page_title: Apollo Theater (Washington, D.C.)
section_title: Heyday
hierarchical_section_title: Apollo Theater (Washington, D.C.) / History / Heyday
caption_attribution_description: English: Grandall's Apollo Theater in Washington, D.C., with posters for the film Sex (1920) starring Louise Glaum
context_page_description: The Apollo Theater was a movie theater located at 624 H Street NE in Washington, D.C. which played silent movies. It was built in 1913 and was part of the Crandall network of movie theaters popular at the time. It was demolished in 1955. The lot is today occupied by a residential building named the "Apollo" in its honor.
context_section_description: The parcel of land in the middle of the 600 block of H Street NE was 150 feet deep and 225 feet wide. It was originally owned by the Kidder Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and leased to the Apollo Amusement Company. On April 2, 1913, a building permit is issued to the Apollo Amusement Company to build a theater on the land at 624 H Street NE. The architect is A. Clark Jones and the builder W. B. Avery. The Apollo open-air picture garden and the Theater were built on this lot.
  In 1922, the Apollo Theater underwent a major remodel (including a balcony) which increased the seating capacity. In early October of that same year, Harry Crandall purchased the parcel of land from Kidder Lodge for $65,000. He had already purchased all the stocks of the Apollo from the Apollo Amusement Company two years earlier. The buildings along with the improvements were valued at $200,000 at the time.
  Harry Crandall already owned several movie theaters at the time and his investments were closely watched by the newspapers at the time. This deal was seen as a major investment in the neighborhood at the time and was seen as an encouragement to invest on H Street.
  On June 29, 1930, Warner Bros. Theaters of Washington announced a plan to demolish the old Apollo Theater to replace it with a bigger movie theater. This theater would be able to accommodate 2,500 with a balcony and air conditioning. It would be a bigger structure and therefore the land adjacent to the theater was purchased. The major reason for this new structure was that the Apollo could only play silent movies. The new theater would be able to play "3 Dimensional Films" on a wide screen. The old theater would be demolished as soon as the final plans would be drawn up by the New-york firm Rapp & Rapp. It is not believed this plan ever materialized.
caption: The Apollo Theater in 1920 playing Sex with Louise Glaum as Adrienne Renault
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