Castle Theatre
8518 S. San Pedro Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90003
8518 S. San Pedro Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90003
2 people
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This photograph of the Castle Theatre was taken by George Mann in 1926.
I stopped by yesterday and talked with some of the church-goers. A few knew of their building’s history and other theaters in the area. It seems that the square filled in with a security gate was once an open entrance; about 10 or 12 feet behind the door is what remains of the old ticket booth. They were busy closing up, so I didn’t get the opportunity to peek into the auditorium.
Assessor information for the building at 8516-8518-8522 S. San Pedro says that it was built in 1925 and has just over 5800 sq. ft. The land is valued at $124,124 while the building is valued at $346,122, so the church that now occupies it obviously isn’t letting it fall apart.
Listed in the 1942 directory at 8520 S. San Pedro. These addresses seem to fluctuate as it was at 8518 in 1939. The address of the building in the June 07 photo is 8518.
Sorry.
Not demolished per photo of 6/16/07, unless someone disagrees.
Please note status change to closed.
Here is a June 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2xjyhb
Not demolished. It’s currently a church. I doubt if it had 575 seats as it was pretty small. Clearly a theater at one time, though. Status should be closed.
An ad in the 11/6/54 LA Times advertises a service at the Christ Community Church in the Castle Theater Building. You could assume that the Castle was already out of business by that date, unless the church was renting the theater on a part time basis.
Listed in the 1939 city directory at 8518 S. San Pedro.
The address is probably correct for the old Castle. She was located at the northeast corner of Manchester and San Pedro streets. I attended movies there 1946-1948 approximately. The theater then closed and became a church and was active as such up until 1966 that I know of. The Castle was not as lavish as those over on the Broadway shopping district; Manchester and Mayfair theaters, but I saw many first run movies there and of course Superman and Lash Larue series that were so popular at that time. It is sad to see that one of my boyhood memories has probably been demolished.
This theatre was built, for himself, by a Mr. U.G. Hubbs, as was announced in Southwest Builder and Contractor, issue of March 21st, 1924. It was listed as the Castle Theatre in the Los Angeles City Directory for 1926, but the address at that time was given as 8518 S. San Pedro Street.