Only the Garden (vacant), Broad (Catholic Youth Organization Gym), Bijou (church), Victory (Salvation Army outlet), Centre Street (store) and Victory remain standing in Trenton. The RKO Hamilton on South Broad is a church also.
Ah, the Olden, nee Gaiety (pronounce Gay-tee). I remember my parents taking me there to a double feature in the early 1970s and a fight broke out in the lobby. The police were called after the guy picked up the aluminum cigarette ashtray container and threw it into the mirrored walls and smashed it. I think that was the last time I was in there other than the demolition. I have the ticket grinder.
Believe it or not, the double bill was two old Warner Brother musicals films – maybe 42nd Street and the Goldiggers of 1933(?). My mother screamed during the course of events and caused further commotion. LOL.
This theater was Landolfi’s Food Products (and might still be). Yes, it is located at the intersection of Cummings and West in Chambersburg section. The theater sat at the “point”. Check Google Earth. I remember it being near the Roma Bar Restaurant. I have not been by there in years.
The comments by John are very true. The last film I saw here was “Messenger of Death”. There’s not much to say about it other than it had dirty drapes and sticky floors. I recall that there were rocking chairs in the rear of the auditorium. I believe it was built as a single screen theater along with the Eric Lawrence in the Lawrence Shopping Center in another suburb of Trenton.
It almost fell victim to the contruction of I-295 in the mid-eighties. The interstate eventually abutted the SE side of the building. As indicated above, the entire Independence Mall (open air) hit hard times and ended up mostly abandoned. It used to house S. P. Dunham’s and Hurley-Tobin Department stores (both buildings still stand) and a Murphy’s (razed). Only part of the mall was torn down. The Eric was completely razed and a strip center was built on that portion of the lot.
The RKO Hamilton on South Broad Street (now a church) is nearby.
This is a fabulous small town movie house. An organ is being installed. Neat marquee too. I drive my kids 50 miles each way to see films as they should be presented.
The only theater building left standing in downtown is the Garden Theater on North Broad Street. It’s tiny and was never important. In later years it showed porno and after that, became a church.
Only the corridor space of the Mayfair remains but it’s difficult to detect as it is floor space in the pharmacy (CVS?) on E. State.
On South Broad, there is the very large Broad Street Theater. It closed in 1960 when the Diocese of Trenton purchased it and converted it into the CYO gymnasium. The marquee is intact and so are the four outside walls. I’ve forgotten how much of the indside remains. It was a 2000-seater with a small balcony. In fact, the fire escape is on the Broad Street side. For a long time, a painted sign “Broad Theater” was visible on the north side of the building. The balcony was tranformed in to meeting rooms.
The church on Clinton Avenue, just a few block from the Broad, was the former Bijou Theater. The Bijou opened in 1905 and closed in the late 50s.
The Park Theater at Washington Street and Hamilton, on the triangle across from Roma Savings Bank, was torn down recently.
The RKO Hamilton still exists (church) on South Broad Street just passed the Independence Mall. That building is in Hamilton Township.
This large house was gutted and is now a three-story upscale mall featuring small shops and restaurants. It is called the RODEO Shops. It features numerous Korean-oriented shops which reflects the demographics of the town.
There seems to be no visible traces inside the building. The exterior of the building, especially the auditorium facing Henry Avenue, was nicely restored.
This is a large movie house whose auditorium decor is covered by drapes. I saw Lee Van Cleef in “The Grand Duel” with my Dad in 1973. I returned here and saw ‘Edward Scissorhands’ in the Spring of 1991. It is located just north of the old Gothic Quarter.
It might have been a Jerry Lewis Theater! There was one in Hamilton Township (NJ) on Route 33 just outside of Trenton (later called the Director’s Chair) and another in Hillsborough NJ on Route 206. Both buildings exist but are now retail.
The Pennsbury was a single screen theater. Later, John, as you indicated, it was twinned and basically given little to no maintenance. The theater’s mascot for many years was a beautiful golden retriever that would lounge in the lobby. The dog’s name was Gulliver. Later, after the dog passed on, there was a photo of him by the spot he would reside.
The operator of the theater closed it down a few years ago and went out to San Francisco to be closer to his son. Oddly enough, I miss the dump. It featured bargain admissions (1 or 2 bucks) and pretty good tasting popcorn and at a reasonable price. I don’t know how they made any money.
The twinning resulted in the right (southside) auditorium smaller than the left side. There were many broken seats and, as indicated above, very sticky floors.
It was here that I saw the original Freaky Friday, Death Wish II, The Fury, U 576, Captain Ron, Looney Toons, Mars Attacks, and about 50 other films.
The Pennsbury is located in a small shopping strip (Pennsbury Plaza) at Route 13 and W. Trenton Avenue. It was vacant as of June, 2007.
The long-forgotten Morrisville Drive-in was a little more than a stone’s throw away on W. Trenton Avenue. A Burger King and another shopping strip occupies that location.
Hey Luis,
There’s very little left of downtown today. Even in the 1960s there were many stores and movie houses. The theaters in downtown were the following: Mayfair, Lincoln, Trent, and Capitol (minor theater was the Garden.) By then the State and Stacy were gone as was the Palace on South Broad.
The Department stores were the following: Dunham’s, Hurley-Tobins (where the Kearney Campus is located), Lit Brothers (where the Assumpink Park is located on S. Broad), Nevius-Voorhees (next to the Mayfair on State), Sears (the Motor Vehicles building), and Arnold Constable (E. State and Montgomery). Of course, there was also Kresge’s (store space open under another name), Woolworths, and McCrory’s. Those three were nearly door-to-door on East State. Years earlier, there was a Montgomery Wards on the same block. The large building at the NE corner of State and Broad was Yard’s Department Store. Obviously, there was even more places in the thirties and forties.
Now the restaurants…
Frank Cooper lived in Washington’s Crossing near Ye Olde Washington House Tavern.
Yes Luis, there was a lot to see and do at one time.
The “Korvettes” shopping center is operational . The Capitol Plaza twin was converted into store space. Inside the store, you can tell it was a theater. Obviously, the floor was leveled off.
The theater was situated in the “L” of the center – behind it is the intersection of Spruce Street and Princeton Ave. It was a 1000-seater originally. The address above is also correct.
The theater was carved from within the long-gone White-Modells discount department store. After the demise of this store, the retail area was divided up into a small mall in which the twin was built. In fact, there were several steps up to get into the theater lobby which was built on a plywood platform. The slope inside the auditorium was plywood and the “hollowness” of the floor was so noticeable.
I saw “The Warriors” here. Other than the noisy floor, there was nothing notable about the place. It was simply four walls built within an existing building.
Later, the mall, anchored by Mr. Goodbuys home center, folded and the space was leased by Caldor discount stores and the property and the “mall” were gutted along with the twin theater. The large building was split into Caldor and the Shop-Rite supermarket. The theater area was within the Caldor section of the building but no sign of it remained of it after its conversion. Now, of course, Caldor went bankrupt and that portion of the building has remained empty ever since.
The actual Trenton Speedway behind this shopping center was developed into housing units. The old Fairgrounds portion is still retail (mostly empty) with a few of the old exhibition halls located behind it.
Dear Frank,
Did the Merben have another name before being named for Mervin and Ben? Is the roller rink now a self-storage place up near the Merben parking lot? I think it was called Concord Lanes. I guess it was never a theater even though it looks like one.
I saw “Murder on the Orient Express” and “The Last of Sheila” at this grand place. As I recall, the Midway was extremely art deco. There was a small, separate balcony which was closed for reasons indicated above.
I hope those protesters are enjoying their closed-up Burger King too!
It was located on the east side of the Frankford elevated trains not far from Mighty Mick’s Gym and the Tropical Fish store featured in the Rocky movies. The marquee didn’t jut out far because of the “el”. This building was signifacantly wider than it was deep. My understanding is that the loge area was similar to today’s stadium seating rather than a separate balcony.
The Towne was demolished during the razing of the entire shopping center. Although not on the same side of the street as the Levittown Center, it was across the service road on the north/west side. It probably closed around 1988. I remember seeing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (4 of us in the audience). It had been twinned by that time.
I recall waiting in line to see “The Godfather” here in 1972 when it was a large, single screen venue. My guess is that it seated 1,300 as a single screen.
The Fox was a super artdeco theater that was never twinned as I recall. I saw “Midway” here with my parents and the building was palatial. The Fox was to be converted (gutted) into apartments but I guess that didn’t happen.
Only the Garden (vacant), Broad (Catholic Youth Organization Gym), Bijou (church), Victory (Salvation Army outlet), Centre Street (store) and Victory remain standing in Trenton. The RKO Hamilton on South Broad is a church also.
There was a theater at one time on Paul Avenue.
Ah, the Olden, nee Gaiety (pronounce Gay-tee). I remember my parents taking me there to a double feature in the early 1970s and a fight broke out in the lobby. The police were called after the guy picked up the aluminum cigarette ashtray container and threw it into the mirrored walls and smashed it. I think that was the last time I was in there other than the demolition. I have the ticket grinder.
Believe it or not, the double bill was two old Warner Brother musicals films – maybe 42nd Street and the Goldiggers of 1933(?). My mother screamed during the course of events and caused further commotion. LOL.
And Maruca’s Tomato Pies…
That is the theatre building. I am a Trentonian. It has not operated as a theater for at least 50 years.
The function should be changed to demolished.
This theater was Landolfi’s Food Products (and might still be). Yes, it is located at the intersection of Cummings and West in Chambersburg section. The theater sat at the “point”. Check Google Earth. I remember it being near the Roma Bar Restaurant. I have not been by there in years.
The comments by John are very true. The last film I saw here was “Messenger of Death”. There’s not much to say about it other than it had dirty drapes and sticky floors. I recall that there were rocking chairs in the rear of the auditorium. I believe it was built as a single screen theater along with the Eric Lawrence in the Lawrence Shopping Center in another suburb of Trenton.
It almost fell victim to the contruction of I-295 in the mid-eighties. The interstate eventually abutted the SE side of the building. As indicated above, the entire Independence Mall (open air) hit hard times and ended up mostly abandoned. It used to house S. P. Dunham’s and Hurley-Tobin Department stores (both buildings still stand) and a Murphy’s (razed). Only part of the mall was torn down. The Eric was completely razed and a strip center was built on that portion of the lot.
The RKO Hamilton on South Broad Street (now a church) is nearby.
Zaberer’s has been an empty lot for many years. The last time I drove by the site was 2005.
This is a fabulous small town movie house. An organ is being installed. Neat marquee too. I drive my kids 50 miles each way to see films as they should be presented.
The only theater building left standing in downtown is the Garden Theater on North Broad Street. It’s tiny and was never important. In later years it showed porno and after that, became a church.
Only the corridor space of the Mayfair remains but it’s difficult to detect as it is floor space in the pharmacy (CVS?) on E. State.
On South Broad, there is the very large Broad Street Theater. It closed in 1960 when the Diocese of Trenton purchased it and converted it into the CYO gymnasium. The marquee is intact and so are the four outside walls. I’ve forgotten how much of the indside remains. It was a 2000-seater with a small balcony. In fact, the fire escape is on the Broad Street side. For a long time, a painted sign “Broad Theater” was visible on the north side of the building. The balcony was tranformed in to meeting rooms.
The church on Clinton Avenue, just a few block from the Broad, was the former Bijou Theater. The Bijou opened in 1905 and closed in the late 50s.
The Park Theater at Washington Street and Hamilton, on the triangle across from Roma Savings Bank, was torn down recently.
The RKO Hamilton still exists (church) on South Broad Street just passed the Independence Mall. That building is in Hamilton Township.
This large house was gutted and is now a three-story upscale mall featuring small shops and restaurants. It is called the RODEO Shops. It features numerous Korean-oriented shops which reflects the demographics of the town.
There seems to be no visible traces inside the building. The exterior of the building, especially the auditorium facing Henry Avenue, was nicely restored.
This is a large movie house whose auditorium decor is covered by drapes. I saw Lee Van Cleef in “The Grand Duel” with my Dad in 1973. I returned here and saw ‘Edward Scissorhands’ in the Spring of 1991. It is located just north of the old Gothic Quarter.
It might have been a Jerry Lewis Theater! There was one in Hamilton Township (NJ) on Route 33 just outside of Trenton (later called the Director’s Chair) and another in Hillsborough NJ on Route 206. Both buildings exist but are now retail.
I will have to check some of my old clippings.
The Pennsbury was a single screen theater. Later, John, as you indicated, it was twinned and basically given little to no maintenance. The theater’s mascot for many years was a beautiful golden retriever that would lounge in the lobby. The dog’s name was Gulliver. Later, after the dog passed on, there was a photo of him by the spot he would reside.
The operator of the theater closed it down a few years ago and went out to San Francisco to be closer to his son. Oddly enough, I miss the dump. It featured bargain admissions (1 or 2 bucks) and pretty good tasting popcorn and at a reasonable price. I don’t know how they made any money.
The twinning resulted in the right (southside) auditorium smaller than the left side. There were many broken seats and, as indicated above, very sticky floors.
It was here that I saw the original Freaky Friday, Death Wish II, The Fury, U 576, Captain Ron, Looney Toons, Mars Attacks, and about 50 other films.
The Pennsbury is located in a small shopping strip (Pennsbury Plaza) at Route 13 and W. Trenton Avenue. It was vacant as of June, 2007.
The long-forgotten Morrisville Drive-in was a little more than a stone’s throw away on W. Trenton Avenue. A Burger King and another shopping strip occupies that location.
Hey Luis,
There’s very little left of downtown today. Even in the 1960s there were many stores and movie houses. The theaters in downtown were the following: Mayfair, Lincoln, Trent, and Capitol (minor theater was the Garden.) By then the State and Stacy were gone as was the Palace on South Broad.
The Department stores were the following: Dunham’s, Hurley-Tobins (where the Kearney Campus is located), Lit Brothers (where the Assumpink Park is located on S. Broad), Nevius-Voorhees (next to the Mayfair on State), Sears (the Motor Vehicles building), and Arnold Constable (E. State and Montgomery). Of course, there was also Kresge’s (store space open under another name), Woolworths, and McCrory’s. Those three were nearly door-to-door on East State. Years earlier, there was a Montgomery Wards on the same block. The large building at the NE corner of State and Broad was Yard’s Department Store. Obviously, there was even more places in the thirties and forties.
Now the restaurants…
Frank Cooper lived in Washington’s Crossing near Ye Olde Washington House Tavern.
Yes Luis, there was a lot to see and do at one time.
The “Korvettes” shopping center is operational . The Capitol Plaza twin was converted into store space. Inside the store, you can tell it was a theater. Obviously, the floor was leveled off.
The theater was situated in the “L” of the center – behind it is the intersection of Spruce Street and Princeton Ave. It was a 1000-seater originally. The address above is also correct.
The theater was carved from within the long-gone White-Modells discount department store. After the demise of this store, the retail area was divided up into a small mall in which the twin was built. In fact, there were several steps up to get into the theater lobby which was built on a plywood platform. The slope inside the auditorium was plywood and the “hollowness” of the floor was so noticeable.
I saw “The Warriors” here. Other than the noisy floor, there was nothing notable about the place. It was simply four walls built within an existing building.
Later, the mall, anchored by Mr. Goodbuys home center, folded and the space was leased by Caldor discount stores and the property and the “mall” were gutted along with the twin theater. The large building was split into Caldor and the Shop-Rite supermarket. The theater area was within the Caldor section of the building but no sign of it remained of it after its conversion. Now, of course, Caldor went bankrupt and that portion of the building has remained empty ever since.
The actual Trenton Speedway behind this shopping center was developed into housing units. The old Fairgrounds portion is still retail (mostly empty) with a few of the old exhibition halls located behind it.
There was a small balcony; there is no doubt about that.
There’s more to what’s going on inside the Fair than meets the eye. Try photographing the theater even from the outside.
Dear Frank,
Did the Merben have another name before being named for Mervin and Ben? Is the roller rink now a self-storage place up near the Merben parking lot? I think it was called Concord Lanes. I guess it was never a theater even though it looks like one.
I saw “Murder on the Orient Express” and “The Last of Sheila” at this grand place. As I recall, the Midway was extremely art deco. There was a small, separate balcony which was closed for reasons indicated above.
I hope those protesters are enjoying their closed-up Burger King too!
It was located on the east side of the Frankford elevated trains not far from Mighty Mick’s Gym and the Tropical Fish store featured in the Rocky movies. The marquee didn’t jut out far because of the “el”. This building was signifacantly wider than it was deep. My understanding is that the loge area was similar to today’s stadium seating rather than a separate balcony.
The theater is still up as of March 3, 2007.
A newer office building replaced this theater. The status should be changed to closed/demolished.
The Towne was demolished during the razing of the entire shopping center. Although not on the same side of the street as the Levittown Center, it was across the service road on the north/west side. It probably closed around 1988. I remember seeing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (4 of us in the audience). It had been twinned by that time.
I recall waiting in line to see “The Godfather” here in 1972 when it was a large, single screen venue. My guess is that it seated 1,300 as a single screen.
I will provide the approximate demolision date.
“Midway” was featured in Sensurround (sic).
The Fox was a super artdeco theater that was never twinned as I recall. I saw “Midway” here with my parents and the building was palatial. The Fox was to be converted (gutted) into apartments but I guess that didn’t happen.