What is now an entertainment district filled with restaurants, bars, and night clubs was once a bustling entertainment district of a different variety: Show Row.
For years during the early to mid 1900s, 7th Street between Main and Lamar contained three grand cinemas of great popularity — the Palace, Worth, and Hollywood Theatres — that brought in movie stars, film premieres, and hoards of moviegoers throughout their tenure.
Though none of the theaters remain as they once were, each left behind a small piece of history.
Palace | 7th and Main Street
The Palace Theatre — Fort Worth’s very first movie theater — actually debuted as an opera house. In 1908, it opened as a replacement for the original Fort Worth Opera House building, which had been damaged by wind.
As time went on, the opera house also began to show silent movies, and in 1919, it was purchased by Pierre Levy and officially converted into a theater. During this time, it was renamed the “Palace Theatre.”
Though the Palace Theatre was eventually torn down, one strange piece of it — a lightbulb recognized as one of the longest lasting in the world + nicknamed “Light Bulb Methuselah” — still remains at the Stockyards Museum. Today, the property houses the UMB Bank building.
Worth | 7th and Taylor Street
In 1927, a theater attached to the Worth Hotel opened as the then-largest in Texas. The theater’s financial backer, Jesse H. Jones (who later went on to do the same for the Hollywood Theatre), reportedly envisioned the Worth as one of the “finest theaters in the Southwest,” and that vision seemed to come true on opening night.
With a capacity of ~3,000 people and ornate details like tapestries, friezes, and pillars with lotus-blossom capitals, “‘First Nighters’ literally gasped at the beauty of the Worth,” according to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper clipping from the opening.
The Worth’s gold and ivory Wurlitzer Organ (pictured below) was saved and donated to Casa Mañana when the hotel and theater were demolished — quite dramatically — in 1972 to make way for an expansion of the Fort Worth Club, which still stands today.
Hollywood | 7th and Lamar Street
The Hollywood Theatre was the last of the Show Row tenants to go up, opening its doors to moviegoers in 1930. Located inside the Electric Building, the art deco-style cinema later underwent a ~$150,000 renovation in the 1960s that brought in wider seats, modern light fixtures, snack bars, and a new marquee.
Despite being the third theater to open on 7th Street, the Hollywood seemingly didn’t suffer from competition, welcoming various shows like a premiere of the 1944 film “Texas” (pictured in gallery).
The theater has been closed since the 1970s, and in the 1990s, the historic Electric Building was converted to apartments — making the Hollywood Theatre the only one of this trio to technically survive. Today, the former cinema space serves as part of a parking garage.
Want to experience a night at the theater today? Take a look at these three local spots, or take in a live performance at Bass Performance Hall.
The Worth Theatre contained a Wurlitzer organ. | Bob Draddy via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
Is there anything more Fort Worth than “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” showing at the Worth Theatre? | Photo via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
The Palace Theatre ticket booth circa 1952. | Photo by W.D. Smith via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
7th Street circa 1949, where the Palace Theater, Worth Theater, and Hollywood Theater were all located. | Photo by W.D. Smith Commercial Photography via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
Beyond the Worth Theatre, you can spot the Hollywood Theatre in the distance. | Jack White Photograph Collection via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
A premiere of the 1944 film “Texas” took place at the Hollywood Theatre in Fort Worth. | Photo via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
The Hollywood Theatre circa 1944. | Photo via University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections
