Princess Theatre

Carny operator Josiah Pearce & Sons discovered that movie theaters in New Orleans could make more money in the cold weather months that some carnivals in the summer. Pearce expanded into Houston and Dallas. An early theater in Dallas' downtown was here at the converted retail space known for 12 years as the Princess Theatre. It opened in 1909 and lasted into 1921. The venue was branded as “A place of refinement for ladies and children”.

The Princess Theatre was overmatched by the first round of movie palaces in downtown Dallas. Pearce & Sons would exit the cinema business altogether at the outset of sound and concentrate on carnivals. The building housing the Elm was demolished not long after the Princess' ouster for a new, multipurpose retail building which, also, has been demolished.

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