Online since 1997
Home » Leisure Venues » Theaters » Citywide Theater Index Citywide Theater Index Index sections: Early Nickelodeons | A-B | C-D | E-G | H-J | K-L | M-N | O-Q | R-S | T-Z | Suburban               Theater Location Built Opened Seats Present Condition Notes Oak 2004 N Western 1910 - 1046 Demolished a,b,c Oakland Square 3947 S Drexel 1916 3/4/16 1425 Demolished a,b,c Oakley 2320 W Chicago 1917 11/25/17 990 Art center a,b,c Ogden 2336 W 12th - - - - j(1914) Ogden 1114 W 63rd - - - - j(1913) Ogden 2762 W Ogden - - - Demolished b,c Olympia 4619 S Ashland - - 582 - a,b,c Ontario 13407 S Brandon - - - - a Orchard 659 W North - - 448 - a,b,c Oriental 2536 W North - - - - j(1913) Oriental 20 W Randolph 1926 5/8/26 3250 Theater b,c Orpheum 112 S State 1908 9/-/07 762 - b,c Orpheus 1611 W Roosevelt 1913 - 876 - a,b,c Orsini 2723 N Clark - - - - j(1913) Overland 1158 W 18th - - 270 Demolished a,b,c,s Owl 4653 S State 1916 1/28/17 944 Demolished a,b,c Palace Opera House (Glickman's Palace) 1141 S Blue Island 1908 - 1433 Demolished j(1913-17),r,s Palace 34 S Halsted - - 209 - a,j(1913) Palace 1826 S Halsted - - 503 Retail store a,b,c Palace 159 W Randolph 1926 10/4/26 2500 Theater c Palais Royal 1708 W Madison - - 432 - a,b,c Palm 4247 W Irving Park 1912-13 - - - p Palmer 3224 W Armitage - - - - - Panorama 51st and Prairie 1913 2/1/13 - - - Pantheon 4650 N Sheridan 1918 9/11/18 1582 Demolished a,b,c Paradise 231 N Pulaski 1926 9/14/28 3500 Demolished b,c Paramount 2648 N Milwaukee 1915 - 988 Movie theater a,b,c Paris 618 S State - - 274 - c Park 1149 W 51st - - - - j(1913) Park 5962 W Lake 1913 6/28/13 586 Demolished a,c Park 6916 N Clark - - 300 - s Park Manor 321 E 69th 1914 - 220 Closed 1950 a,b,c Parkside 1548-50 N Clark 1916 - 932 Movie theater a,c Parkside 5835 W Belmont 1936 - 1600 Demolished - Parkway (Drury Lane) 2738 N Clark 1910 - 752 - a,b,c Parkway 11053 S Michigan - - 774 - a,b,c Parnell 3717 S Wallace - - - - j(1913) Pastime 66 W Madison - - 403 - a,b,c Pastime 750 W 79th - - 290 - b,c Patio 6008 W Irving Park 1926 1/29/27 1500 Closed 2001 b,c Paulina 1335 N Paulina 1912-13 - 834 Demolished a,b,c,p,s Peerless 3955 S Grand Blvd 1917 - 904 - a,c Peoples 1620 W 47th 1918 1919 1850 Demolished a,b,c,p Pershing (Davis) 4614 N Lincoln 1918 - 1480 Movie theater a,b,c Pershing (New Pershing) 716 W Roosevelt - - 633 - a,c Pete's International 9223 S Commercial - - - - a,b Phoenix 3104 S State - - - Demolished a,c Piccadilly 1443 E Hyde Park 1926 1/24/27 2892 Demolished (lobby remains) b,c Pickford 108 E 35th - - 754 - a,b,c Picture Palace 4439 N Clark - - - - j(1913-14) Pilsen 3206 W 26th - - 296 - a,b,c Pilsen 1845 S Blue Island - - - - j(1913) Pine Grove Sheridan, east of Broadway - - - - - Plaisance 466 N Parkside - - 519 - a,b,c Plaisance 652½ E 63rd - - 300 - j(1917-28),s Plaisir 3947 N 40th - - 516 - j(1913),s Playhouse 410 S Michigan - - - Disused b Plaza 308 W North 1909 - 1195 - a,b,c Portage Park 4050 N Milwaukee 1920 12/11/20 1970 Movie Theater a,b,c Prairie 5748 S Prairie 1915 - 902 - a,c Premier 1237 N Ashland - - 218 - j(1913),s President 341 E Garfield 1912 - - - a Princess 319 S Clark - - - Demolished b Princess 1324 N Western - - - - j(1913) Progress 4446 S State - - - - j(1913) Queen 2543 W North - - 316 - a,b,c Notes: (a) Listed as "motion picture theater" in the 1923 edition of Polk's City Directory; (b) listed as "motion picture theater" in the 1928-29 edition of Polk's City Directory; (c) listed in The Film Daily 1929 Year Book; (d) data from Chicago Defender; (e) built/opened dates based on Billboard coverage of the event; (f) location based on Motion Picture News articles from the period; (g) opening date based on Motion Picture News coverage of the event; (h) seating capacity based on Motion Picture News articles from the period; (j) name and location based on Chicago Tribune theater listings; (p) construction dates based on city of Chicago building permit ledgers; (q) demolition date based on city of Chicago building permit ledgers; (r) date built from Sanborn Fire Insurance Company maps; (s) capacity from Sanborn Fire Insurance Company maps; (t) date built derived from Cook County Assessor's Office records. Other Considerations: 1. Locations, years built and razed, and opening dates have been compiled from a variety of sources, including theater advertisements, city directories, and fire insurance maps. 2. Seating capacities have been compiled primarily from those listed in fire insurance maps. 3. The present condition of the theater is indicated only if known and independently verified. 4. This database is under constant revision; new or more accurate information is added as additional research is completed. Alternative Street Names: 12th=Roosevelt, 22nd=Cermak, Armitage=Center, Crawford=Pulaski, Evanston=Broadway, Grand Blvd=South Parkway=Martin Luther King Drive, Robey=Damen. Last updated: 31 July 2005 Suggested Reading · George D. Bushnell, "Chicago's Magnificent Movie Palaces," Chicago History 6 (Summer 1977), 99-106. · Ben Hall, Best Remaining Seats: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace (DaCapo Press, 1988). · Lary May, Screening Out the Past: The Birth of Mass Culture and the Motion Picture Industry (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1983). · Michael Putnam, Silent Screens: The Decline and Transformation of the American Movie Theater (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2000). · Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies (Vintage, 1994). · Maggie Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk: An Architectural History of the Movie Theater (Yale Univ. Press, 1996). Page authored: 19 March 1997	Site Menu Home Introduction Bright-Light Districts Leisure Venues Notable Events Research Links Bookstore Table of Contents About this Site Copyrights/Citations Newest Entries Century of Progress Lord's The Hub Lakeside Theater Uptown Hotels "Voice of the Movie Fan" Updated Entries Pantheon Theater The Fair Mandel Brothers New Books · Davarian L. Baldwin, Chicago's New Negroes: Modernity, the Great Migration, and Black Urban Life (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2007) · Georg Leidenberger, Chicago's Progressive Alliance: Labor And the Bid for Public Streetcars (Northern Illinois Univ. Press, 2006) · Jeffery S. Adler, First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt: Homicide in Chicago, 1875-1920 (Harvard Univ. Press, 2006) · Suellen Hoy, Good Hearts: Catholic Sisters in Chicago's Past (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2006) · Ann Durkin Keating, Chicagoland: City and Suburbs in the Railroad Age (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2005) · Timothy B. Spears, Chicago Dreaming: Midwesterners and the City, 1871-1919 (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2005) · James R. Grossman, ed., The Encyclopedia of Chicago (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2004) Search Now:
All original text and graphics copyright © 2008 by Scott A. Newman —