Hamilton Theatre
2630 S. Broad Street,
Trenton,
NJ
08610
2630 S. Broad Street,
Trenton,
NJ
08610
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It’s interesting that the RKO Brunswick was rather successful on the other side of town as it ran movies through the 1970s. The Hamilton served Hamilton Township on the south side of the city. There were no theaters within a mile of it at the time. The RKO Broad (closed in 1960) and the Bijou on Clinton Avenue. The Hamilton is largely intact with an addition to the building beyond the “stage"area. Interestingly enough, when they rebuilt the nearby Independence Mall/Plaza, a movie plex was included and that too was unsuccessful.
Opened on December 25th, 1946.
My dad was a projectionist at the Hamilton. It opened just after WWII, and was only open for about 2.5 years. It was a victim of the post-WWII television boom, and never made it. It was an identical twin of the Brunswick Theater, both designed to be neighborhood theaters. However, the era of neighborhood theaters was ending just as they opened.
The Hamilton opened on Christmas Day 1946 with a double feature of “Canyon Passage” and “Bamboo Blonde.” At the opening it was a joint venture of the RKO and Walter Reade chains. Newspaper story reproduction here. The blogger who posted the article says that the theater only operated for a short time but doesn’t say exactly how short.
April, 2010 pic. at: View link
There is a photo on the church site:
http://tinyurl.com/b38ake
Listed as an Art Theater in the 1961 Film Daily Yearbook. Listed under Trenton.
RickB;This address maps as a suburb of Trenton, NJ. I can’t find any listing for the Hamilton Theatre in Film Daily Yearbooks that I have for 1941, 1943 or 1950.
Looks like this is now a church, the True Servant Worship and Praise Center. Address is 2630 South Broad Street and the correct name of the side street is Maddock Avenue. The building looks almost the same as the picture although it seems closer to the street; perhaps the road was widened at some point (it’s four lanes now), taking out some of the lawn. Or maybe I need new glasses.
A poster on the Brunswick Theater page says that this theater was a copy of the Brunswick (or vice versa), although the seating capacities shown are different. He also says that this was used as a carpet store at one time.