Rancho Theatre
107 W. Pecan Street,
Coleman,
TX
76834
107 W. Pecan Street,
Coleman,
TX
76834
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Is there anything on the site now?
By 1953, the Howell Theatre’s name had changed to “The Rancho Theatre.”. The Coleman Democrat on February 15, 1966, shows the Rancho Theatre building fire started on Sunday night, 13 February 1966 in the projection room area in the north part of the building. The blaze possibly started in the generator room under the projection room. The theatre building was owned by Wright Howell of Dallas, grandson of the late B.C. Howell, operator of the Theatre since the late 1920s and operated the theatre as the Howell Theatre. Roland Duus owns and operates the theatre and has been operating the theatre as “The Rancho Theatre”. The fire gutted the theatre.
The Coleman Democrat newspaper on 10 March 1953 explains that the Howell Theatre’s name was changed to “The Rancho Theatre”. The old Howell Theatre was located in downtown Coleman, on West Pecan Street. The name change was marked with a large neon sign, replacing the former Howell downtown sight.
This article about the B. C. Howell family says that the Howell Theatre in Coleman opened on October 8, 1928. The building was partly destroyed by a fire in 1967 and subsequently demolished. The family had sold the theater in 1945.
Here is a 1947 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/5db3zc