Palace Theatre (#2)
101 N. Ninth Street,
Slaton,
TX
79364
101 N. Ninth Street,
Slaton,
TX
79364
No one has favorited this theater yet
Showing 3 comments
The Palace Theatre “2” shown here was the sound era name of the Wilselma (no “n”) and renamed Custer silent-era house in downtown Slaton, Texas. Floyd Williams and Sam Selman built the Wilselma Theatre (no “n”) in a fusion of their names in 1920. Jeff D. Custer announced a new-build house in September of 1922. Before that project is started, he purchased the Wilselma changing its name to the Custer Theatre using 100% of his surname.
Custer ultimately created the Palace Theatre “#1” that launched on November 16, 1925 with “The Pony Express.” In Custer’s last stand, Oskar Korn’s OK Theatres Circuit took on the Custer and the “new” Palace. The Custer finished its silent run in 1929. Korn then wired the Custer with Goetz Photo-Pone sound, one of the least expensive options of that era, and a low cost pipe organ. The original Custer-built Palace closed after its final showings in March of 1929. The moniker was moved to the newly-wired venue.
The New Palace Theatre opened in the former Custer location with sound films with “Redskin” (no dialogue but recorded music!) on April 15, 1929. The venue is rewired in 1930 with DeForest Phonofilm Sound so that the audiences might hear the dialogue. Herschel Crawford then took on the Palace. The former Palace becomes the Texas Theatre and only used for live events until it was rewired for sound as the State Theatre in 1937.
C.D. Leon of the Leon Theatres Circuit bought the Palace and the State theaters in 1947 giving the venues major streamline looks using Jack Corgan as the architect. The State becomes the Slaton and the New Palace - which had become the Palace - would become the New Palace again - before returning back to the Palace Theatre (“#2”) again. I think that certainly clarifies things.
This weblog post says that the Palace opened in 1919 as the Wilselman Theatre, its name being a portmanteau of the surnames of its original owners, Floyd Williams and Sam Selman. Jeff Custer bought the house in 1920 and operated it through 1925.
The theater was remodeled and renamed the Palace by a new owner, Oscar Korn, in 1927. Later, the Palace was operated by Walter Buenger.
Here is an early photo of the Wilselma [sic] Theatre, dated 1920.
The page also mentions a house called the Cozy Theatre at the corner of 9th and Garza (very near the Palace, then) which was Slaton’s first movie house, opened sometime between 1911 and 1915.
The address for the Palace theatre is 101 North 9th Street.