Paramount Theatre

It was torn down under urban renewal in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s.

It wad located on East Federal between Walnut and Watt Streets. I was only in there once to see a picture. During its last years it was running Spanish pictures and the theater wsn’t in the best of shape, but for a small theater it had a large projection booth that was in good condition and well equipped.

As to seating capacity, I have no idea and wouldn’t want to speculate, but was most likely under 1000.

BTW, “September Storm” was released in 1960, and since it was not a roadshow, I imagined it showed at the Paramount on a first run basis in that year.

PS to the 3-D. Using my relationship to the Palace in Hubbard I got into the projection booth, and had the projectionist explain to me the selsyn motors to sync the projectors, the polarizers, and the special numbers printed on the edge of the film to keep the reels in sync if there were a splice. I was amazed at the triple size reels of film (6000 ft) allowing over an hour of film on one reel.

It’s very sad to see the Paramount in this condition. I imagine it’s now totally gone. Thank you for all the pictures. As I recall the projection angle was so steep the top of screen was tilted back. The photo of the booth with the projectors on the platform show the mounts cranked all the way up.

It’s sad in a way that this thetre is lost to the city, but the same can be said of other local theaters. As well as being a theater buff I’m also into old time radio (1930 to 1950) and the same thing can be said for that, but be that as it is, we as a city were very short sighted and as a result, save for Powers Auditorium and Stambaugh Auditorium which I recently learned does have the capacity to show films which it rarely ever does all we have left are fond memories and those old newspaper ads that remind us that Youngstown had a rich theater history that brought here many of the truely greats in legitamate theater history … great symphony orchestras … and all the major first run films.

1901 thru 1940 were Youngstown’s golden years when it came to our legitamate theater experience. How many cities the size of Youngstown could boast of having so many of the truely greats make personal appearences here?

Great find Joe and I thank you.

Here is a direct link to the photo I linked to above.

On the upper right hand corner of the first link is a picture of the Dome theater.

A history of Youngstown published in 1921 features a thumbnail biography of Christopher W, Deibel, who built he Liberty Theatre. Here is an extract of the portion dealing with his career as a movie exhibitor:[quote]“For twenty years he was a merchant tailor. But he is best known for his theatrical ventures, and was one of the pioneer operators of moving picture shows in Youngstqwn. He named his first theater, a small place seating 186 people, the Dome. He had four successive theaters, each named Dome. The present theater of that name was begun by Mr. Deibel in 1912.

“His most notable contribution, however, to the amusement resources of Youngstown came with the organization by him in February, 1918, of the corporation which established and built the Liberty Theater, at 202 West Federal Street. Fifty years earlier his father on the same site built the old Excelsior Block, which was razed by his son to make room for the Liberty Theater. Not only Mr. Deibel but the entire community take pride in the Liberty. It is not excelled by any other theater of its size in the United States in the matter of attractive equipment, comfort and bookings. It has a seating capacity of 1,800 people.”[/quote]Here is a link to the complete bio at Google Books. Scroll down to see a photo of Mr. Deibel. No photos of the theater, unfortunately.

What a great theater—and what a proud history!
I remember seeing so many wonderful movies there as a kid (and teenager). Between “roadshows,” the Paramount was something of an arthouse, too. I remember they played Joseph Strick’s “Ulysses,” Antonioni’s “Zabriskie Point,” Visconti’s “The Damned,” Kazan’s “The Arangement,” Coppola’s “The Rain People” and Altman’s “Brewster McCloud” (double-featured with “House of Dark Shadows” of all things)! Lots of “saucy” movies, too, like “The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart” and “The Best House in London,” which only added to the theater’s sophisticated mystique.
I saw everything from “The Great White Hope,” Hello,Dolly!,“ "Tora! Tora! Tora!,” “The Shoes of the Fisherman,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” “My Fair Lady,” “The Gypsy Moths,” “The Maltese Bippy,” “Alfie,” “2001” to “Gone With the Wind” (during its 1967 reissue)……
It was the only downtown theater I remember that had their box-office in the lobby (a boon in cold weather months).

It’s my pleasure.

To all. Feel free to download any of the pictures at your leasure.

This is a work in progress and more pictures will be added as I accumulate more.

Sorry that its taken so long to respond but I’ve been busy building my Webshots site on the history of Youngstown, and killing The Farrell Report and reconstructing it as Reporters Notebook.

You can reach me at