Alamo Theatre
19 Court Square,
Newnan,
GA
30263
19 Court Square,
Newnan,
GA
30263
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I’ve come across an ad for the Hamrick & Couch grocery store which ran in The Newnan Herald of September 24, 1920. The ad gives the store’s location as 21 Court Square, “Next Door to Alamo Theatre.” The interesting thing is that 21 Court Square is not next door to today’s Alamo Theatre, at 19 Court Square, but next door to the site of the Gem Theatre, at 22 Court Square.
As local sources claim that the building at 19 Court Square was converted from retail purposes to a theater (the Alamo) in 1928, and movies were being shown at 22 W. Court by 1911 but it didn’t become the Gem until 1934, it seems possible that the Alamo was originally in the building at 22 W. Court, operating from 1916 until 1928, when the building at 19 W. Court was converted for its use.
Opened December 9th, 1916.
can be seen in the 2018 blockbuster film the house with a clock in it’s walls
“A few doors down from the Gem, the space that now houses The Alamo Theater at 19 West Court Square was built in 1880 as a commercial building, home to a harness shop, general store, and a butcher through the decades. A blacksmith, and later a barbeque stand once occupied the alley space behind. The building was converted into a movie theater with one screen and 551 seats in 1928.” -http://www.mainstreetnewnan.com/p/getinvolved/147
Thanks for all the pictures.
What crying Shame.Small towns and even larger cities just do not have the funds anymore to save these theatres.
Alamo Jack’s is now just The Alamo, and has a new web site. The site includes an early photo of the Alamo Theatre, plus a scan of an article from a local newspaper (though its hard to read, the scan being too small) which says that the Alamo Theatre opened in 1928 in space previously occupied by a retail store. The closing date given in the article appears to be 1968, but I wouldn’t swear to that. The information in the intro that the Alamo opened as the Newnan Theatre in 1937 is erroneous.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of October 2, 1937, says that the Lam Amusement Company had taken over the Alamo from its former operator, J.B. Meyers. The October 21, 1939, issue of Boxoffice said that the Alamo had reopened after a remodeling. The August 22, 1953, issue said that a wide screen had been installed in the Alamo.
I’ve been unable to find any specific references to the 1939 remodeling having been designed by Tucker & Howell, but as that firm had drawn the plans for remodeling Lam’s Gem Theatre in Newnan in 1935, as well as doing many other projects for the Lam Amusement Company over many years, it seems likely that they would have done the plans for the remodeling of the Alamo as well.
This was part of the Lam Amusement chain in the early sixties. It’s misidentified in the 1963 almanac as being in Newman, GA.
Another photo.
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Here is a photo I took of the theatre several years ago.
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It was renovated in 2004 and is now an entertainment venue that features live music, DJ’s, karaoke, trivia, and Texas Hold ‘Em theme nights. The theater curtains remain as well as some of the original theater seats. You can even see the old projector in the front window. www.alamojacks.com
The Alamo Theatre was located at 19 Court Square and it seated 551 people.