Booker T. Washington Theatre
2248 Market Street,
St. Louis,
MO
63103
2248 Market Street,
St. Louis,
MO
63103
1 person
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The Booker T. Washington Airdome operated in summers of 1911 & 1912. It was demolished to build the Booker T. Washington Theatre which opened on July 14, 1913 seating 506. It was an African-American theatre presenting vaudeville & movies. The theatre located just a block west of the busy Union Station often was filled to capacity with people waiting for their train departure times. Just a small theatre on the outskirts of downtown with no elaborate ornamentation.
In its day it opened at 10 in the morning and continued until well after midnight. During troop movement the theatre was always noted as being boisterous and noisy from the military men in the theatre waiting for their train. With the decline of rail transportation and the redevelopment of the area, the theatre closed on September 28, 1930, and was later demolished due to the widening of Market Street.
Contributed by
Charles Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
This the theatre where Josephine Baker made her stage debut in 1919.
Theatre operated from 1913 to 1930…operated by Blacks for Blacks.
Correct address was 23rd & Market (2248 Market Street).
In March 1913 it was announced that Charles Turpin has leased the site at the southeast corner of 23rd and Market for a theatre. He had been operating an airdome on the site for four years. The cost of the structure was to be $29,000 and the architect was J. M. Hirschstein.
Architect Hirschstein’s first name was Jacob.
This house was called the Booker T. Washington Theatre. I’ve been unable to find an exterior photo, but here’s a picture of the auditorium, packed to the walls for a midnight show in 1918.
Hi guys, I’m a local archivist and I’ve done a lot of work in the Mill Creek neighborhood. I just uploaded an exterior drawing of the theater I found in one issue and made note that there exists a real-photo postcard of the theater at a local black history museum. In the future I’ll add more to this specific entry as I’ve written quite extensively (for my research) on this particular theater. If you check out the (plug) St. Louis Argus newspaper archive I put together on the Internet Archive (1915-1925) you can find in each issue (usually the last page) a theater/arts page. The Booker theater seems to hold a very high position in the minds of the paper editors as they usually dedicate an entire column to the current acts/shows being exhibited there—versus no more than a brief note for the other theaters.
The origins of the Booker T Washington Theatre date back to the Booker T. Washington Airdrome that operated in the summers of 1911 and 1912 on the site of the new-build Booker T. Washington Theater. It was created for live events with windows providing cross ventilation throughout the building. It launched on July 14, 1913 with Mayor Henry Kiel making the opening address. Charles Turpin, operator of the B.T.W. Airdrome, also opened the $30,000 hardtop theater.
Josephine Martin lived within a block of the Booker T. Washington Theater at 23d and Market. She debuted unbilled at the theater in 1919 (perhaps numerous times, though unconfirmed) and won a contest October 13, 1920 held at the Booker T. before changing her maiden / stage name to her married name of Josephine Baker. She appears to be billed just one time at the Booker T. - in 1921 - before leaving St. Louis. She came back in 1935 to the site of the former theater which had been demolished.
The “Uncrowned Queen of Blues” Ida Cox and Cab Calloway would also appear at the Booker T. Washington. The Washington Theater appears to have closed September 28, 1930. It would be demolished not long after as Market Street would be widened necessitating the theater’s demolition.