Texas Theater
825 S. Main Street,
Del Rio,
TX
78840
825 S. Main Street,
Del Rio,
TX
78840
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February 28th, 1943 grand opening ad posted.
Did Del Rio have two theaters called the Strand? The house that was rebuilt as the Rita Theatre in 1941 opened in 1931 as the Strand.
Prior to being called the Rio, the house that later became the Texas Theatre had been called the Victory Theatre. The name change was noted in the July 17, 1945, issue of the Del Rio News Herald.
The mission style theater in the photo currently displayed above must have been the first Texas Theatre. That assortment of display posters wouldn’t have been seen in the post-war era. If the other photo (the one uploaded by Don Lewis) is correct, the Victory/Rio/Texas is still standing in the 800 block of Main Street, and its address is probably 827 Main.
The second Texas Theatre appears to have closed on June 4, 1972. When Val Verde Theatres refurbished the property in 1959, it showed its commitment to Spanish language films with a statuette of Cantinflas at the box office. Spanish language films were programmed from 1943 to 1972 (full time 1959-1972 and two days a week beginning in 1943).
The Texas ran Spanish movies in the 1960’s until it’s closing in the late 60’s. I was a projectionist at all 3 theaters in early to mid 60’s. UA and the Poag Family were partners in all Del Rio Theaters at that time.
A view of downtown Del Rio and the Texas Theater.