Post Street Theatre
226 N. Post Street,
Spokane,
WA
99201
226 N. Post Street,
Spokane,
WA
99201
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Favorite Theatres
Architects: Edwin Walker Houghton
Styles: Greek Revival
Previous Names: American Theatre, Woodward Theatre, Maylon Theatre, Post Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Nov 18, 2009 — Happy 50th, "Ben-Hur"
Opened as the American Theatre on 25th December 1910 with a three-act play “The Walls of Jericho”, it was a project for the Shubert Bros., but actually opened under the Klaw-Erlanger banner.
The architect was E.W. Houghton, a Seattle architect who first employed famed theatre architect B. Marcus Priteca when he first came to Seattle from Scotland. Seating was provided in orchestra, circle and balcony levels in an auditorium that was an exact copy of the Maxine Elliot Theatre in New York City, except for the difference in seating capacity (the NYC theatre had 800 seats, the Spoke one had 1,650).
Initially a playhouse, it turned to Pantages vaudeville for a year in 1918 while the new Pantages Theatre was being constructed on Howard Street. During the early-1920’s it played many operettas that were popular at the time. A Robert Morton theatre organ was installed for a short period of time but it was removed in 1928.
On February 28, 1930 it was re-named the Post Street Theatre and presented Francon and Marco Revues and motion pictures became more frequent on the programme. Many more years of a mix of vaudeville and movies eventually led to it becoming a full time movie theatre which lasted until it closed on 31st May 1972. It was later demolished.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The November 9, 1913, issue of Moving Picture World had a brief item about this house:
This reopened as Post Street on February 28th, 1930. Grand opening ads posted.
I lived in the area during the long, hot summer of 1961. I was shocked that air ducts for cooling had been installed atop the walls. It rattled when the the system was on, which was much of the time, interfering with the movie. The marquee and newspaper ads stated that it was “Spokane’s favorite theater.” Not likely. Later I learned that it was owned by a chain called Favorite Theaters.