This is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande project as conceptualized in 1966-1972. It was designed as a Disneyland-esque marriage of harmony and history at the Texas / Mexico border in a different era and through a different lens. It was also in response to the Six Flags Over Texas project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
At upper left, the Amigoland entry signage is conceptualized and the working logo is provided. To the right and also shown in the bottom right corner is the original footprint (1966-1969) for the Amigoland project. In 1970, the project plans were enlarged significantly to include the Melvin Simon Mall and readied for condominiums and hotels (ad in light blue at right) as drawn up with contractors assigned. Look at another posted photo for the revised plan and including the cinema functions.
The original Amigoland on the Rio Grande had 8 “worlds” - later reduced to 7 planned worlds. Aztecland was one of the seven worlds and its is shown in bottom left after Bovay Engineers of Houston entered the project providing that drawing. Another drawing is found on the right edge.
Some accounts say that Amigoland project morphed into the Amigoland Mall which is inaccurate. Satellite views from that era show that the area was readied and, very technically, the building showing at top right and at left under the logo is the office and welcome center for the Amigoland Amusement Park. A spiral staircase took visitors to the top of that circular building and had the proposed seven worlds of Amigoland on display.
The amusement park was scheduled to open in 1971 with the Amigoland Mall and its UA Cinema Twin opening in 1972. Four high rise condos by Condo-Rio were to be built and planned for launch in December 1974. The Amusement Park stalled not long after the visitor building was constructed. The Mall opened partially in November of 1973 with the UA Cinema 1&2 opening on February 20, 1974 and the Amigoland Mall celebrating its official grand opening the next day. The Amigoland logo was trademarked in 1974. Amigoland on the Rio Grande had spurts of activity in 1974, 1977 and 1981 that brought no noticeable improvements.
Amigoland, Inc., the company behind the theme park, dissolved and the trademark fell into public domain after non-usage and non-renewal. Amigoland, Inc.’s final stand was in a legal notice listing condemning the non-Mall properties which were to be associated with Amigoland on the Rio Grande in January of 2010 - a move which appears to more or less have liberated the 40-year old, unimproved property elements for future use.
These elements are related to the Amigoland Mall and its cinema.
In the upper left corner is the poster frames for the Cinemark Amigoland Cinema 1&2 in early August of 1994 with “The Crow” and “The Shadow” playing along on a discount, sub-run policy. The venue would close at year’s end. Below that it’s the opening ad as the UA Cinema 1 &2 February 20, 1974 with Steve McQueen in “Papillon” and Dean Jones in “Mr. Superinvisible".
At the top middle is the original directory for the Amigoland Mall with the theatre in purple between Montgomery Ward and Dillard’s.
The grand opening ad is (at bottom) for the entire mall was on February 21, 1974 (the day after the Cinema opened and three months after J.C. Penney’s had opened).
Next to that is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande revised footprint including the amusement park, the condos, the hotel/motel and everything else that didn’t get completed other than the visitor center.
At bottom right is the first ad for Plitt Theatres which took over for UA in Harlingen and Brownsville on October 4, 1985. A coupon got you into the Amigoland cinema for free that day. And above that ad is a 1994 ad as the Cinemark which had taken over the Plitt locations in Harlingen and Brownsville.
Note: I think I would simply replace the entire two sentence synopsis of the venue’s 1950 to 1952 timeline and the muddled transfer of names (didn’t quite stick that factually) with the better information above. I think it’s far more solid from the 1910s to 1956 - although feel free to stick with the original.
There were two Eltex Theaters in diminutive Elgin, Texas. The second was opened in 1941 lasting until a fire in April of 1983 - a streamline moderne house that has its own CinemaTreasures page. This entry contains the original Eltex which began as the silent-era Imp Theatre and ended as the Elgin Theatre.
This venue began in the the nickelodeon era by the E.W. Nichols family as the 250-seat Imp Theatre - according to some reports - in 1911. It co-existed with the town’s more fancy live event house, the Bassist Opera House. One of the Nichols’ five sons, John E., returned from his World War I duty and was assigned theatre operation duties.
The Imp reduced to four day a week operation in January of 1918 as a result of “Hooverization” - a national World War I strategy to save food in order to win the War effort. On October 10, 1918, it closed briefly along with the great majority of U.S. movie houses for the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Other than those anomalies, the Imp operated on a daily basis into the late 1920s.
As the film industry was transitioning to sound and looking for names to call the fledgling talkies industry, Nichols suggested Seephonic Pictures as a possible branding of the new technology. The Imp closed in 1930. The closing was a confluence of many issues including the lack of attendance for the Imp’s silent film and live programming fare, the great cost of transitioning the Imp to sound technology for a small town cinema, and the onset of the Depression - to say nothing of the passing of father, E.W. Nichols in late 1928. But the non-support of the term “Seephonic" suggest by Nichols must have also stung somewhat. The Nichols lost the theatre to a receivership auction and the venue ended up with new operator Dale Wilson.
Wilson wired the Imp for sound calling it the New Theater temporarily. He changed the name to the Eltex (sometimes El-Tex, short for Elgin, Texas). Wilson operated it for most of the decade (although he had hired two managers in the early 1930s neither of whom lasted long in their positions). By the 1940s, with the town’s two brick factories heating up and Camp Swift nearby, Wilson would create a new build cinema in 1941. The new showplace was ready September 25, 1941 opening as the New Eltex. The original Eltex closed on September 24, 1941 with Constance Moore in “Las Vegas Nights.”
Less than a year later, Wilson would refresh the shuttered Imp turned Eltex - creating a second theater to accommodate the War effort and the larger crowds. It was scaled back to 210 seats as the Elgin Theatre relaunching in February of 1942. The venue struggled in the TV age converting to Spanish language theaters. It appears to have closed on September 23, 1956 with María Elena Marqués in “El Marido de mi Novia.” The newer Eltex would continue into the 1980s.
The New Eltex opened on September 25, 1941 with Edward G. Robinson and Marlene Dietrich in “Manpower.” The New Eltex replaced the former nickelodeon-era Imp Theatre that had been wired for sound and renamed the New Theatre and the Eltex Theatre in the early 1930s.
Operater Dale Wilson and partner Joe I. Diddy built the new streamline moderne moviehouse here in the existing Standifer Building in 1941. They closed the nickelodeon-era venue and original Eltex on September 24, 1941. Less than a year later, Wilson would reopen the original Eltex to accommodate the WW2 era crowds as the Elgin Theatre. In the 1950s, the Elgin closed as the town continued with one hardtop theater.
The venue operated with a balcony for African American and Hispanic patrons. There were no rest room facilities provided for non-White customers. That policy changed in the 1960s. Art Gomez was the final Eltex Theatre operator. It was twice set afire by an arsonist or arsonists in the 1980s. The final Eltex Theatre showtime was April 24, 1983 when the second fire gutted the interior. The building was considered a total loss and later demolished. By all accounts, it had a single operational name as the Eltex Theatre.
Closed permanently on November 30, 2025 with Santa in the house and “Zootopia 2” and “Polar Express” on Screen 1 and “Wicked for Life” and “Elf” on Screen 2.
So on the two fire / same day question, there are a number of eyewitness claims that two seemingly separate fires occurred at early movie theaters but would be considered as the same incident call - and likely can’t be totally confirmed as separate incidents. The State Theatre in Sacramento (1927) seems to fit that two-fer category. And there is at least one fire during the evening of a theatre’s operation that is contained and the theatre still burns down later that night because it wasn’t as contained as hoped.
But to have a “matinee fire” followed by resumption of business the same day and then a nightcap, second fire that permanently ends the business during the operating day is far more unusual. Hard to believe that the writer of the story didn’t work in the “fire double feature at the Dowling” angle. Seems like a missed opportunity; but give them credit for working in the Timberland “smoking guns” approach. Well played.
A 2025 era AI search of this theater really muddles the entirety of the area and it’s partially attributable to the this very entry. As previous contributors have noted, the history provided here of the Dowling Theatre is a bit off the mark. The Chuck entry can stand, certainly, but probably can be refined to better help one get a sense of this theater’s place and import in Houston’s entertainment history (and perhaps not in Chuck’s name as the information appears inaccurate) in hopes that the AI queries of the future on better rooted in fact over error.
First and foremost, the contemporary address of the theater is properly 2110 Emancipation Avenue although the Dowling Theatre’s entire history was at 2110 Dowling Street. As that is Cinematreasures wont, it should be changed. (This street was originally named East Broadway; but in 1892 the City of Houston renamed it for Confederate officer Richard William “Dick” Dowling which, due to his military action seemed ironic - if not offensive - to residents given that the street bearing his name housed historic Emancipation Park standing less than six blocks from the Dowling Theatre.) The Dowling was part of the growth of the area in the late 1930s and early 1940s as it tried to become part of the Beale Street of Houston sometimes called “Houston’s Harlem” and, by some, “Black Vegas.”
From an entertainment perspective, the Third Ward was best known for the Eldorado Ballroom. It was six blocks away from the Dowling Theatre opening in 1939 and its near neighbor, the Park Theatre, opening that year. But in 1941, the momentum continued with new build projects promising two new movie theaters and delivering one: the Dowling Theatre. The venue was built for $100,000 - not cheap for neighborhood cinemas of that era - and opened in the April 15, 1941 catering to African American audiences. It was the second era of African American cinemas in Houston with the first theaters being that of silent venues. The first era included the Pastime Theatre of Houston’s Third Ward, just six blocks away on McKinney and just a block and a half removed from Dowling Street.
Within a block of the Dowling Theatre were the Third Ward Fish Market, the New Dowling Cafe, the Dowling Meat Market, Dowling Barbecue, Tom, the Hatter, The Idle Hour Lounge, Sedita Bros. Grocery, and a dry goods store along with many apartments. It was certainly a happening area with lots of foot traffic. The two theaters on busy Dowling Street survived the advent of television - the Park and the Dowling. The older Third Ward venue, the Pastime, closed - likely in 1951.
Again, if the entry attributed to Chuck stands, perhaps the Dowling closed in or around 1959 and was torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. But there’s ample evidence showing that the Dowling Theatre continued to operation the night of a double-feature on January 13, 1966 with Alan Ladd in “Guns of the Timberland” and Nancy Kwan in “The World of Suzie Wong.” At 3 p.m., the first fire of the day was extinguished saving Suzie Wong’s world. But just about five hours later - during “GOTT,” about 100 patrons left the theatre with smoke entering the auditorium for the second time that day. This interruption escalated to a four alarm blaze gutting the auditorium, decimating Suzie Wong’s world short-term… and ending things at the Dowling permanently.
Given the vibrancy of the 1940s and still large crowds even in January of 1966, one has to ask: what went wrong with the Third Ward’s “Beale Street.” The answer lies largely in the City of Houston’s hands and its aggressive pursuit of urban renewal right here in the Third Ward. Even if the Dowling Theatre had survived the fire, its days were likely numbered. Four blocks west, the South Freeway project carved a concrete canyon that severed the African American community from the economic lifeblood of Midtown and the Medical Center. And just two blocks away from the Dowling Theatre, the Pierce Elevated (I-45 project) bulldozed over 1,000 homes and businesses creating dead end streets and challenging pedestrian routes that doomed many of the remaining Third Ward “Beale Street.”
This double-encirclement construction nightmare whammy - to say nothing of the months upon months of jackhammering and other cacophonous noise, road closures and picture window spoilers - efficiently decimated the Third Ward leaving a wake for decades. In the City’s eyes, the project was a triumph as new highways were paved while the displacement of a historic community was executed with the same ruthless efficiency seen in many other cities across the nation. But the Third Ward was not finished. By the late 2010s and 2020s, the Dowling Theatre neighborhood showed signs of life despite the vacant lot once housing the former movie house.
Dowling Street was renamed as Emancipation Avenue in 2017 recognizing the importance of the area instead of trying to further eradicate it. The Eldorado Ballroom officially held its grand reopening on March 30, 2023. In terms of cinema, however, the City of Houston got its way. Because of the timing of the urban renewal projects, the Third Ward not only missed out on the luxury suburban theatre movement of cinema but basically all movie theater eras that were to follow as it never got another hardtop movie theater. So that’s likely a bit closer to the world of the Dowling Theatre or at least from the vantage point of Suzie Wong.
Cinematreasures places the closing of the Dowling Theatre in 1959 and torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. Pictorial evidence shows the venue burning down on January 13, 1966 (see above) which sort of changes the trajectory of the entire Third Ward timeline to say nothing of this theater.
The Don-Gordon Theatre was a post-War suburban theatre built by Mr. ans Mrs. Ernest H. Forsythe and named for 7-year old son Don and 10-year old son Gordon. Baugh & Scott contractors from Sa Antonio built the $125,000 streamline moderne venue. After missing its announced lauch, it opened October 12, 1946 with “My Reputation.”
The policy shifted to double feature action films toward the end of its lifecycle. It closed on September 5, 1977 with “Orca” and “The Lifeguard.” It likely resumed as a Spanish language theatre before being offered for sale in 1988. It converted to a house of worship.
H.A Gion opened the second Pastime Theatre in Houston in 1916. This shouldn’t be confused with Abraham Schulman’s Pastime Theatre at 209 Main (1911-1916 for Schulman and, prior, as the Royal Theatre from 1910 into 1911) that was part of the Schulman’s entry as a major Texas movie theater circuit. However, that building’s signage and namesake were moved to this new location when Schulman moved on from that early downtown silent venue in 1916.
The East End, McKinney Street-based Pastime Theatre operation served African American audiences and had 500 seats in its silent era operation. It transitioned to the sound era reducing seating count to 300 likely reducing partial view seating due to support beams and an added concession stand.
But the Pastime was outmaneuvered by superior African American theaters which had the seat count to host bigger movies and occasional live acts. The Pastime discontinued ads during the War and was converted to an office furniture store in 1954. A generous end date of 1951 is encouraged likely around an initial 10-year lease and a subsequent 25-year lease. The building still stood in the 2020s still having resemblance to an early cinema.
Stalney Warner Theatres parted ways to the Winkler Drive-In following the May 4, 1966 to be dismantled within days for a new David McDavid auto lot. The listing was advertised as its last performance - a double feature of Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando in “The Chase” and Samantha Eggar in the “The Collector.” Manager Marshall Nichols wasn’t too upset as he was transferred to Stanley Warner’s luxury suburban theater under construction at the Memorial City Mall.
This is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande project as conceptualized in 1966-1972. It was designed as a Disneyland-esque marriage of harmony and history at the Texas / Mexico border in a different era and through a different lens. It was also in response to the Six Flags Over Texas project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
At upper left, the Amigoland entry signage is conceptualized and the working logo is provided. To the right and also shown in the bottom right corner is the original footprint (1966-1969) for the Amigoland project. In 1970, the project plans were enlarged significantly to include the Melvin Simon Mall and readied for condominiums and hotels (ad in light blue at right) as drawn up with contractors assigned. Look at another posted photo for the revised plan and including the cinema functions.
The original Amigoland on the Rio Grande had 8 “worlds” - later reduced to 7 planned worlds. Aztecland was one of the seven worlds and its is shown in bottom left after Bovay Engineers of Houston entered the project providing that drawing. Another drawing is found on the right edge.
Some accounts say that Amigoland project morphed into the Amigoland Mall which is inaccurate. Satellite views from that era show that the area was readied and, very technically, the building showing at top right and at left under the logo is the office and welcome center for the Amigoland Amusement Park. A spiral staircase took visitors to the top of that circular building and had the proposed seven worlds of Amigoland on display.
The amusement park was scheduled to open in 1971 with the Amigoland Mall and its UA Cinema Twin opening in 1972. Four high rise condos by Condo-Rio were to be built and planned for launch in December 1974. The Amusement Park stalled not long after the visitor building was constructed. The Mall opened partially in November of 1973 with the UA Cinema 1&2 opening on February 20, 1974 and the Amigoland Mall celebrating its official grand opening the next day. The Amigoland logo was trademarked in 1974. Amigoland on the Rio Grande had spurts of activity in 1974, 1977 and 1981 that brought no noticeable improvements.
Amigoland, Inc., the company behind the theme park, dissolved and the trademark fell into public domain after non-usage and non-renewal. Amigoland, Inc.’s final stand was in a legal notice listing condemning the non-Mall properties which were to be associated with Amigoland on the Rio Grande in January of 2010 - a move which appears to more or less have liberated the 40-year old, unimproved property elements for future use.
Closed Nov. 30, 2025 with “Elf”
These elements are related to the Amigoland Mall and its cinema.
In the upper left corner is the poster frames for the Cinemark Amigoland Cinema 1&2 in early August of 1994 with “The Crow” and “The Shadow” playing along on a discount, sub-run policy. The venue would close at year’s end. Below that it’s the opening ad as the UA Cinema 1 &2 February 20, 1974 with Steve McQueen in “Papillon” and Dean Jones in “Mr. Superinvisible".
At the top middle is the original directory for the Amigoland Mall with the theatre in purple between Montgomery Ward and Dillard’s.
The grand opening ad is (at bottom) for the entire mall was on February 21, 1974 (the day after the Cinema opened and three months after J.C. Penney’s had opened).
Next to that is the Amigoland on the Rio Grande revised footprint including the amusement park, the condos, the hotel/motel and everything else that didn’t get completed other than the visitor center.
At bottom right is the first ad for Plitt Theatres which took over for UA in Harlingen and Brownsville on October 4, 1985. A coupon got you into the Amigoland cinema for free that day. And above that ad is a 1994 ad as the Cinemark which had taken over the Plitt locations in Harlingen and Brownsville.
This is a live events space that does revival screenings only. It is none of the above functions - not second run, not indy, not foreign.
This is a first run cinema. This is definitely not a second run cinema.
They play current Japanese features. It doesn’t appear to be a second run cinema.
They are running first run and sporadic revival. This is definitely not a second run cinema.
This is a live event house and is not a second run cinema.
Google lists it as closed and it’s not one of the cinemas listed on the PlayArte website.
This is a first run, revival and indy theater. It is definitely not a second run house.
This is a live theatre. It is not a second run cinema.
First run and revival film titles along with sporadic live events. Definitely not a second run house.
Definitely only a first-run house. Not a second run house.
Ray Pace - fourth person with Jack Dickerson to his right
You can delete this one - I added the comments to the Elgin Theatre as it housed the Imp, Eltex and Elgin theaters.
Note: I think I would simply replace the entire two sentence synopsis of the venue’s 1950 to 1952 timeline and the muddled transfer of names (didn’t quite stick that factually) with the better information above. I think it’s far more solid from the 1910s to 1956 - although feel free to stick with the original.
There were two Eltex Theaters in diminutive Elgin, Texas. The second was opened in 1941 lasting until a fire in April of 1983 - a streamline moderne house that has its own CinemaTreasures page. This entry contains the original Eltex which began as the silent-era Imp Theatre and ended as the Elgin Theatre.
This venue began in the the nickelodeon era by the E.W. Nichols family as the 250-seat Imp Theatre - according to some reports - in 1911. It co-existed with the town’s more fancy live event house, the Bassist Opera House. One of the Nichols’ five sons, John E., returned from his World War I duty and was assigned theatre operation duties.
The Imp reduced to four day a week operation in January of 1918 as a result of “Hooverization” - a national World War I strategy to save food in order to win the War effort. On October 10, 1918, it closed briefly along with the great majority of U.S. movie houses for the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Other than those anomalies, the Imp operated on a daily basis into the late 1920s.
As the film industry was transitioning to sound and looking for names to call the fledgling talkies industry, Nichols suggested Seephonic Pictures as a possible branding of the new technology. The Imp closed in 1930. The closing was a confluence of many issues including the lack of attendance for the Imp’s silent film and live programming fare, the great cost of transitioning the Imp to sound technology for a small town cinema, and the onset of the Depression - to say nothing of the passing of father, E.W. Nichols in late 1928. But the non-support of the term “Seephonic" suggest by Nichols must have also stung somewhat. The Nichols lost the theatre to a receivership auction and the venue ended up with new operator Dale Wilson.
Wilson wired the Imp for sound calling it the New Theater temporarily. He changed the name to the Eltex (sometimes El-Tex, short for Elgin, Texas). Wilson operated it for most of the decade (although he had hired two managers in the early 1930s neither of whom lasted long in their positions). By the 1940s, with the town’s two brick factories heating up and Camp Swift nearby, Wilson would create a new build cinema in 1941. The new showplace was ready September 25, 1941 opening as the New Eltex. The original Eltex closed on September 24, 1941 with Constance Moore in “Las Vegas Nights.”
Less than a year later, Wilson would refresh the shuttered Imp turned Eltex - creating a second theater to accommodate the War effort and the larger crowds. It was scaled back to 210 seats as the Elgin Theatre relaunching in February of 1942. The venue struggled in the TV age converting to Spanish language theaters. It appears to have closed on September 23, 1956 with María Elena Marqués in “El Marido de mi Novia.” The newer Eltex would continue into the 1980s.
The New Eltex opened on September 25, 1941 with Edward G. Robinson and Marlene Dietrich in “Manpower.” The New Eltex replaced the former nickelodeon-era Imp Theatre that had been wired for sound and renamed the New Theatre and the Eltex Theatre in the early 1930s.
Operater Dale Wilson and partner Joe I. Diddy built the new streamline moderne moviehouse here in the existing Standifer Building in 1941. They closed the nickelodeon-era venue and original Eltex on September 24, 1941. Less than a year later, Wilson would reopen the original Eltex to accommodate the WW2 era crowds as the Elgin Theatre. In the 1950s, the Elgin closed as the town continued with one hardtop theater.
The venue operated with a balcony for African American and Hispanic patrons. There were no rest room facilities provided for non-White customers. That policy changed in the 1960s. Art Gomez was the final Eltex Theatre operator. It was twice set afire by an arsonist or arsonists in the 1980s. The final Eltex Theatre showtime was April 24, 1983 when the second fire gutted the interior. The building was considered a total loss and later demolished. By all accounts, it had a single operational name as the Eltex Theatre.
Closed permanently on November 30, 2025 with Santa in the house and “Zootopia 2” and “Polar Express” on Screen 1 and “Wicked for Life” and “Elf” on Screen 2.
So on the two fire / same day question, there are a number of eyewitness claims that two seemingly separate fires occurred at early movie theaters but would be considered as the same incident call - and likely can’t be totally confirmed as separate incidents. The State Theatre in Sacramento (1927) seems to fit that two-fer category. And there is at least one fire during the evening of a theatre’s operation that is contained and the theatre still burns down later that night because it wasn’t as contained as hoped.
But to have a “matinee fire” followed by resumption of business the same day and then a nightcap, second fire that permanently ends the business during the operating day is far more unusual. Hard to believe that the writer of the story didn’t work in the “fire double feature at the Dowling” angle. Seems like a missed opportunity; but give them credit for working in the Timberland “smoking guns” approach. Well played.
A 2025 era AI search of this theater really muddles the entirety of the area and it’s partially attributable to the this very entry. As previous contributors have noted, the history provided here of the Dowling Theatre is a bit off the mark. The Chuck entry can stand, certainly, but probably can be refined to better help one get a sense of this theater’s place and import in Houston’s entertainment history (and perhaps not in Chuck’s name as the information appears inaccurate) in hopes that the AI queries of the future on better rooted in fact over error.
First and foremost, the contemporary address of the theater is properly 2110 Emancipation Avenue although the Dowling Theatre’s entire history was at 2110 Dowling Street. As that is Cinematreasures wont, it should be changed. (This street was originally named East Broadway; but in 1892 the City of Houston renamed it for Confederate officer Richard William “Dick” Dowling which, due to his military action seemed ironic - if not offensive - to residents given that the street bearing his name housed historic Emancipation Park standing less than six blocks from the Dowling Theatre.) The Dowling was part of the growth of the area in the late 1930s and early 1940s as it tried to become part of the Beale Street of Houston sometimes called “Houston’s Harlem” and, by some, “Black Vegas.”
From an entertainment perspective, the Third Ward was best known for the Eldorado Ballroom. It was six blocks away from the Dowling Theatre opening in 1939 and its near neighbor, the Park Theatre, opening that year. But in 1941, the momentum continued with new build projects promising two new movie theaters and delivering one: the Dowling Theatre. The venue was built for $100,000 - not cheap for neighborhood cinemas of that era - and opened in the April 15, 1941 catering to African American audiences. It was the second era of African American cinemas in Houston with the first theaters being that of silent venues. The first era included the Pastime Theatre of Houston’s Third Ward, just six blocks away on McKinney and just a block and a half removed from Dowling Street.
Within a block of the Dowling Theatre were the Third Ward Fish Market, the New Dowling Cafe, the Dowling Meat Market, Dowling Barbecue, Tom, the Hatter, The Idle Hour Lounge, Sedita Bros. Grocery, and a dry goods store along with many apartments. It was certainly a happening area with lots of foot traffic. The two theaters on busy Dowling Street survived the advent of television - the Park and the Dowling. The older Third Ward venue, the Pastime, closed - likely in 1951.
Again, if the entry attributed to Chuck stands, perhaps the Dowling closed in or around 1959 and was torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. But there’s ample evidence showing that the Dowling Theatre continued to operation the night of a double-feature on January 13, 1966 with Alan Ladd in “Guns of the Timberland” and Nancy Kwan in “The World of Suzie Wong.” At 3 p.m., the first fire of the day was extinguished saving Suzie Wong’s world. But just about five hours later - during “GOTT,” about 100 patrons left the theatre with smoke entering the auditorium for the second time that day. This interruption escalated to a four alarm blaze gutting the auditorium, decimating Suzie Wong’s world short-term… and ending things at the Dowling permanently.
Given the vibrancy of the 1940s and still large crowds even in January of 1966, one has to ask: what went wrong with the Third Ward’s “Beale Street.” The answer lies largely in the City of Houston’s hands and its aggressive pursuit of urban renewal right here in the Third Ward. Even if the Dowling Theatre had survived the fire, its days were likely numbered. Four blocks west, the South Freeway project carved a concrete canyon that severed the African American community from the economic lifeblood of Midtown and the Medical Center. And just two blocks away from the Dowling Theatre, the Pierce Elevated (I-45 project) bulldozed over 1,000 homes and businesses creating dead end streets and challenging pedestrian routes that doomed many of the remaining Third Ward “Beale Street.”
This double-encirclement construction nightmare whammy - to say nothing of the months upon months of jackhammering and other cacophonous noise, road closures and picture window spoilers - efficiently decimated the Third Ward leaving a wake for decades. In the City’s eyes, the project was a triumph as new highways were paved while the displacement of a historic community was executed with the same ruthless efficiency seen in many other cities across the nation. But the Third Ward was not finished. By the late 2010s and 2020s, the Dowling Theatre neighborhood showed signs of life despite the vacant lot once housing the former movie house.
Dowling Street was renamed as Emancipation Avenue in 2017 recognizing the importance of the area instead of trying to further eradicate it. The Eldorado Ballroom officially held its grand reopening on March 30, 2023. In terms of cinema, however, the City of Houston got its way. Because of the timing of the urban renewal projects, the Third Ward not only missed out on the luxury suburban theatre movement of cinema but basically all movie theater eras that were to follow as it never got another hardtop movie theater. So that’s likely a bit closer to the world of the Dowling Theatre or at least from the vantage point of Suzie Wong.
Cinematreasures places the closing of the Dowling Theatre in 1959 and torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. Pictorial evidence shows the venue burning down on January 13, 1966 (see above) which sort of changes the trajectory of the entire Third Ward timeline to say nothing of this theater.
The Don-Gordon Theatre was a post-War suburban theatre built by Mr. ans Mrs. Ernest H. Forsythe and named for 7-year old son Don and 10-year old son Gordon. Baugh & Scott contractors from Sa Antonio built the $125,000 streamline moderne venue. After missing its announced lauch, it opened October 12, 1946 with “My Reputation.” The policy shifted to double feature action films toward the end of its lifecycle. It closed on September 5, 1977 with “Orca” and “The Lifeguard.” It likely resumed as a Spanish language theatre before being offered for sale in 1988. It converted to a house of worship.
H.A Gion opened the second Pastime Theatre in Houston in 1916. This shouldn’t be confused with Abraham Schulman’s Pastime Theatre at 209 Main (1911-1916 for Schulman and, prior, as the Royal Theatre from 1910 into 1911) that was part of the Schulman’s entry as a major Texas movie theater circuit. However, that building’s signage and namesake were moved to this new location when Schulman moved on from that early downtown silent venue in 1916.
The East End, McKinney Street-based Pastime Theatre operation served African American audiences and had 500 seats in its silent era operation. It transitioned to the sound era reducing seating count to 300 likely reducing partial view seating due to support beams and an added concession stand.
But the Pastime was outmaneuvered by superior African American theaters which had the seat count to host bigger movies and occasional live acts. The Pastime discontinued ads during the War and was converted to an office furniture store in 1954. A generous end date of 1951 is encouraged likely around an initial 10-year lease and a subsequent 25-year lease. The building still stood in the 2020s still having resemblance to an early cinema.
Stalney Warner Theatres parted ways to the Winkler Drive-In following the May 4, 1966 to be dismantled within days for a new David McDavid auto lot. The listing was advertised as its last performance - a double feature of Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando in “The Chase” and Samantha Eggar in the “The Collector.” Manager Marshall Nichols wasn’t too upset as he was transferred to Stanley Warner’s luxury suburban theater under construction at the Memorial City Mall.