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Historic place

Cliff Queen Theater

661 E Jefferson Blvd, Dallas, TX

An Oak Cliff picture house that gave free shows to the unemployed during the Depression and was torn down in 1958.

📅 1914–1948🏛️ TheaterDemolished
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The story

The Cliff Queen opened in 1914 in Oak Cliff, with W. J. Shivers as its founder, followed by operators E. H. Hulse and George M. Blackburn. It hosted political speeches and bond rallies during World War I, and W. W. Ard remodeled it in 1922.

L. L. Dunbar was the longest-running operator. During the Depression the theater offered free shows to the poor and unemployed, and it gave away about 40,000 tickets to servicemen. Dunbar lost a music-rights case with ASCAP, and the theater was padlocked in October 1944 for fire hazards and reopened by Christmas. Gene Autry Enterprises operated it in 1946, and the Robb & Rowley circuit was the final operator. The overview says it closed in 1948, though a commenter says the last show was in March 1950. The building was torn down in 1958.

What's There Now

Not stated in the source I opened.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

About 40,000 tickets were given away to servicemen.
It was padlocked in 1944 for fire hazards and reopened by Christmas.
Gene Autry Enterprises operated it in 1946.

Nearby history

Texas Theatre

231 W Jefferson Blvd · 1.1 km away
The Oak Cliff movie house where police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963, and which now shows repertory fi

Burnett Field

1500 E Jefferson Blvd · 1.3 km away
A Dallas ballpark that began as Gardner Park, hosted early Cowboys practices, and lost pro baseball in 1964.

Lake Cliff Park (amusement park)

300 E Colorado Blvd · 1.3 km away
Charles Mangold's 1906 amusement park billed itself as the Southwest's Greatest Playground; the city bought it in 1914.

Longhorn Ballroom

216 Corinth St · 2.4 km away
Built for Bob Wills in 1950, briefly leased by Jack Ruby, and the room where the Sex Pistols played in 1978.

Dallas Sportatorium

1000 S Industrial Blvd · 2.7 km away
A wrestling arena that hosted a weekly country music show, burned in 1953, and was torn down in 2003.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalog Center

1409 S Lamar St · 2.8 km away
A catalog warehouse of over a million square feet where workers once used roller skates to speed up orders, now lofts an

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Sourceshttps://www.cinematreasures.org/theaters/14690