Marquette Theatre
1806 Dr Martin Luther King Drive,
St. Louis,
MO
63106
1806 Dr Martin Luther King Drive,
St. Louis,
MO
63106
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A neighborhood theatre just northwest of downtown that originally served the Irish/Italian neighborhood to the north of downtown. Originally an Airdome which opened 1912. It was roofed over and opened in 1913 as the Marquette Theatre.
The Marquette Theatre became an African-American theatre on November 26, 1943. The theatre went to weekends only in the mid-1950’s and closed on January 22, 1957 with Wendell Corey in “The Bold and the Brave” & John Payne in “Slightly Scarlet”.
It stood vacant, but was taken over by a new operator and reopened on February 12, 1960 with a triple bill program: Kenji Sahara in “Rodan”, Glenn Ford in “3:10 to Uma” & Susan Cabot in “Carnival Rock”. It was closed on July 13, 1961 with Gregory Peck in “On the Beach” & Frank Sinatra in “Johnny Concho”. The area was mainly demolished to make way for an industrial park.
Contributed by
Charles Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Theatre opened in 1913 and closed in 1961 after various periods of inactivity.
Began catering to the Black audience in 1943.
In the 20s had a capacity of 795.
Like many things in these black communities, the general society———decided to force the closing of many theatres. Neighborhoods that use to be Irish and Italian had become black. Spreading out of Laclede’s Landing, to Chestnut Valley to Mill Creek and to The Ville and then farther north——-similar to how Native Americans were pushed west.
Seen by many as a consequence of WWII civil rights gains in war factories for blacks, black population increase to fill these factories, being present after the war and a building civil rights movement—————-had a back lash—-to clear them out.
A Caucasian theatre for 30 years, turned to defacto segregated theatre—few caucasian people would go there in 1943 and survived 18 years—-til the general society killed it.
It is very close to Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Vast areas of the City of St. Louis are desolate, ghost town, “redeveloped” areas, that carved away the black population—-in an attempt to build a buffer zone——-separation space—-segregation space——black to white——East to West and to preserve downtown St. Louis and its 4 million annual visitors.
Theatres and many business' were shuttered.
The local black theatre going population was not allowed to preserve them—due to emminent domain.
Probably should be demolished. Google can’t find an 1806 Franklin. Well, it says it can, but it drops the marker in the 2800 block. Streets weren’t renumbered, the St. Louis Plating building in the current streetview has a very faded ‘2920’ painted next to the door. Maybe MLK used to be Franklin? In that case, the 1800 block features a huge old school and some big ugly industrial thing.
W.A. Meagher built and opened an airdrome in 1912 at this address. He appears to have enclosed the operation in 1913 as the Marquette Theatre. Louis Spiros took on the venue in 1922 and equipping it for sound to remain viable by decade’s end.
On November 26, 1943, the Marquette’s policy changed to serving African American customers. St. Louis' first female African American police officer, Floy Jones, arrested a robber at the theater in December of 1956. Sprios retired, closing the Marquette on January 22, 1957 with “The Bold and the Brave” and “Slightly Scarlet.”
Under new operators, the Marquette came back on February 12, 1960 with a triple feature of “Rodani,” “3:10 to Uma” and “Carnival Rock.” The theatre appears to have closed permanently on July 13, 1961 with “On the Beach” and “Jonny Concho.”