Tag Archives: Georgia Theatres & Auditoriums

Liberty Theatre, 1925, Columbus

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The exterior of the Liberty Theatre featuring a brick facade, windows with decorative elements, and a green construction fence in front.

Construction began on the Liberty Theatre in 1924 and was completed in 1925. When it was built 100 years ago, it was the first Black theatre in Columbus, and significantly, the only such venue within the Martin Theatres chain. Though not substantiated, it is believed that local architect T. Firth Lockwood, Jr., was responsible for the design.

Beginning as a silent movie house and transitioning to talkies, the Liberty was also a vibrant live entertainment space. Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and the big bands of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Fletcher Henderson all performed here.

The Liberty closed in 1974, as desegregated theatres in other areas of Columbus took business away from the location. After years of abandonment, restoration and removal of a 1955 makeover, brought the Liberty back to life. It reopened as a live performance space and cultural arts center in 1996. As the fencing would indicate, it is now going through another renovation and is presently closed.

National Register of Historic District

Top Ten Posts of 2024

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Wishing everyone a safe and happy 2025! It’s been another great year traveling around Georgia, looking for the obscure, as well as the well-known places and people that make our state so interesting. As always, I’m grateful to you all for coming along with me. From murder and mayhem (always popular for some reason) to soul food and some preservation success stories, I think I covered a lot this year.

#1- The 1937 Murders That Shocked Quitman

#2- Georgia State Prison, 1937, Reidsville

#3- Snow-Wasden House Saved from Demolition

#4- Jimmie’s Hot Dogs, 1947, Albany

#5- Maryland Fried Chicken, 1968, Albany

#6- Paradise Park Fishing Camp, Wayne County

#7- Sugar Ray Robinson Childhood Home, Circa 1910s, Ailey

#8- Boatright House, Washington County: An Update

#9- Harris-Turner House, Circa 1836 + 1903, Covington

#10- Savannah’s Last Historic African-American Theatre Faces Uncertain Future

Ritz Theater, 1930, Albany

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When it opened in 1930, the Ritz Theater was the premier venue for the performing arts in Albany’s historic Harlem neighborhood. Harlem was centered around the intersection of South Jackson Street and West Highland Avenue and was home to numerous Black-owned businesses. The 500-seat venue was considered the crown jewel of the neighborhood, and hosted numerous performers, including Ray Charles. It also served as a movie theatre during the Jim Crow era, when such spaces were segregated. It closed as a first-run venue in 1969 but continued to show older movies in the 1970s. It was partially restored circa 1991 and served as the Ritz Cultural Center until 2011. It has been closed since, and is beginning to show serious signs of deterioration. An effort to revitalize the Harlem neighborhood is underway, but there is little specific information about the Ritz. A plaque outside notes that it was once on the National Register of Historic Places, but it is not presently listed, presumably because non-historic changes were made to the interior at some point.

Savannah’s Last Historic African-American Theater Faces Uncertain Future

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East Side Theater, at the corner of East Broad and East Gwinnett

The old East Side Theater is the last survivor among several historic venues which once catered to African-Americans in Jim Crow-era Savannah. Others, including the Star and the Dunbar, have been lost to history, while the nearby Melody Theater was repurposed as the St. James AME Church. The 675-seat Streamline Moderne structure was designed by local architect Oscar M. Hansen and opened on 14 March 1946. It cost its owner, the Bailey Company, $100,000 to build, which was quite extravagant at the time. Over the years, it also hosted live performers, including James Brown. It closed in 1969, and other than housing Hungry World Missionary and a storage warehouse for a few years, has been empty ever since.

In recent years, there has been some talk of saving the structure but many references about that effort have mysteriously disappeared as development of the immediate area appears to be going forward. Possible renovation and re-use could come with a new residential development slated to be constructed around it, this is dependent on zoning issues involving height variances. Who knows what the future holds.

Carver Theater, 1946, Waycross

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Before desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s, Black citizens of the Jim Crow South were resigned to sitting in the balconies of public theatres, if they were allowed to attend them at all. In response to this, Black entrepreneurs in larger towns built their own theatres and public event spaces to provide an alternative for their communities. Waycross had at least two such theatres.

The first, known as the Rainbow Theatre, opened in 1939 and was described by an industry journal as a “colored house, seating 400”. I have been unable to determine where it was located. Perhaps it was a forerunner to the Carver. If anyone knows more, please share.

The second Black movie house, the Carver, was located on Oak Street, and opened in 1946. It remained in business until the early 1970s. It was primarily a movie house, but may have also hosted occasional live performances. A rare example of Streamline Moderne Art Deco architecture, it has been empty for years, but appears to be in good condition overall. It would certainly be an interesting candidate for restoration and adaptive re-use.

Waycross City Auditorium, 1937: Elvis Was Here

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Now known as the C. C. McCray City Auditorium, the Waycross Municipal Auditorium opened in 1937. It was a project of the Lions Club and the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal Agency during the Great Depression. After years of decline, it was restored in 2014 and renamed in honor of C. C. McCray (1925-2019), the first Black mayor of Waycross.

Over the years, it hosted numerous luminaries, including Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Otis Redding, James Brown, and Billy Eckstine. But Elvis Presley might be the most famous.

To my knowledge this is the only surviving location in Georgia, besides Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, where Elvis performed in the 1950s. On 2 December 1955, he played his first date in Georgia at the old Atlanta Sports Arena. That building was demolished in the mid-1980s. Elvis performed two shows here, at the Waycross City Auditorium, at 7PM and 9PM on 22 February 1956, sharing the bill with the Louvin Brothers, Justin Tubb, Benny Martin, and Mother Maybelle Carter. To my knowledge, no photographs of the concert have been located. Just a few weeks after his Waycross appearance, Elvis had his first number one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel”.

An interesting bit of trivia: Waycross resident Gram Parsons (Ingram Cecil Connor III), who was nine years old in 1956, attended the Elvis concert in Waycross, with twins Daphne and Diane Delano, and got the rising star’s autograph after the show. Parsons would go on to be one of the most legendary and enigmatic figures in the music industry, playing briefly with the Byrds and influencing everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Eagles. He is widely regarded as one of the architects of the country/Southern rock genre.

Downtown Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Ritz Theatre, 1913 + 1935, Waycross

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The Ritz Theatre originally opened as the Grand Theatre in 1913. It was initially a vaudeville and live performance space but was screening silent movies by 1914. In 1917, it was renamed the Orpheum Theatre. By 1935, it was acquired by a Paramount Pictures subsidiary and a significant renovation and redesign was completed. It’s name was changed to the Ritz. The fine Art Deco work is credited to prominent Jacksonville architect Roy A. Benjamin, one of the architects of the iconic Florida Theatre. The Ritz showed its last regular run movies in 1977, with some features still playing until 1984. It became the home of the Waycross Area Community Theatre in 1986 and still serves that purpose today.

Downtown Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places





Rose Theater, 1940s, Forsyth

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The building housing the Rose Theater was built in 1904 and originally housed a grocery store and warehouse. It was remodeled for use as a theater and given its Art Deco appearance in the 1940s. It closed in the late 1950s and sat empty for many years. In the 1980s, it was known as the Topless Bar, as it had lost its roof during the years it was not in use. In 1999, owners Dr. & Mrs. William Cummings donated to the local theater group, the Backlot Players, and renovations were completed in 2007. It is once again a focal point of downtown Forsyth and a great example of community involvement in the preservation of historic spaces.

Forsyth Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Douglass Theatre, 1921, Macon

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This is the third building in Macon to bear the name Douglass Theatre. All three were owned and operated by Charles Henry Douglass (1870-1940), a son of former slaves and the most prominent and wealthiest Black businessman in early-20th-century Macon.

Charles Henry Douglass [detail], from Cyclopedia of the Colored Race, Vol. 1, 1919. Public domain.

The first Douglass Theatre opened circa 1912. It was replaced by a temporary location at 1223 Broadway in 1917, while plans for the present structure were being finalized. The New Douglass Theatre, adjacent to the Douglass Hotel, opened in 1921. Douglass operated it until his death in 1940 [though he leased it to Ben Stein from 1927-1929]. His widow and sons kept it open until 1973. The venue showed first-run movies and hosted live performances. Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Duke Ellington were among some of the better known early performers.

Restoration of the Douglass was completed circa 1997 and it continues to serve as an important events venue.

Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Bradley Theatre, 1940, Columbus

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The Bradley opened in 1940 and showed its last first-run feature in 1977. It reopened for a time as a live entertainment venue but I ‘m not sure of its present status.