Lucia / Crystal Theatre

2602 S. Main St.  Los Angeles, CA 90007 | map |

Opened: The date this nickelodeon opened isn't known but it was running by 1911. The location was the east side of the street, one storefront south of Adams Blvd.

Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for locating this rare postcard on eBay. The poster behind the gentleman on the left is for "A Miscalculation," a 1910 release about a guy who doesn't calculate the orbit of Halley's Comet correctly and is convinced that it will hit the earth. The poster on the right is is for "A Mother's Love," a popular title that was used for different films in 1909, 1912 and 1913.  

 

 

The back of the card helpfully confirms the address as well as giving us the names of the initial proprietors, Messrs. Ruppert and Nichols. 

The building dates from 1905 according to the City's Zimas system. This address was a Premier car dealership in 1907. In 1910 listings the 2600 space on the corner was a drug store with 2602 housing the real estate offices of Earl W. Kelly as well as the Schwaebe-Atkinson car dealership. There was no listing for 2604. 

 

In the 1911 and 1912 city directories 2604 is listed as the Lucia Theatre. The 1913 directory lists it as the Chrystal Theatre, again with a 2604 address. Yes, spelled with an "h."

 

 

 

Soon Ruppert and Nichols were gone and R. F. Hale was the proprietor. Thanks to Jeff Bridges for locating this March 16, 1914 column of ads that includes the Crystal. The ad is on Flickr. Here we get the 2602 address.

 

In this detail from plate 13 of the 1914 Baist Real Estate Survey Map from Historic Map Works the 2600 address on the corner looks like a normal building. The 2602 address, where the theatre was, is shown as part of that corner building, evidently a strangely shaped structure that was set back from the street. Main St. runs vertically up the center. Across the bottom it's 27th St. and Adams Blvd. across the middle. 

Closing: 1914 might have been the end of it. There's no listing for 2602 or 2604 in the 1915 directory and it's not in later city directories. Jeff Bridges notes that in the 1934 directory it's listed as a furniture auction house. 

 

Status: The building that was home to the theatre is still on the site, although much remodeled.

The former theatre building, more or less. We're on Main looking north toward Adams Blvd. The theatre's entrance was perhaps toward the right of what we see here. The building uses 2602 S. Main and 106-108-112 E. Adams addresses. Image: Google Maps - 2024

More Information:  There isn't any about this one. See our pages for the Crystal Theatre in East L.A. and the Crystal Theatre downtown.

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