Opened: The American Theatre was running by 1909. It was a conversion from retail space in an existing building on the east side of the street just north of 5th. The April 1915 image is a detail from a photo taken by G. Haven Bishop for Southern California Edison. It's in the Huntington Library collection.
Seating: 500
The American Theatre appears on this 1909 "Red Coupons" list from the Los
Angeles Express. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a thread about early theatres on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
The theatre is listed in the 1910 city directory.
A 1918 ad for the American. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.
In this detail from Plate 002 of the 1921 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works that's Broadway running horizontally through the center of the image. On the left note the American indicated by the word "theatre" in the north storefront of the Alhambra Block on the NE corner of 5th & Broadway.
On the maps the theatre appears to be part of the Alhambra Block. In the photos it looks more like a separate building. The theatre is listed in the 1925 city directory under motion picture theatres but with an address of 254 S. Broadway, a typo. In the alphabetical section they got the address right and also note that the proprietor at the time was a C.E. Halsell. In the 1926 directory Louise Nicholson is listed as the manager.
Closing: Early 1926 was the end of it.
Status: The Alhambra block and the theatre were demolished for construction of the Chester Williams Building, which opened in December 1926.
c.1908 - That middle two-story building above the cyclist's helmet would later house the American Theatre. That's the Alhambra block beyond with the bay windows and turret. The gentlemen on bicycles are part of the Los Angeles Police Department Bicycle Squad participating in a mounted police parade.
The California Historical Society photo appears on the USC Digital Library website. They date this as c.1904 but the city says that building at 450 (north of the theatre location) dates from 1908. The Story Building would soon rise across 5th where that second building with the turret is seen here.
1915 - The full photo by G. Haven Bishop that the image at the top of the page was taken from. It's in the Huntington Library collection.
1926 - A detail from the USC photo taken just before the theatre's closing.
c.1927 - A photo of the Chester Williams Building that replaced the Alhambra Block and the American Theatre. The building, a design by Curlettt & Beelman, opened in December 1926. To the left of the building note the shoe store at 450 S. Broadway that appears in the 1926 USC photo. On the right we're looking east on 5th St. toward Spring. The photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1973 - A bit of the Chester Williams Building and the famous Chicken Boy to the left at 450 S. Broadway. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. Off to the far left it's the Bumiller Building with the scalloped canopy and, beyond, the marquee of the Broadway Theatre at 428 S. Broadway.
2018 - The American would have been where the left bay of the Chester Williams Building now is. The squat building (former home to Chicken Boy) to the left at 450 used to be two stories. It dates from 1908. Photo: Bill Counter
2018 - A wider look at the NE corner of 5th and Broadway. The white concrete block building at the far left dates from 1984. Photo: Bill Counter
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the American. The site J.H. Graham has a page about the Chester Williams Building.
Other vanished theatres on the 400 block: Broadway | Wonderland/Eden Musee | Optic |
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After spending most of the morning looking for a picture of the Alhambra block, I landed on your blog. Excellent little article! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm glad you found my posts useful.
DeleteAfter spending most of the morning looking for a picture of the Alhambra block, I landed on your blog. Excellent little article! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I found a 1910 Sanbury Insurance Map showing the buildings at 452 S. Broadway:
http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/19467/Plate+002/Los+Angeles+1910+Baist%27s+Real+Estate+Surveys/California/
Yes. Did you see the 1921 version I had on the page? I chose that one as it indicates "theatre" in the building where the 1910 version doesn't do that. And, by the way, these aren't Sanborn maps on the Historic Map Works site but rather those of a competing company, Baist. And did you see that the site also has a 1914 version? I've put details from their maps on many of my pages. They've been lovely when addresses have changed, etc. to help determine where on a block a particular building was.
DeleteI downloaded a copy of the Baist 1921 map and use it occasionally. I didn't realize Baist and Sanborn were competing companies. I wonder if there are any extant Sanborn maps for LA in the late 19th/early 20th century.
DeleteMy interest is in the Alhambra Block at 452 1/2 Broadway address, which is also 221 W. Fifth. That building appears older than 1908. I can't find any definite construction dates, but I did find an advertisement for a business in that building in the Los Angeles Express (which is located directly behind the Alhambra Block), dated June 6, 1904. As there are a number of advertisements for the building (sometimes called the "Alhambra Building") dating from 1904, my guess is that it was constructed in 1903.
The Los Angeles Public Library has early Sanborn maps and I've used details from a number of them on various pages. What I've used have been photos taken by friends in person. A few other details have been posted here and there online by people researching various Main St. theatres. I have no idea how much is online from the Library or what the date range of their holdings might be.
Delete