Royal Theatre
119 S. Grand Street,
Enid,
OK
73701
119 S. Grand Street,
Enid,
OK
73701
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Grand opening ad and AI enhanced image posted.
Gray’s Theatre opening 11 Jul 1935, Thu The Enid Events (Enid, Oklahoma) Newspapers.com
The Gray’s Theatre opened its doors on July 14, 1935 with Jack Oakie in “Uptown New York” along with an unnamed comedy. It was renamed the Royal Theater in December 1937. This started off as a movie theater for both white and black patrons, but was unknown why the Royal dropped white patrons later in its history.
1939 & 1944 photos added, photo credit Oklahoma Historical Society. Via the Enid Oklahoma Old Post Cards Facebook page
That does sound like the Royal on the west side of the square (Independence St.) in downtown Enid. Thanks for the additional information. I wouldn’t have even thought of looking in the yearbooks so please continue to provide information as you find it. This is great!
The 1913 Enid City Directory lists a Royal Theatre (single screen, 300 seats) at 124 N. Independence (one block west and one block north of the Royal on S. Grand. The Quill ad may be referring to that theatre. The only other city directory I could find was dated 1926-27 and it doesn’t have a listing for a Royal Theatre.
The Royal Theatre was in business from 1938 to 1950. It was operated by the Griffith Amusement Company in 1945 and Video Independent Theaters, Inc. in 1950.
The address for the current occupant is 119 S. Grand. One can just barely see the top of the original facade peeking out of the ugly metal sheeting.
This is what the former Royal Theatre looks like nowadays, facade covered over by sheet metal. Former Cherokee Theatre stands left of the Royal.
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Seems the simpler the design the grander the name. To see vintage interior/exterior photos of this plain theatre type in word “Royal” …
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Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook’s 1941 and 1943 editions as having a seating capacity of 300. It is listed in Film Daily Yearbooks 1949-1955 as operating as a Negro theatre. The 1950 edition gives a seating capacity of 339.