Strand Theatre
59 W. Front Street,
Keyport,
NJ
07735
59 W. Front Street,
Keyport,
NJ
07735
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The book also gives the date of the ad below the theater’s photo as 1911, but the version of “A Tale of Two Cities” that starred William Farnum wasn’t released until 1917.
I like the Arcadia Publishing Company’s historic picture books, but some of them do look to be rush jobs with sketchy editing.
The building currently houses the Bulkhead Bar & Grill.
Funny, caption of the photo in my above link, incidently from the same source as Ken Mc posted above, states photo is ca 1908. Don’t these editors cross check their own book?
Old photo:
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The source ken mc linked to on July 18 last year says the theater was built in 1912, and thie following item appeared in the journal American Architect and Architecture of July 24 that year. Datelined Keyport, it read: “Architect Coleman Gray, River and Salem Sts., Hackensack, has completed plans for the erection of the new Deckert’s Theater on Front St., to cost between $17,000 and $18,000.”
I haven’t found any other sources mentioning a Deckert’s Theater or a theater owner named Deckert, but the item most likely pertains to this theater. Coleman Gray shows up in a couple of search results at Google Books, but none of his other projects are identified.
Nice boats.
59 W. Front Street is the building that most closely resembles the 1973 photo and what I can see in the postcard:
http://tinyurl.com/n5uscn
According to this source, the Strand was called the Surf Theater when it opened.
http://tinyurl.com/m2xvzg
Old postcard:
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Listed as open in the 1944 FDY. Listed in the 1961 FDY as part of Triangle-Liggett Theatre Service.
No, Walling Hall was a different building up the street. Keyport, in it’s day, was the only major port in the area so it’s quite possible that Fred Astair came to town more than once.
The Strand was an X-rated theater when I was a kid but tried to go ligit in the 1980s. It showed Rocky Horror Picture Show one time at midnight and the kids practically strated a riot—throwing garbage cans and everything off the balcony. The place closed soon after and then became the mini-mall and later a restaurant over looking the bay.
Looks like it may have been called Walling Hall and goes back to at least 1878 (Fred Aistaire couldn’t have danced in too many spots in this town!):
http://www.keyportonline.com/History/History.html
Strange no mention of the Strand in its history. Perhaps the original post of this theater is in error.
Courtesy of RobertR. Still open as of 1971 as an adult theater & a part of Film Bookers.
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Was the exclusive theater showing “Deep Throat” in 1971, resulting in the continuous arrests of the manager AND projectionist! The law was changed eventually to exempt projectionists from prosecution when the theater was showing questionable material.
Nice night photo from 1973 at this link (you must scroll to the RIGHT to find it):
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Listed in the 1951 FDY as having 700 seats.