Lincoln Theatre

He and his twin brother, John Heustis King, owned/operated several theaters in Mobile’s black community, including (in addition to the Lincoln and the Pike) the Booker T., the Ace, the Harlem and the Roosevelt, as well as white theaters the Crown and the Azalea. Earlier in their careers they also managed or owned several theaters in Biloxi, MS. Charles B. King was my maternal great-grandfather. He died in 1952 and Uncle Heustis died sometime in the ‘40s. They got started in the movie theater business in the 1910s.Before that, they both worked as streetcar conductors.

The September 17, 1938, issue of Motion Picture Herald said that C. B. King, who had recently opened the Lincoln Theatre in Mobile, was also the operator of the Pike Theatre in that city.