Seal Theater
102 Main Street,
Lockney,
TX
79241
102 Main Street,
Lockney,
TX
79241
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Patrons of the Seal Theatre were greeted by a mural featuring a red seal balancing a ball on his nose. The building remains, boarded up and trashed on the inside. Mr. Seal built this walk-in along with a drive-in by the same name in the small and friendly farming community of Lockney, Texas.
Contributed by
Don Lewis
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Don, is this theater across from the Post Office, about a block up? Brick building with green tile on the bottom. If so, you beat me to it again.
Sure Don, my email is I can point out a few theaters for you, since I only post those I took pictures of.
The synopsis above says this was the Seal Theater at open to close which may, in fact, be accurate although the operator name is in error. Just giving a bit more historical context on Lockney’s movie history, the Lockney Opera House opened September 12, 1912 with the live staging of “Silas, the Chore Boy.” It began to mix in more movies than live stage presentations. Making the transition from live house to movie house, it is believed that it was renamed the Olympic Theatre becoming a full-time, 420-seat cinema. In 1925, C.R. Wilkinson took on the venue giving it a refresh and renaming it the Isis Theatre on August 13, 1925 with the film, “Recompense.”
New operator J.T. O'Heron took it on and in January of 1930 converting it to Western Electric sound allowing the Isis to remain viable. O'Heron was followed by John Jenkins (1935), R.E. Reynolds (1940), and - finally - J.B. “Brad” and Dovie Seale who took on the venture. They changed its name from the Isis to the Plains Theatre. In 1951, the venue was given a streamline makeover as the “new” Plains Theatre reducing seat count to 360 seats. They also established the Seale Drive-In in 1952 operating it until 1976.
In 1954, the Seales gave the Plains Theatre a widescreen conversion to present CinemaScope titles likely reducing seat count somewhat. The Plains carries that name into the 1970s. Not sure when the “Seal” seal was invoked as it isn’t covered by the local paper. However, it may indeed be in the same structure or an entirely different building than the Plains (leave that to the local historians). But the Seales definitely retired from the industry with the ozoner closing in 1976 and a late decision to not reopen made in the Spring of 1977. The operators passed away in 1980 and 1982. Ads for the Plains, Olympic, and Isis are provided in photos here.
(And, if it matters, it’s not Mr. Seal but is J.B. “Brad” Seale and Dovie Marie Watts Seale who were the operators of the Plains Theatre and Seale - not Seal - Drive-In.)