National Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on November 23, 2021 at 4:13 am

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The National Theatre launched in downtown Wilmington on March 9, 1916 showing movies and live vaudeville. It was the second theatre trying to reach an African American clientele after the Strand opened in 1909 and had little success. The National, however, connected with the community becoming a long-running African American movie theatre under the operation of John O. and Josephine Hopkins. Hopkins had been on the Wilmington City Council since 1913 and would serve 16 consecutive terms before retiring in 1945. The National converted to sound to remain viable and played a wide array of films including one starring Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker, and Lena Horne.

The National Theatre (and sometimes called the National Auditorium) served as a place for worship on Sundays, hosted live sporting events on its stage, had political rallies and civil rights presentations, and hosted many dances and live musicians including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. The National operated until a replacement theatre was built nearby - the Hopkins Theatre. That theatre was drawn up in 1945 but didn’t open until the early 1950s.

The final films to play at the National were on May 22, 1951 with a continuous double-feature that grinded from 10a until well after midnight of “S.O.S. Submarine” and “Helltown.” The Hopkins couple along with their son, John O., Jr., launched the new-build Hopkins Theatre on May 23, 1951. The National was converted to a short-lived dance hall called Danceland.

Parking was an issue for the Hopkins so a decision was made to tear down the National and three adjoining buildings in 1955 for a parking garage. But the Hopkins Theatre was heading for closure and the garage didn’t help that theater survive. It went out of business in 1958 and both the replacement parking garage and theHopkins Theatre would be demolished in 1965 as part of the city’s Civic Center urban renewal project.