Hippodrome Theatre
608 South Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19147
608 South Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19147
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Also, the Ripley name didn’t appear here until the 1947 clothing store was built. In 1909 the theater was known as the Hippodrome Palace, according to a help wanted ad: “PIANO PLAYER for vaudeville and pictures. Apply Today before noon, Hippodrome Palace, 608 South st.”
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-piano-player-h/135285032/
According to an archive file of zoning docs, the Hippodrome was razed in 1942 and the Ripley clothing store was constructed in 1947. https://s3.amazonaws.com/lni-zoning-pdfs/219-336816.pdf
You are absolutely right. The Royal was the name of the theater. Thanks for the information, Charles. I can stop wondering about that place after twenty years.
Well, I went through all of the Philadelphia theaters listed and didn’t find the one I was looking for. During the 1981 Septa strike, I used to ride my bike from 44th and Walnut to Broad and Snyder (!) to go to work. Part of my route took me down South Street from around 20th to Broad, where I would turn right to go to South Philly. At that time, South Street from the river to about Sixth was a lively area. After Sixth, though, the neighborhood deteriorated. If I recall, on South between Fifteenth and Sixteenth there was a ghost of a movie theater in a block full of abandoned buildings. I can’t think of the name of the theater to save my life, but it had obviously been closed a long time. I looked forward to seeing that old theater every time I had to pedal through Center City, cursing Septa all the way. If anyone remembers this theater, or knows if the site has been renovated, let me know. Thanks.
I thought this was Grendel’s Lair in the early 80s. Was the Ripley Music Hall in the same block of South Street?
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The Tower store building was a rock venue under the Ripley Music Hall name during the first half of the 1980s. Before that it had been a menswear store called Ripley for quite a few years.