Palace Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on January 9, 2025 at 7:39 pm

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.