Church Hill had three movie theaters back in the day: Robinson Theater on Q Street, East End Theater on 25th Street, and the Patrick Henry Theater on 25th Street. While the Robinson and East End have been restored and repurposed, the Patrick Henry Theater stopped showing movies by 1952 and was demolished in 1968.
For more on the theaters in Church Hill, check out Eric Huffstutler’s article in the December 2011 issue of the Church Hill Association Newsletter.
[sep]
[sep]
[sep]
15 comments
RT @chpn: New movie theater for Church Hill (1933) https://t.co/1gn07hW6YP
Lauren Marie Rodgers liked this on Facebook.
Church Hill Activities and Tutoring (CHAT) liked this on Facebook.
Tracy Masuck Haines liked this on Facebook.
Brian Hall liked this on Facebook.
Eunice Kim liked this on Facebook.
Thanks for sharing and linking, John 🙂
Eric
Kelly Alexandra Stauffer liked this on Facebook.
Cool piece, Eric. Where did you find the photo? Love to find one that shows the cleaners next door at 402.
@2 Rob… it was taken from the tax records but sometimes the photos are not so great on them and they are small. There were others in the newspaper as it was being built but again, the archived versions on microfilm not so clear. The cleaners would be what is now Blackbird Salon, which was originally built as a Bank – a temporary location (built 1922) for the larger bank being built on the corner (now a church), and attached to the smaller temp building. There were houses still where the Post Office was built in 1956.
Rob, if you look at this picture from 1959, you will see the bank on the corner (now a church), the old temporary bank which is in the photo a cleaners, and next to that you will see the old Patrick Henry theater front. Next to that would be the restaurant, then houses, and then the East End theater and the old Billups house on the corner.
Sorry, forgot the link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_virginia/2898493581/in/album-72157607704129043/
So what’s the story with the building next to the post office on 25th. Will it only be apts/condos, or will it have a movie theater too? It’s got the marquee…
@6 Gary, the marquee on the building (and blade sign), is only decorative and part of the restoration of the façade of the original movie theater. Not unusual, chic, and appropriately correct for the building’s façade restoration. It was converted into apartments a while back and people are living there. The ground floor is currently being converted into a restaurant.
Michael Latimer liked this on Facebook.