of the 19th Street Theatre
courtesy of the Allentown Preservation League
MORE THAN 80 YEARS AGO, the area of Allentown that is now 19th Street looked nothing like it does today. In 1910, in fact, an airplane pilot, Glenn Curtiss, used what was then a dirt road as a runway to land his plane, the "June Bug."
Thirteen years later, in 1923, the 19th Street section was still farmland, with only a few homes nearby. According to a later article in The Morning Call there was "only one trolley car per hour, no pavements, no streetlights, no stores, no theatres, no churches and no schools. Mail was delivered by a rural mail carrier..."
But by the next year, 1924, a building boom began to change the way things looked on 19th Street. People wanted to own houses with yards and more open space, and to have less noise than in the busy center of the city. Within four years, more than 150 homes with yards had been built in that area. In addition to the homes, plans were made for a block of shops, offices and restaurants. The 19th Street Theatre that still stands at 527 N. 19th St. was an important part of this plan.
THE THEATRE WAS DEVELOPED by Rubin Maiken and Alex Minker, and opened Sept. 17, 1928, during the height of the Allentown Fair. "No expense has been spared," reported the morning call. The walls inside were painted green with gold and silver accents. The outside of the building was bright yellow with fanciful decorations of birds, flowers, butterflies and elephants.
The first movie to be shown at the 19th Street Theatre was a silent film called "The Sawdust Paradise." It featured the new Moller DeLuxe theatre organ that the owners of the 19th Street had purchased for $16,000. The heirloom instrument is still played at times for audiences at the theatre today.
Unfortunately, the large opening crowds were not able to make the theatre a success. Financial problems and the new "talkies" made it difficult for the owners to keep it open.
THROUGHOUT THE NEXT 60 YEARS, the 19th Street went through good times and bad. Since the summer of 1957 the Civic Theatre of Allentown has owned the building, offering four plays a year there, in addition to a variety of independent and international films. The new owners are committed to an ongoing program of restoration and refurbishment. On Oct. 7, 1994, the restored marquee blazed with new lights just as it had on opening night 66 years earlier. If those lights are a clue, the 19th Street Theatre's future will also be bright.