Palace Theatre
134 Chestnut Street,
Abilene,
TX
79602
134 Chestnut Street,
Abilene,
TX
79602
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Interstate Theatres Inc. & Texas Consolidated Theaters Inc., Publix Theaters Corporation
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The Palace Theatre was opened October 13, 1922 with Edward Everett Horton in “Too Much Business”. It was operated by Interstate Theatres until the 30-years lease ran out in 1952. It reopened as an African-American theatre on November 22, 1952 with Arthur Kennedy in “The Bright Victory”. It ended its days screening Spanish language movies on September 18, 1965. Seating was listed at 512. It was operated by a number of chains, Publix, Texas Consolidated Theatres and Interstate Theatres Inc. It was demolished in January 1970.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
On October 13, 1922 the Palace Theatre opened in a three-year old building, converting the City Drug Store into a long-lasting theatre space. The entire building was renamed the Palace Theatre Building and the first film was “Too Much Business.” Two Motiongraph projectors also played a Harold Lloyd comedy short on opening night. H.T. Hodge of the first Gem Theatre in Abilene was in charge.
Interstate Theatres operated the theater next steering it to closure in 1952 at the end of the venue’s 30-year lease. On November 22, 1952, the Palace became Abilene’s only African American theater relaunching for operator S.P. Nesmith with James Edwards in “The Bright Victory.” Nesmith had a 5-year lease. But that didn’t last long. The theater switched to White and Latin American customers January 10, 1953 playing second-run Hollywood fare on weekends and Spanish language films on weekdays.
The theater next switches completely to a Spanish Language theater. Bookings appear to end after the September 18, 1965 showings of “Buenos Dias Acapolco” and “Santo Contra el rey del Crimen.” The theater was targeted for demolition in November of 1969 and appears to have been demolished in January of 1970.