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Surviving Neighborhood Movie Theaters

Although many of Chicago's classic neighborhood theaters have been demolished or altered beyond recognition, some have survived nearly a century of urban change, appearing today more or less as they did shortly after they opened in the early twentieth century. The photo gallery below highlights some of the better examples of Chicago's surviving movie theaters from the 1905-1918 period. During these years, entrepreneurs built hundreds of small movie theaters in neighborhoods throughout the city of Chicago. Theaters constructed during this period usually seated only a few hundred persons and had no balcony and only the most modest ornamentation. The opening of lavish movie palaces during the 1920s and the onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930s forced many of these theaters out of business. Some reopened when economic times improved, but others were eventually converted into retail stores, offices, or churches.

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Alvin Theater, May 2000 Alvin Theater
1614 West Chicago Avenue

Built: 1913
Capacity: 540

May 2000 photo
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Arrow Theater, April 2000 Arrow Theater
1436 West Fullerton Avenue

Built: 1908
Capacity: 250

April 2000 photo
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Atlas Theater, March 2000 Atlas Theater
4711 South State Street

Built: 1914
Capacity: 695

March2000 photo
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Crane Theater, March 2000 Crane Theater
4236 South Archer Avenue

Built: 1916-1917
Capacity: 296

March2000 photo
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Famous Theater, April 2000 Famous Theater
3644 West Chicago Avenue

Built: year uncertain
Capacity: 600

April 2000 photo
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Grand Theater, November 1999 Grand Theater
1525 South Pulaski (Crawford) Avenue

Built: year uncertain
Capacity: 299

November 1999 photo
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Grayland Theater, April 2000 Grayland Theater
3940 North Cicero Avenue

Built: 1909
Capacity: 299

April 2000 photo
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Hub Theater, April 2000 Hub Theater
1744 West Chicago Avneue

Built: 1913
Capacity: 769

April 2000 photo
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Iris Theater, April 2000 Iris Theater
5747 West Chicago Avneue

Built: 1912
Capacity: 895

April 2000 photo
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Rex Theater, March 2000 Rex Theater
6848 South Racine Avenue

Built: -
Capacity: 604

April 2000 photo
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Page authored: 24 January 2004 -
Copyright 2004 by Scott A. Newman
Illustration source: Cook County Assessor's Office.