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Hub Theatre

1007 S. Central Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90021 | map |

Opened: It was running by 1917. The opening date is unknown. The location was on the west side of the street a bit just south of 10th St. There wasn't any listing for the theatre in the 1917 city directory.
 
Seating: 500 
 

1007 Central is circled in purple but the theatre hadn't arrived yet in this 1914 map. The lot is on the west side of Central between 10th St. and 11th St. The theatre we do see on the east side of the street, in pink, is the Angelus Theatre at 932. That lot would later become 1018 when they redid the numbering so the east side of the street would correlate with the west side. This is a detail from Plate 012 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. That's 9th St. running across the top of the image, now called Olympic Blvd.
 
 

It was called the New Family Theatre in this ad for "The Law of Nature" appearing in a June 1917 issue of the California Eagle. The Eagle was a paper covering the African American community in Los Angeles. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for adding this as a comment on a thread of vintage theatre ads on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
 

The theatre was advertising as the BookerTee in this column of southend theatre ads in the January 16, 1918 issue of the L.A. Evening Express. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group.

It's in the 1918 city directory as the New Age Theatre. In the 1919 directory this address is listed as "Brown Bros." Beginning in 1925 it's listed in city directories as the Hub Theatre.

   
Thanks to Sean Ault for this February 2, 1947 photo from his collection. We're looking north on Central toward 10th with the theatre on the right.



 A detail from Sean's 1947 photo. They're running "Son of Zorro," a January release. 

Joe Vogel discusses this once lively neighborhood and notes: 
 
"...The address of this theatre places it a block south of the Pacific Electric Interurban line which ran to Watts, Huntington Park, Long Beach, and Orange County, where it ran along Ninth Street. Local Streetcar service was also present in the area, provided by the L.A. Railway. The Hub was located less than half a mile south of what, before the construction of Union Station, was the main depot of the Southern Pacific Railroad..."
 

No segregation at the Hub. It's a December 1947 article from the Eastside Journal. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a post on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group. 

Closing: The date is unknown. It was still running as the Hub as late as January 1950. In the 1956 telephone company criss-cross directory there's nothing shown for 1007 S. Central.

Status: The theatre building has been demolished. The site is now a parking lot.



The view north from 11th in 2019. Thanks to Paul Wisman for the Google Maps photo. The building is the Booker T. Washington Building, dating from 1914. 



The site of the Hub Theatre. 10th St. is off to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
 
 
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Hub Theatre. 
 

A 1916 ad for Smith's Cafe in the Booker T. Washington Building, a couple doors south of where the Hub would later be and, as the ad says, across the street from the Angelus. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this in the California Eagle for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

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