Family Theatre

5118 Shaw Avenue,
St. Louis, MO 63110

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FamilyHistory
FamilyHistory on October 28, 2026 at 8:38 am

Previous owner, John B Lueken, is my great-grandfather. His daughter played the piano during the silent movie shows. A cousin does have the tambourine that was used for special sound effects.

SethG
SethG on October 27, 2026 at 9:47 am

Volume 10 covers the Hill. For whatever reason, the volumes were generated out of order, and Vol. 10 is from 1903, when there were just a few scattered wooden houses on this block. The 1938 to 1950 reissues of this volume are not available online.

SethG
SethG on October 27, 2026 at 9:30 am

This theater is not listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. I can’t figure out which of the many volumes of the St. Louis Sanborns covers the Hill, so I can’t say what was there in 1909. It is still listed in the 1932 Yearbook with 682 seats (which seems huge for such a small building), but does not appear in the 1935 volume.

SethG
SethG on October 27, 2026 at 9:17 am

Sometime around 2022, this became a rather garish residence.

FamilyHistory
FamilyHistory on March 8, 2018 at 5:35 pm

In 1912 the Family Theatre 5318 Shaw Ave was purchased one-half interest for $50 by John B. Lueken. Assets consisted of a couple hundred folding chairs, a cannon stove and a projector. Film was rented from Charley and Sam Werner for 50 cents and 75 cents a reel, which ran from 7 to 10 minutes. Show consisted of 3 subjects and admission was 5 cents. The owner sold the building and the new owner wanted to operate the theatre himself. Mr Lueken sold it for $2000 in approximately 1920. —from my family history.

SethG
SethG on April 17, 2016 at 11:28 am

It’s now a meat packing operation, or it was in 2010. I visited for some work with the USDA inspector, and the interior is completely gutted.

JAlex
JAlex on January 20, 2014 at 8:14 am

The St. Louis Star in 1927 listed the Family as having 682 seats.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 19, 2014 at 2:09 pm

The Lange-Family Theatre was mentioned in the February 21, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal, though with its name misspelled:

“J. Bucklin has taken over the management of the Lang Family Theatre, 5118 Shaw avenue, St. Louis. He formerly was manager of the St. Louis Exhibitors Supply Company.”
Property Shark says the building was built in 1914. That could be about right. The style of the building fits the period. It’s even possible that it was built as a movie theater, though I’ve been unable to find any references to it in the early trade journals.