at least two theaters earlier. The July 1, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World had this item: “Diboll, Tex.—B. F. Tucker has opened a new theater at Diboll. This gives this fine little city two theaters.” Diboll, however, made no appearance in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.

This memorial page for Elvis Larry Bowman says that he “…was the owner of the Timberland Theatre in Diboll from 1970 – 1989.” As it doesn’t say that he actually operated the theater or at least leased it to an operator, it can’t be assumed the place was actually open during that period, but it might have been.

There is a 1941 photo of the Timberland on this web page, and to my eye it bears no resemblance to the building at the theater’s address now, though in a glimpse of the back of the current building available on Google’s street view it looks much older than the front, so it is possible it was simply remodeled beyond recognition.

The plain, vernacular style of the original building might have been built at just about any time in the first half of the 20th century, so it could be that the house did date from 1915 or 1916 and, long dormant, was renovated and reopened in 1937.