Opened: Sometime around 1911 as the Vicksburg Theatre. It was on the south side of the street between Vicksburg St. and Sanchez St. The drawing from the Noe Valley Archives appears on page 67 of the Arcadia Publishing book "San Francisco's Noe Valley" by Bill Yenne. The page with the drawing is part of the book's preview on Google Books. Yenne comments that the screen was on the street end of the building.
This was the second theatre in Noe Valley. The Acme at 4083 24th had been the first. Jack Tillmany notes that the Vicksburg was listed in telephone directories beginning in April 1911.
The theatre got new operators in 1916. This item located by Jack Tillmany appeared in the June 17, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World. Jack notes that the theatre continued to be listed in telephone directories until June 1918 but presumably closed around that time. The Palmer Theatre was at 4045 24th St.
New owners Lam and Rasco took over the closed theatre in 1921. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding this mention in the November 12, 1921 issue of the Moving Picture World. When the Vicksburg reopened it was called the Noe Valley and was running in 1923 and 1924.
Closing: 1924 was evidently the end. The closing date is unknown.
Status: After closing, a gas station was built on the site. It's now a parking lot.
More information: Jack Tillmany's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.
The Vicksburg and other theatres of the neighborhood are discussed in "The Movie Palaces of 24th Street," a 2003 article by Paul Kantus on the site Noe Valley Voice.
The big house in the neighborhood was the Noe Theatre, opening in 1937.
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The parking lot is now the Noe Valley Town Square.
ReplyDeleteNow the Noe Valley Town Square and still packin' em in.
ReplyDelete