Palm Theater

The Palm Theatre was once the last operating indoor movie theater operating in Carbon County until a fire destroyed the Palm Theatre caused by arson on July 6, 1978. The Palm Theatre closed with “The Greek Tycoon” which the movie had ended a couple of hours before the fire. Despite no injuries being reported, the fire left Carbon County without an indoor movie theater for almost 20 years.

The Palm Theatre was a classic, small town independent theater. Built with the wealth of one of the largest zinc refining companies in the world (New Jersey Zinc Company), Palmerton was a thriving community when I grew up there in the 50’s, and the Palm Theatre and the nearby “steak house” (Berts, which is still there and thriving) was the center of the social life for us teenagers. Post-Paramount Decision, the Palm offered a rich,varied fare, and my tastes in movies were shaped by getting to watch everything from sword and sandal Italian imports like Hercules Unchained to William Castle masterpieces like The Tingler. I made my life’s career the movies, and Cinema Paradiso, for me, recalls my early experiences at the Palm. It is impossible to overstate the cultural role small town theaters like the Palm played in the lives of people growing up in places like Palmerton.