Art Theatre

314 on the Pike Long Beach, CA 90802 | map |

Opening: The Art Theatre opened in 1907 on the beach side of The Pike in the block between Cedar Walk and Chestnut Pl. It was just a few doors west of the Looff carousel building. This lovely c.1918 postcard view is looking west. The nicely lit clamshell entrance part way down the block on the left is the Art.

On the far right note the lit pylons of the Tarrytown/Pastime at 313-311. That Hart Theatre sign on the right is the name the Bentley Theatre at 319 was going under at the time. The card is from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection and appears on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Art Theatre.Thanks, Ron!

Seating: 450

 

 

The Art is seen on the beach side of The Pike (aka the "Walk of a Thousand Lights") in this detail from a 1908 Sanborn Map appearing courtesy of Ronald W. Mahan. Only two other theatres made it onto this particular map but there were a total of eight on the 300 block at various times. 

 

The Art is listed in the 1908, 1909-1910, 1912 and 1913-14 city directories at 314 "On The Pike." R.H. Harrison is listed as the proprietor in Thurston's 1908 directory. In the 1911, 1912 and 1914-15 directories the address is shown as 314-316. There were several different publishers competing in the Long Beach market, sometimes resulting in two directories to choose from in a particular year.  

 

 

 

We get more theatres indicated on the 300 block in this detail from image 28 of a 1914 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from the Library of Congress collection. On the beach side of The Pike it's the Looff carousel in the lower right, the Art at 314-16-18, the Wonderland / Gaiety at 330-32, and the Boston at 348-60, that one earlier called the Byde-A-Wyle. On the north side are the Pastime at 311, the earlier Tarrytown / Palace of Pictures at 313 (not shown as theatres on the map), the Bentley at 319, the Bijou Theatre at 333 (here seen as 329-31-35) and the Arrowhead / Joyland at 339.

In 1915 George B. Early was the owner of the Art. It was noted in the May 1, 1915 issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor that he had pulled a permit to do $250 in repairs of some sort.

Closing: Perhaps 1918 was about it.

Status: The premises were later converted for use by other tenants including a barber shop and a restaurant. The building, like everything else in the amusement area, was later demolished. The area is now a jungle of condos.

 

 

 

c.1909 - A shot looking east that gives us views of all three theatres on the south side of the 300 block. On the right it's the Byde-A-Wyle at 336. Just left of center it's the Wonderland/Gaiety building at 330. Two buildings to the left of that we get a side view of the clamshell entrance of the Art at 314. The image of this postcard is from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection and makes an appearance on the Cal State Long Beach page about the Byde-A-Wyle.  

 

c.1918 - The Art is on the right in this photo from the Long Beach Public Library collection.  

 

  

c.1922 - We're looking south across The Pike, most likely from the stagehouse of the Bentley Theatre.  On the far left the squat building with the reddish roof used to be the Art at 314. The building that had housed the Wonderland/Gaiety is the one with the curvy mission-style parapet a bit left of center. To the right of that had been the site of the Byde-A-Wyle. Here it's been replaced with new buildings. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this card from her collection.

 

 

c.1925 - The circle indicates the squat building that had been the Art in this look toward the beach side of the 300 block. The structure a couple doors to the left of the Art with the circular red roof housed the Looff carousel. The building with the curvy Mission-style facade right above the "C" in Card Cow was once the home of the Gaiety Theatre at 330.

 

The building toward the bottom center of the image with the brown side wall with windows is the repurposed Bentley Theatre. To the left of it are three of the four buildings (one's obscured from this angle) to the east on the Tarrytown site. Then on the other side of Cedar, it's the Majestic Rink. In the distance on the left note the State Theatre and the Municipal Auditorium. This copy of the card from the Card Cow collection had a 1930 postmark. 

 

1933 - A post-earthquake view west toward Chestnut Pl. This Austin Studio postcard is in the California State Library collection, their item #01391404. 

 

 

 

1933 - A detail from the left side of the California State Library photo. The first building on the far left is a health food store at 312. The second building once housed the Art at 314, here half of it was a barbershop offering 25 cent haircuts. By this time the barber was using a 316 address and the restaurant to the right was at 318. The two story building beyond had a palmist at 320 and another barber at 322. 

 

Beyond that, nearly invisible in this view, was a walkway to the beach. The Gaiety building with addresses of 326-332 was on the other side of the walk. Its tenants at the time included Scott's Fancy Glass Blowers at 326, a restaurant advertising "Hot Biscuits" at 328, a jeweler at 330 and billiards at 332. The statue seen on the far right was where The Pike ended at Chestnut Pl. In the distance it's the Virginia Hotel, soon to be demolished.

 

 

1940 - A look at the territory from above. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

 

1940 - A detail from the Library's photo indicating the former Art Theatre building. On the other side of The Pike we see the Strand Theatre in the upper right. Heading to the left (west) it's the Majestic Rink with its arched roof, the four buildings on the Tarrytown site, and then the rebuilt Bentley Theatre building.

 

2018 - In the foreground it's Cedar Walk. Straight ahead we're looking down what now passes for The Pike. The Looff carousel would have been on the corner over there on the left. The Art Theatre was once down a few more lots on the left with the Bentley across the street. Photo: Google Maps

More information: There really isn't any. Cal State Long Beach has a page about the Art. 

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