Opened: 1924. It was on the north side of the street about a block and a half east of the Pacific Electric (now Metro) tracks, just west of Wilmington Ave. The location is about 6 blocks north of the Watts Towers. The original address was 339 E. Main St. Main in Watts was renamed E. 103rd St. in the early 1920s.
In the December 1960 photo by noted African-American photographer Harry H. Adams, we're looking west. The Los Angeles Public Library has a copy acquired from the collection of Miriam Matthews.
Architect: Carl Boller
Seats: 1,200 was the announced capacity, perhaps a bit exaggerated. It was later 904. Thanks to Ken Roe for that number, coming from the 1950 Film Daily Yearbook.
An item in the May 9, 1924 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor
identified Paul Farron as the manager at the time of the Yeager Theatre in Watts, later renamed the Linda. He was
planning on building a new theatre:
"Watts -- Paul Ferron, manager of
the Yeager Theater, is taking preliminary bids for construction of a
two-story fireproof theater, 145 x 65 feet, on East Main St. It will be
of Spanish style and and will have especially designed fly loft. Mr.
Ferron was formerly connected with the Lasky Studio."
In the 1925 Watts
directory it's listed with an address of 339 E. Main and P.L. Ferron as manager. In the 1927 Watts directory the address has become 1825-27 E. 103rd
St. Paul L. Ferron was listed as lessee and manager. The theatre's
slogan in the directory was "Let's Go To The Largo. First with the best
in motion pictures."
Later the theatre was operated by Fox West Coast. Bill Gabel notes that by 1957 Aladdin Enterprises was the operator.
An April 1964 article that Ken McIntyre located in the California Eagle.
Lining up for a show in 1960, the same day as the other photo. It's another by Harry Adams from the collection of Miriam Matthews. It's now in the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. A cropped version of the photo appeared in the December 22, 1960 issue of the California Eagle with this caption:
The abandoned theatre in 1963. It's a detail from a photo by Harry Adams in the collection of the Cal State Northridge Oviatt Library. It's from the university's Tom & Ethel Bradley Center.
Looking west from Wilmington Ave. at the parking lot and community center now on the site. Photo: Google Maps - 2017
More information: Well, there's not much more out there. Cinema Treasures has a page on the theatre with a few comments.
See the page here on this site for the Linda Theatre, also on 103rd. It began as the Lyceum and was then renamed the Yeager before ending up as the Linda. There was also another Watts theatre called the Palace, later becoming the Sonora Theatre.
A nice map of Watts from the 1919 Watts city directory that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Head to the one on the Library's site for an expandable version. The darker lines are the Pacific Electric routes. Main St. is running horizontally across the center of the map. The Largo was about a block and a half east of the tracks.
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