Ritz Theatre

Joe Vogel on March 12, 2016 at 12:14 am

I’ve found quite a few references to the Apex Theatre, dating as far back as its opening on December 27, 1912, but the sources all give the address as 302 Kansas Avenue. It must have had two different locations, but the second one, on Fourth Street, must have opened sometime between 1928 and 1933, when the photo currently displayed above was taken.

This entry from the 1928 Topeka Colored Directory tells of Mr B. F. Payne, operator of the Apex:

“Apex Theater, 302 Kansas Avenue, has now been in operation for 15 years, and was formerly owned by the late H. E. Sheppard. Mr. B. F. Payne, the present owner, bought over the theater November 1st, 1927. To this date this is the only theater owned and operated by a colored man in the state of Kansas. Mr. Payne has done considerable improving to the equipment, etc., and is hoping that in the near future should business justify, to remodel and expand. He books the very best pictures obtainable for his many customers without any advancement in the price of admission. The theater goers of Topeka should be proud of this enterprise as there is no other Topeka theater that colored people can go to without being segregated. The pictures shown by Mr. Payne are the same as shown by other high class theaters and some are first run, meaning the first picture to be shown in Topeka. Mr. Payne gives employment to 5 the year round and two temporarily and books a Topeka orchestra regularly. Mr. Payne is an accomplished business man, a Spanish-American veteran, a member of the Masonic and all the auxiliaries and is strictly a Topeka product, having been born here.”

The original Apex was also mentioned in an article about Topeka in the June 27, 1914, issue of The African-American newspaper The Freeman, which said: “The Apex Theatre, on the main street, in the very heart of the business district, is a pretty and finely appointed Negro enterprise which Mrs. Wright manages.”