Pinehurst Theatre
90 Cherokee Road,
Pinehurst,
NC
28374
90 Cherokee Road,
Pinehurst,
NC
28374
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See my comments on this handsome theatre and its sister Carolina in Southern Pines at the SP spot.
The March 24, 1923 issue of The Moving Picture World said that “[t]he new Carolina Theatre at Pinehurst, replacing the old one of the same name, opened on February 26.” Although the operating company was called the Pinehurst Theatre Co., the house itself was called the Carolina Theatre, at least during its early years.
The work of architect Aymar Embury II and builder J.A. McPherson are the reasons that the Pinehurst Theatre is a significant accomplishment and likely why it still stands to this day. The $80,000 theatre presented a challenge on its odd shaped lot. But Embury was up to the task creating a hexagonal theatre which resembled a town meeting hall. Four retail spaces and a bachelor apartment in the loge added to the commercial viability of the theater which launched on February 26, 1923.
Under the same operator for its first 35 years of operation by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Picquet, the Pinehurst was seen as an innovator in helping Hollywood address the issues associated with sound systems in theatre built for silent films. The Sandhills resort area also drew top live talent including Will Rogers, Gloria Swanson and John Philip Sousa. The Pinehurst even switched to an assigned seating road show concept in 1940 as the area was a resort drawing from the upper echelon of the East Coast and New England areas. Margaret Truman appeared in a play in 1962 but the venue was done at the terminus of two 20-year lease cycles. It would be converted fully for retail purposes.
This page of Exhibitors Trade Review of September 6, 1924, has a few paragraphs about the Pinehurst Theatre, though the article doesn’t give the house’s name. There is a photo and a floor plan of the unusual design by architect Aymar Embury II.
The Pinehurst Theatre Building has a Facebook page. Unfortunately, most of their photos only depict merchandise, and I found no good shots of the building among them.