Opening: 1912 or a bit earlier. It's in the 1912 city directory as the Gem Theatre but not in the 1911 edition. In the 1913 city directory the listing at this address is for C. E. Halsell and in 1914 for Jos. Moent. It's listed as the Gem again in 1915 and in later editions. The theatre was on the west side of the street in the second building north of 7th St. Farther north on the block, also on the west side, were the Republic Theatre and the Lark Theatre.
In this c.1924 photo we're looking north from 7th. The Gem is the 5th storefront in, directly below the Coca-Cola sign. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Pepperama for spotting the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library photo on the Online Archive of California.
A detail from the Bancroft photo. The Gem's unassuming sign is hiding behind the pole. The photo is part of a set of over 600 that were taken during an outbreak of Pneumonic Plague. They were trying to document sites of disease outbreak and rat infestations.
The Gem's location is seen as "Theatre" in the second building north of 7th in this detail from Plate 002 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. That's Main across the middle and 7th St. vertically on the left.
A 1918 ad for the Gem. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it.
Closing: The last city directory listing for the Gem was in 1925.
Status: The building the Gem was in has been demolished. The L.A. Board of Trade building on the site, now an apartment building called SB Main, was started in 1926. It uses an address of 111 W. 7th St.
The Board of Trade Building on the site in 1941. It's a photo from the Automobile Club of Southern California appearing on the USC Digital Library website. The club was on a crusade to get rid of some of the "undesirable" buildings and vacant lots in the area. We're looking south toward 7th St. Also see another 1941 view on the USC site.
The Los Angeles Board of Trade Building / SB Main now occupies both the corner and the site of the building just north of 7th where the Gem was. On the right we're looking north on Main toward 6th St. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Gem.
| back to top | Downtown: theatre district overview | Hill St. and farther west | Broadway theatres | Spring St. theatres | Main St. and farther east | downtown theatres by address | downtown theatres alphabetical list |
| Westside | Hollywood | Westwood and Brentwood | Along the Coast | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | the main alphabetical list | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | theatres in movies | LA Theatres on facebook | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |
No comments:
Post a Comment