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Capitol Theatre
124 W. Martin Street,
Raleigh,
NC
27601
124 W. Martin Street,
Raleigh,
NC
27601
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The Capitol Theatre in Raleigh, NC was opened on January 17, 1924 with Seena Owen in “The Leavenworth Case”. By the early-1940’s it was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary H.F. Kincey. It was still open in 1956, but had closed by 1957.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 26 comments)
It would probably be best if someone with some knowledge of these theatres would add them…such as CT member, “travistarrant”. He and his mother are both natives of the area.
Lost: Please add these theatres with the hopes that someone will be able to add some description, history, etc.
Lost: Thanks………again!
I wonder what the current status of this theatre in Raleigh is? It’s listed as “closed” so there might still be hope.
The photos that I viewed were among the CT links that you sent to me in regards to the 4 Raleigh theatres…2 closed and 2 demolished. The Wake and the Ambassador were both art deco in style!
The Wake County Jail now stands where the Capitol Theatre once stood.
Whatever’s there, this it isn’t. According to research done by the UNC Library, the address of the Capitol was 124-126 W. Martin
Raleigh, NC. If you map that on Google…there’s nothing in that area that remotely resembles a theater, looking at the street view. I’d say it’s gone.
I was present when the State Theatre was torn down for the Wake County Jail in the summer of 1987 on Salisbury St. The theatre was in ruins. The building in front of the State Theatre facing Salisbury St. is called the Lawyers Building and it is still there. The main entrance for the State Theatre was a foyer through the Lawyers Building. Surely someone in Raleigh remembers that and can reminisce on that.
(For the previous poster: The Capitol Theatre was on Martin St. not Salisbury St.)
Secondly, I was present when the Ambassador on Fayetteville St. was torn down in March of 1989. The city of Raleigh was secretly trying to have it demolished and I called up Channel WPTF Channel 28 at that time they were a NBC affiliate so they could alert the local Preservation Historic group in Raleigh. But, too late. I still have a video of myself being interviewed on that fateful day.
The news crew met me out there to film the demolition.
The News & Observer press building now occupies land where the Capitol Theatre once stood. The Capitol and buildings that once stood on each side of it have been demolished.
For anybody interested in seeing exactly where the Capitol stood, use Google Earth to go to 158 W. Martin St. in Raleigh (nearer where the theatre actually was than the 124 W. Martin address in Earth). Go to street level and click on the 158 W. Martin St. icon. Look north. The Capitol box office was approximately behind where you see the small tree. A clue is in the slant of the sidewalk . Note the sidewalk in the linked picture of the Capitol begins a slight uphill slant toward the left in front of the theatre. The same slant is visible in Google Earth.
The Capitol theatre opened on January 17th, 1924 with “The Leavenworth Case”