Lincoln Theatre
408 E. 2nd Street,
Charlotte,
NC
28202
408 E. 2nd Street,
Charlotte,
NC
28202
2 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Bijou Amusement Company
Previous Names: Rex Theatre
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The first of five former “Negroes Only” theatres to be built in Charlotte during the era of Jim Crow.
Opened as the Rex Theatre by 1922. It was a vaudeville theatre presenting acts by TOBA. It also featured movies from 1931 and was renamed Lincoln Theatre in 1933. It was modernised in 1940 to the plans of architect Louis F. Asbury. It was operated by the Bijou Amusement Company. It operated until 1961.
Contributed by
Damien Farley
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Click on the oblong building in the middle of 2nd Street for a photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yheojd
The Rex Theatre was an African American cinema that opened in the 1920s during the silent era of film. The Rex turned Lincoln was part of a vibrant Black-owned business district called Brooklyn. The Rex made the papers when Mayor F. Marion Redd ordered the exploitation film, “Is Your Daughter Safe?” removed from the sold out theater just 150 feet into the show on December 12, 1928. In June of 1930, the Rex installed sound to remain viable. Bijou Amusement Circuit of Nashville took on the venue operating as the Lincoln Theatre.
In April of 1940, it was given a streamline moderne refresh and was enlarged under the plans of architect Louis F. Asbury. Bijou took on the Savoy Theatre in which Asbury also designed the update in 1945. A 1960 “popcorn poll” correctly picked Kennedy/Johnson defeating Nixon/Lodge. Bijou Amusements closed the Lincoln in 1961 and the Savoy two years later.
As was the case in many cities with African American business districts, the City of Charlotte found a road project to drive through the heart of the neighborhood to uproot black-owned Charlotte businesses and residences. In this case, the project would be what is now Interstate 277, part of a strategy that led to 216 African-American business and many more residential structures being demolished in the 1960s. Just looking at a map, it appears that the Lincoln Theatre’s spot is now ostensibly part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and is just 1.5 blocks from the on-ramp to Interstate 277.