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Wabash Theatre

3014 Wabash Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90063  | map |

Opened: 1925. The Wabash was located on the south side of the street just east of Evergreen Ave. in the Boyle Heights / City Terrace area.

Architect: Starrett & Payne. The Los Angeles Public Library's California Index has a card with data from the January 9, 1925 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor: 

"Brick theater and stores -- A.S. O'Neill will build 2-story theater building 98x135 feet at 3010-3018 Wabash Ave. for Pete Lasher... Starrett & Payne, architects; 6 offices; cost $65,000."

Seating: 887
 


The only known view of the theatre. It's the dark building in the distance on the left directly above the tree that's in the foreground. Thanks to Tamitos for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures. 
 

An August 1935 ad for the Wabash and the Meralta from the Eastside Journal. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. 
 
 

An August 1938 ad for the Wabash, Brooklyn and National that Ken McIntyre spotted in the Eastside Journal. It was another post on Photos of Los Angeles.  
 
 

Additional inducements to go to the movies. The Eastside Journal ad was included by Ken McIntyre in his Photos of Los Angeles Facebook post of 1938 ads.
 
 

In the 40s Eastland Theatres was running the Wabash. Hadn't you always wanted to see a double bill of "Citizen Kane" along with "Dumbo"?  Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating these April 1942 listings from the L.A. Times. He added them as a comment to his post of the August 1935 ad. 

Closing: 1950 was the end of the line for the Wabash. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating their last ad in the Times:
 

The Eastland Theatres listing for August 15, 1950.

Status: It's been demolished -- the site is now a vacant lot.



The field where the Wabash once was. We're looking west on Wabash toward Evergreen Ave. Photo: Google Maps - 2019

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Wabash for all the known history.

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 7, 2022 at 6:51 PM

    I used to live on Wabash and I remember the Wabash theater and I also remember Mr lemon's furniture shop across the street and also the drug store that was on the corner it was a great time to grow up in Boyle Heights

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  2. AnonymousMarch 13, 2024 at 11:08 AM

    My family owns the properties on both sides of what use to be the wabash theater. According to stories from my grandfather. After the theater closed, the property sat vacant for maybe 25 years until around 1978 someone bought the building to demolish and recycle the bricks. They ended up making money off the bricks and just let the lot sit ever since.

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  3. AnonymousJune 4, 2024 at 9:56 AM

    I grew up in this area of Boyle Heights, born 1993. That lot has always been vacant, I walked by it last week getting a haircut at Brenda's. Interesting comment re: Mar13 about the bricks. If you walk by the vacant lot you can still see bricks on the floor.

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