Jacobs Theatre
Main Street and Broadway Street,
McComb,
MS
39648
Main Street and Broadway Street,
McComb,
MS
39648
No one has favorited this theater yet
Although its earliest information remains lost through time, the Jacob’s Theatre’s opening date (possibly enough before World War I) has been unidentified as of now.
Dating back to at least 1916, the upstairs theatre was operated by Jacob Alford until taken over by new management in 1926.
In 1929 Jacobs Theatre operated as a movie, vaudeville, and special events house, but right when the sound era has cracked around the world, the Jacobs Theatre dropped two-thirds of its pie pieces, leaving the Jacobs Theatre as a special events theatre only and the nearby Strand Theatre (later the Palace Theatre) as the city’s only movie house.
Some establishments the Jacobs Theatre had ran includes a cooking program and an election on the town’s city hall lawn (which in chosen to be held at the Jacob’s in case of emergency such as severe weather).
The theatre closed in 1931 and sat vacant for a while until May 8, 1932 when the theatre’s interior made way for space. It wasn’t until July 30, 1936 when it became a J.C. Penney store. The theatre space upstairs later became the Jubilee Performing Arts Center until 2017 when the upper part of the building collapsed. The theatre space is now a banquet hall named Kramer’s Roof.
Contributed by
50sSNIPES
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
An interesting article published in the McComb Enterprise-Journal on July 31, 2017 has the story of Jacob’s Theatre as told by original operator Jacob Alford’s grandson. The article says that Jacob Alford operated the theater from 1916 to 1926.
The house is listed inFilm Daily Yearbook through 1929 as Jacobs Theatre (no apostrophe) and then in 1930 the only house listed at McComb is the State Theatre, its first appearance. The newspaper article says that Jacob Alford built the State Theatre after leaving Jacob’s Theatre.
Jacob’s Theatre was an upstairs house, and the ground floor was occupied by a bank. In later years, a new owner, Xavier Kramer, added another floor to the building where he operated a roller skating rink called Kramer’s Roof, while the lower floors were leased to the J.C. Penney company for a store. Later still, the entire building, which was located at Main and Broadway Streets, became the location of the Jubilee Performing Arts Center, which occupied the building until 2017. In July of that year, the upper floors of the building suddenly collapsed. The lower floors have been salvaged, however, and today house a banquet facility called Kramer’s Roof.
The McComb Enterprise-Journal though I checked on how early the State Theatre has been operating, and the earliest information I can find about the State dates back to an attraction in Late 1926. So as on my bet, it opened around that time.
The State and the Strand were both the theaters in the city of McComb as of 1930, running films, it may be confusing however but it was just the Enterprise-Journal or some information maybe led off from.