Gem Theatre
18 E. 7th Street,
St. Paul,
MN
55101
18 E. 7th Street,
St. Paul,
MN
55101
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Closed during influenza outbreak.
http://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-stpaul.html?fbclid=IwAR0Q7dOJQa8U67uGrRqCtpOs_PvcGzZYI1JwrfD9WVfiMFTXkOpPHpN_Fqo
Additional history courtesy Joyce Mellom.
The Gem, at 18 E. 7th St. operated from 1909-1923. The Alhambra, at 16. E. 7th St. operated from 1911-1932. Both were owned by William Hamm, who also owned the Blue Mouse at 20 E. 7th. This block likely came down when Dayton’s built the department store in 1963. On the left side of 7th were the Princess and Majestic Theaters. (David Kenney: Twin Cities Picture Show, MN HIst Soc Press, 2007)
Two sources, a list of theaters in the 1915 St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press Almanac and Yearbook and a list in Dave Kenney’s book Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing both give the address of this Gem Theatre (the second of three St.Paul houses to use the name) as 18 E. Seventh Street. The Penny Parlor/Alhambra/Cameo Theatre was at 16 E. Seventh and the Blue Mouse Theatre was at 20 E. Seventh. This photo, looking east along 7th Street toward Cedar Street, probably in the late 1910s, shows the three adjacent theaters, with the Gem in the middle.