So on the two fire / same day question, there are a number of eyewitness claims that two seemingly separate fires occurred at early movie theaters but would be considered as the same incident call - and likely can’t be totally confirmed as separate incidents. The State Theatre in Sacramento (1927) seems to fit that two-fer category. And there is at least one fire during the evening of a theatre’s operation that is contained and the theatre still burns down later that night because it wasn’t as contained as hoped.
But to have a “matinee fire” followed by resumption of business the same day and then a nightcap, second fire that permanently ends the business during the operating day is far more unusual. Hard to believe that the writer of the story didn’t work in the “fire double feature at the Dowling” angle. Seems like a missed opportunity; but give them credit for working in the Timberland “smoking guns” approach. Well played.
A 2025 era AI search of this theater really muddles the entirety of the area and it’s partially attributable to the this very entry. As previous contributors have noted, the history provided here of the Dowling Theatre is a bit off the mark. The Chuck entry can stand, certainly, but probably can be refined to better help one get a sense of this theater’s place and import in Houston’s entertainment history (and perhaps not in Chuck’s name as the information appears inaccurate) in hopes that the AI queries of the future on better rooted in fact over error.
First and foremost, the contemporary address of the theater is properly 2110 Emancipation Avenue although the Dowling Theatre’s entire history was at 2110 Dowling Street. As that is Cinematreasures wont, it should be changed. (This street was originally named East Broadway; but in 1892 the City of Houston renamed it for Confederate officer Richard William “Dick” Dowling which, due to his military action seemed ironic - if not offensive - to residents given that the street bearing his name housed historic Emancipation Park standing less than six blocks from the Dowling Theatre.) The Dowling was part of the growth of the area in the late 1930s and early 1940s as it tried to become part of the Beale Street of Houston sometimes called “Houston’s Harlem” and, by some, “Black Vegas.”
From an entertainment perspective, the Third Ward was best known for the Eldorado Ballroom. It was six blocks away from the Dowling Theatre opening in 1939 and its near neighbor, the Park Theatre, opening that year. But in 1941, the momentum continued with new build projects promising two new movie theaters and delivering one: the Dowling Theatre. The venue was built for $100,000 - not cheap for neighborhood cinemas of that era - and opened in the April 15, 1941 catering to African American audiences. It was the second era of African American cinemas in Houston with the first theaters being that of silent venues. The first era included the Pastime Theatre of Houston’s Third Ward, just six blocks away on McKinney and just a block and a half removed from Dowling Street.
Within a block of the Dowling Theatre were the Third Ward Fish Market, the New Dowling Cafe, the Dowling Meat Market, Dowling Barbecue, Tom, the Hatter, The Idle Hour Lounge, Sedita Bros. Grocery, and a dry goods store along with many apartments. It was certainly a happening area with lots of foot traffic. The two theaters on busy Dowling Street survived the advent of television - the Park and the Dowling. The older Third Ward venue, the Pastime, closed - likely in 1951.
Again, if the entry attributed to Chuck stands, perhaps the Dowling closed in or around 1959 and was torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. But there’s ample evidence showing that the Dowling Theatre continued to operation the night of a double-feature on January 13, 1966 with Alan Ladd in “Guns of the Timberland” and Nancy Kwan in “The World of Suzie Wong.” At 3 p.m., the first fire of the day was extinguished saving Suzie Wong’s world. But just about five hours later - during “GOTT,” about 100 patrons left the theatre with smoke entering the auditorium for the second time that day. This interruption escalated to a four alarm blaze gutting the auditorium, decimating Suzie Wong’s world short-term… and ending things at the Dowling permanently.
Given the vibrancy of the 1940s and still large crowds even in January of 1966, one has to ask: what went wrong with the Third Ward’s “Beale Street.” The answer lies largely in the City of Houston’s hands and its aggressive pursuit of urban renewal right here in the Third Ward. Even if the Dowling Theatre had survived the fire, its days were likely numbered. Four blocks west, the South Freeway project carved a concrete canyon that severed the African American community from the economic lifeblood of Midtown and the Medical Center. And just two blocks away from the Dowling Theatre, the Pierce Elevated (I-45 project) bulldozed over 1,000 homes and businesses creating dead end streets and challenging pedestrian routes that doomed many of the remaining Third Ward “Beale Street.”
This double-encirclement construction nightmare whammy - to say nothing of the months upon months of jackhammering and other cacophonous noise, road closures and picture window spoilers - efficiently decimated the Third Ward leaving a wake for decades. In the City’s eyes, the project was a triumph as new highways were paved while the displacement of a historic community was executed with the same ruthless efficiency seen in many other cities across the nation. But the Third Ward was not finished. By the late 2010s and 2020s, the Dowling Theatre neighborhood showed signs of life despite the vacant lot once housing the former movie house.
Dowling Street was renamed as Emancipation Avenue in 2017 recognizing the importance of the area instead of trying to further eradicate it. The Eldorado Ballroom officially held its grand reopening on March 30, 2023. In terms of cinema, however, the City of Houston got its way. Because of the timing of the urban renewal projects, the Third Ward not only missed out on the luxury suburban theatre movement of cinema but basically all movie theater eras that were to follow as it never got another hardtop movie theater. So that’s likely a bit closer to the world of the Dowling Theatre or at least from the vantage point of Suzie Wong.
Cinematreasures places the closing of the Dowling Theatre in 1959 and torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. Pictorial evidence shows the venue burning down on January 13, 1966 (see above) which sort of changes the trajectory of the entire Third Ward timeline to say nothing of this theater.
The Don-Gordon Theatre was a post-War suburban theatre built by Mr. ans Mrs. Ernest H. Forsythe and named for 7-year old son Don and 10-year old son Gordon. Baugh & Scott contractors from Sa Antonio built the $125,000 streamline moderne venue. After missing its announced lauch, it opened October 12, 1946 with “My Reputation.”
The policy shifted to double feature action films toward the end of its lifecycle. It closed on September 5, 1977 with “Orca” and “The Lifeguard.” It likely resumed as a Spanish language theatre before being offered for sale in 1988. It converted to a house of worship.
H.A Gion opened the second Pastime Theatre in Houston in 1916. This shouldn’t be confused with Abraham Schulman’s Pastime Theatre at 209 Main (1911-1916 for Schulman and, prior, as the Royal Theatre from 1910 into 1911) that was part of the Schulman’s entry as a major Texas movie theater circuit. However, that building’s signage and namesake were moved to this new location when Schulman moved on from that early downtown silent venue in 1916.
The East End, McKinney Street-based Pastime Theatre operation served African American audiences and had 500 seats in its silent era operation. It transitioned to the sound era reducing seating count to 300 likely reducing partial view seating due to support beams and an added concession stand.
But the Pastime was outmaneuvered by superior African American theaters which had the seat count to host bigger movies and occasional live acts. The Pastime discontinued ads during the War and was converted to an office furniture store in 1954. A generous end date of 1951 is encouraged likely around an initial 10-year lease and a subsequent 25-year lease. The building still stood in the 2020s still having resemblance to an early cinema.
Stalney Warner Theatres parted ways to the Winkler Drive-In following the May 4, 1966 to be dismantled within days for a new David McDavid auto lot. The listing was advertised as its last performance - a double feature of Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando in “The Chase” and Samantha Eggar in the “The Collector.” Manager Marshall Nichols wasn’t too upset as he was transferred to Stanley Warner’s luxury suburban theater under construction at the Memorial City Mall.
This venue opened as the Bluebonnet Gardens Theatre on November 4, 1926 with Mary Pickford in “Little Annie Rooney.” The silent theater’s formative days were rustic with large fireplace with real fire (a bit risky in the days of explosive nitrate prints), indoor trees, and wall decor including elk heads.
The venue changed to the Bluebonnet Theatre wiring for Vitaphone sound in June of 1929 and subsequently was dynamited likely due to hiring non-union sound projectionists. The rustic look and non-union policy ended with a major redesign by Interstate Theatres which relaunched it as the New Bluebonnet (aka “Don’t Dynamite Us, Please”) on August 19, 1936 with “Mutiny on the Bounty.” All new seating and improved sound system was a short term success.
The Bluebonnet scuffled at the outset of the TV age as the neighborhood changed and the programming veered between third-tier sub-run double and triple features and four-wall exploitation. It closed February 1, 1953 with a double feature of the Producers Releasing Corporation’s bad girl exploitation opuses of “Secrets of a Sorority Girl” and “Why Girls Leave Home.”
in 1954, it became a house of worship. In 1959, it had a brief rebranding as the Jubilee Theatre with live country music. It returned to a house of worship in 1960.
The Al Ray Theatre Circuit took on the Avalon rebranding it as the Fiesta Theatre on January 14, 1962 with Pedro Armendariz in “La Carcel de Cananea” and Silvia Paňal in “Pecado Mortal.” That seems to have ended in 1964.
It rebranded as the Capri Art Cinema on July 7, 1965 with “At Lil’s Place,” “Nudist Memories,” and “Soho Strip.” The venue appears to have closed as the Capri Theatre on July 29, 1979 at end of lease with the last known bookings being Christina Lindberg in “Anita: Swedish Nymphet” and Bree Anthony in “Satan Was a Lady.”
The former adult venue became home to the United With Christ Cathedral, a house of worship in February of 1988 likely to reduce taxing liability on the property. The name of this venue should be the Capri Theatre. The building was torn down further reducing its taxing liability.
So on the two fire / same day question, there are a number of eyewitness claims that two seemingly separate fires occurred at early movie theaters but would be considered as the same incident call - and likely can’t be totally confirmed as separate incidents. The State Theatre in Sacramento (1927) seems to fit that two-fer category. And there is at least one fire during the evening of a theatre’s operation that is contained and the theatre still burns down later that night because it wasn’t as contained as hoped.
But to have a “matinee fire” followed by resumption of business the same day and then a nightcap, second fire that permanently ends the business during the operating day is far more unusual. Hard to believe that the writer of the story didn’t work in the “fire double feature at the Dowling” angle. Seems like a missed opportunity; but give them credit for working in the Timberland “smoking guns” approach. Well played.
A 2025 era AI search of this theater really muddles the entirety of the area and it’s partially attributable to the this very entry. As previous contributors have noted, the history provided here of the Dowling Theatre is a bit off the mark. The Chuck entry can stand, certainly, but probably can be refined to better help one get a sense of this theater’s place and import in Houston’s entertainment history (and perhaps not in Chuck’s name as the information appears inaccurate) in hopes that the AI queries of the future on better rooted in fact over error.
First and foremost, the contemporary address of the theater is properly 2110 Emancipation Avenue although the Dowling Theatre’s entire history was at 2110 Dowling Street. As that is Cinematreasures wont, it should be changed. (This street was originally named East Broadway; but in 1892 the City of Houston renamed it for Confederate officer Richard William “Dick” Dowling which, due to his military action seemed ironic - if not offensive - to residents given that the street bearing his name housed historic Emancipation Park standing less than six blocks from the Dowling Theatre.) The Dowling was part of the growth of the area in the late 1930s and early 1940s as it tried to become part of the Beale Street of Houston sometimes called “Houston’s Harlem” and, by some, “Black Vegas.”
From an entertainment perspective, the Third Ward was best known for the Eldorado Ballroom. It was six blocks away from the Dowling Theatre opening in 1939 and its near neighbor, the Park Theatre, opening that year. But in 1941, the momentum continued with new build projects promising two new movie theaters and delivering one: the Dowling Theatre. The venue was built for $100,000 - not cheap for neighborhood cinemas of that era - and opened in the April 15, 1941 catering to African American audiences. It was the second era of African American cinemas in Houston with the first theaters being that of silent venues. The first era included the Pastime Theatre of Houston’s Third Ward, just six blocks away on McKinney and just a block and a half removed from Dowling Street.
Within a block of the Dowling Theatre were the Third Ward Fish Market, the New Dowling Cafe, the Dowling Meat Market, Dowling Barbecue, Tom, the Hatter, The Idle Hour Lounge, Sedita Bros. Grocery, and a dry goods store along with many apartments. It was certainly a happening area with lots of foot traffic. The two theaters on busy Dowling Street survived the advent of television - the Park and the Dowling. The older Third Ward venue, the Pastime, closed - likely in 1951.
Again, if the entry attributed to Chuck stands, perhaps the Dowling closed in or around 1959 and was torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. But there’s ample evidence showing that the Dowling Theatre continued to operation the night of a double-feature on January 13, 1966 with Alan Ladd in “Guns of the Timberland” and Nancy Kwan in “The World of Suzie Wong.” At 3 p.m., the first fire of the day was extinguished saving Suzie Wong’s world. But just about five hours later - during “GOTT,” about 100 patrons left the theatre with smoke entering the auditorium for the second time that day. This interruption escalated to a four alarm blaze gutting the auditorium, decimating Suzie Wong’s world short-term… and ending things at the Dowling permanently.
Given the vibrancy of the 1940s and still large crowds even in January of 1966, one has to ask: what went wrong with the Third Ward’s “Beale Street.” The answer lies largely in the City of Houston’s hands and its aggressive pursuit of urban renewal right here in the Third Ward. Even if the Dowling Theatre had survived the fire, its days were likely numbered. Four blocks west, the South Freeway project carved a concrete canyon that severed the African American community from the economic lifeblood of Midtown and the Medical Center. And just two blocks away from the Dowling Theatre, the Pierce Elevated (I-45 project) bulldozed over 1,000 homes and businesses creating dead end streets and challenging pedestrian routes that doomed many of the remaining Third Ward “Beale Street.”
This double-encirclement construction nightmare whammy - to say nothing of the months upon months of jackhammering and other cacophonous noise, road closures and picture window spoilers - efficiently decimated the Third Ward leaving a wake for decades. In the City’s eyes, the project was a triumph as new highways were paved while the displacement of a historic community was executed with the same ruthless efficiency seen in many other cities across the nation. But the Third Ward was not finished. By the late 2010s and 2020s, the Dowling Theatre neighborhood showed signs of life despite the vacant lot once housing the former movie house.
Dowling Street was renamed as Emancipation Avenue in 2017 recognizing the importance of the area instead of trying to further eradicate it. The Eldorado Ballroom officially held its grand reopening on March 30, 2023. In terms of cinema, however, the City of Houston got its way. Because of the timing of the urban renewal projects, the Third Ward not only missed out on the luxury suburban theatre movement of cinema but basically all movie theater eras that were to follow as it never got another hardtop movie theater. So that’s likely a bit closer to the world of the Dowling Theatre or at least from the vantage point of Suzie Wong.
Cinematreasures places the closing of the Dowling Theatre in 1959 and torched by a homeless arsonist in 1962. Pictorial evidence shows the venue burning down on January 13, 1966 (see above) which sort of changes the trajectory of the entire Third Ward timeline to say nothing of this theater.
The Don-Gordon Theatre was a post-War suburban theatre built by Mr. ans Mrs. Ernest H. Forsythe and named for 7-year old son Don and 10-year old son Gordon. Baugh & Scott contractors from Sa Antonio built the $125,000 streamline moderne venue. After missing its announced lauch, it opened October 12, 1946 with “My Reputation.” The policy shifted to double feature action films toward the end of its lifecycle. It closed on September 5, 1977 with “Orca” and “The Lifeguard.” It likely resumed as a Spanish language theatre before being offered for sale in 1988. It converted to a house of worship.
H.A Gion opened the second Pastime Theatre in Houston in 1916. This shouldn’t be confused with Abraham Schulman’s Pastime Theatre at 209 Main (1911-1916 for Schulman and, prior, as the Royal Theatre from 1910 into 1911) that was part of the Schulman’s entry as a major Texas movie theater circuit. However, that building’s signage and namesake were moved to this new location when Schulman moved on from that early downtown silent venue in 1916.
The East End, McKinney Street-based Pastime Theatre operation served African American audiences and had 500 seats in its silent era operation. It transitioned to the sound era reducing seating count to 300 likely reducing partial view seating due to support beams and an added concession stand.
But the Pastime was outmaneuvered by superior African American theaters which had the seat count to host bigger movies and occasional live acts. The Pastime discontinued ads during the War and was converted to an office furniture store in 1954. A generous end date of 1951 is encouraged likely around an initial 10-year lease and a subsequent 25-year lease. The building still stood in the 2020s still having resemblance to an early cinema.
Stalney Warner Theatres parted ways to the Winkler Drive-In following the May 4, 1966 to be dismantled within days for a new David McDavid auto lot. The listing was advertised as its last performance - a double feature of Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando in “The Chase” and Samantha Eggar in the “The Collector.” Manager Marshall Nichols wasn’t too upset as he was transferred to Stanley Warner’s luxury suburban theater under construction at the Memorial City Mall.
This venue opened as the Bluebonnet Gardens Theatre on November 4, 1926 with Mary Pickford in “Little Annie Rooney.” The silent theater’s formative days were rustic with large fireplace with real fire (a bit risky in the days of explosive nitrate prints), indoor trees, and wall decor including elk heads.
The venue changed to the Bluebonnet Theatre wiring for Vitaphone sound in June of 1929 and subsequently was dynamited likely due to hiring non-union sound projectionists. The rustic look and non-union policy ended with a major redesign by Interstate Theatres which relaunched it as the New Bluebonnet (aka “Don’t Dynamite Us, Please”) on August 19, 1936 with “Mutiny on the Bounty.” All new seating and improved sound system was a short term success.
The Bluebonnet scuffled at the outset of the TV age as the neighborhood changed and the programming veered between third-tier sub-run double and triple features and four-wall exploitation. It closed February 1, 1953 with a double feature of the Producers Releasing Corporation’s bad girl exploitation opuses of “Secrets of a Sorority Girl” and “Why Girls Leave Home.”
in 1954, it became a house of worship. In 1959, it had a brief rebranding as the Jubilee Theatre with live country music. It returned to a house of worship in 1960.
Predominately live events with some first-run titles and some rep. This is not a second run theatre.
The Al Ray Theatre Circuit took on the Avalon rebranding it as the Fiesta Theatre on January 14, 1962 with Pedro Armendariz in “La Carcel de Cananea” and Silvia Paňal in “Pecado Mortal.” That seems to have ended in 1964.
It rebranded as the Capri Art Cinema on July 7, 1965 with “At Lil’s Place,” “Nudist Memories,” and “Soho Strip.” The venue appears to have closed as the Capri Theatre on July 29, 1979 at end of lease with the last known bookings being Christina Lindberg in “Anita: Swedish Nymphet” and Bree Anthony in “Satan Was a Lady.”
The former adult venue became home to the United With Christ Cathedral, a house of worship in February of 1988 likely to reduce taxing liability on the property. The name of this venue should be the Capri Theatre. The building was torn down further reducing its taxing liability.
This is definitely not a second run house.
Heavy mix of rep/revival with some first run art. Definitely not a second run house.
First run films with occasional rep film. Definitely not a second run cinema.
Definitely a live house with an occasional rep film. No second run film house operation here.
It plays live shows and first-run films with some rep. It is definitely not a second run cinema.
Straight classic / rep films. Not a second run house.
This is a rep/revival house with live events. It is definitely not a second run cinema.
This is a first run cinema with rep and some live events. Not a second run cinema.
First run theater with some rep mixed in. This is definitely not a second run cinema.
First run theater with some rep mixed in. This is not a second run cinema.
First run theater with some rep mixed in. It is definitely not a second run theater.
This is a rep/revival house. It is definitely not a second run cinema.
This would not be a second run cinema. I’d also suggest that it may not exist as a functioning cinema though have no idea.
Closed
This is a rep/revival house with live events. It is not a second run cinema.
This is a live and rep/revival house. It is not a second run cinema.