STATE / RUSSELL/ASTOR THEATER
State Theater, 1937.
The State Theater was established at 306 East Main St. sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
A night view of the theater shows a bit of the somewhat Spanish Revival style structure, with its patterned brick facade and tile above the marquee.
(Courtesy Library of Congress)
Looking west from the front of the theater, late 1930s.
The view of the theater, changed to the Russell, in 1939-1940.
In 1949, the theater became the Astor Theater. According to "Durham and Her People" the theater was "the first to show foreign language films in the Carolinas [and] cooperates with all local colleges and schools in presenting its program."
I'm not sure when the theater closed, but by the 1980s, it had become the "River of Life" church.
Looking southeaast, 1986.
This building was still standing up until a few years ago; when the county (which owned the building at that point) decided to put this and the Eligibility building on the market, it demolished the structures (which had pretty bad roof damage.) It was sold with the Eligibility Building to David Revere.
306 E. Main, 2007.
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1 comment:
I'm quite certain the theater closed long before the early eighties. I came to Durham in 1967 and I don't remember it at all. I don't even remember hearing about it. I suspect it must have closed in the fifties or early sixties.
The church signage looked awful, but your photographs reveal a once handsome building. Once again, what a shame that it's gone.
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