Star Theatre

501 S. Beacon St. San Pedro (Los Angeles), CA 90731 | map - approximate |

Opened: It made its debut, perhaps in 1907, on the southwest corner of Beacon and 5th. The 400 and 500 blocks of Beacon have disappeared and 5th, which used to go straight east to meet Harbor Blvd., acquired a wiggle to the north during the 1970s Beacon St. redevelopment project.

1907 was the opening year according to data from local historian John M. Houston that appeared in an article by Bob Beck in the May 30, 1984 San Pedro News Pilot. The article noted that the Star was said to be San Pedro's first movie house and that it was owned by a Mrs. Anderson. The article is from the clipping file of the San Pedro Bay Historical Society. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for the image of it.

The research of the Grand Vision Foundation (the Friends of the Warner Grand organization) also gives the Star a 1907 date. The theatre is listed in the 1908 San Pedro city directory with the address as Beacon and 5th. H.M. Good was the manager at the time.

Nearby were the Empire Theatre, on 5th just west of Beacon, and the New Theatre, a block farther west at 5th and Palos Verdes.    

 

Presumably that's the Star at 501 in this image showing the west side of the 500 block of Beacon. It's a detail from image 8 of the 1908 Sanborn Real Estate Map for San Pedro that's in the Library of Congress collection. See image 4 for the east side of the street. That's 5th St. near the top and 6th at the bottom. The empty lot mid-block would later be the location of the Alhambra Theatre at 515. Presumably that's the Lyric Theatre at 535.

Closed: The Grand Vision Foundation came up with a 1922 closing date. But they also give the Star an address of 264 5th, the location of the Auditorium. Mysteries.

Status: The building it was in survived into the 1970s but has been demolished. The whole area has been redeveloped.

 

A c.1903 view looking south from 5th St. It's a bit too early for the Star Theatre, but around 1907 it would show up on that corner on the right, in a two story building that evidently would replace what we see here. It's a photo from the California Historical Society collection appearing on the USC Digital Library website.

 

A 20s look west on 5th from Harbor Blvd. That first intersection in was 5th and Beacon where the Star would have been. 501 is where we see that two-story buidling on the left, on the far side of the intersection. The card is from the San Pedro page on the site Penny Postcards from California. The large building in the distance was the Auditorium. 

 

 

 

A 1924 postcard view looking south on Beacon from 5th. On the right we get a partial view of the building that once housed the Star in its corner storefront. The second building in had been the home of the Alhambra Theatre, perhaps used as a restaurant at this time. It's a postcard from the collection of Joe McKinzie and appears in his 2007 Arcadia Publishing book "San Pedro." There's a preview of the book on Google Books. 

On the new 5th St. (about where 4th and Beacon once were) looking south a block to where 5th and Beacon would have been before the neighborhood was demolished. Photo: Google Maps - 2019

More information: The David Rumsay Map Collection has a fine 1938 Thomas Brothers San Pedro and Wilmington map online if you'd care to look at the original street layout. Also see a detail of the downtown area from the map.

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