Broadway Historic Theater District: The Movie Palace Capital

Why is it significant?

Walk along the wide terrazzo sidewalks of South Broadway between Third and Ninth Streets and look up at the incredible canyon of historic marquees and terra-cotta facades.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Walk along the wide terrazzo sidewalks of South Broadway between Third and Ninth Streets and look up at the incredible canyon of historic marquees and terra-cotta facades. This six-block stretch contains twelve magnificent movie palaces built between nineteen ten and nineteen thirty-one, representing the highest concentration of historic movie theaters on a single street in the United States.

Stand before the Orpheum Theatre at eight forty-two South Broadway, with its glorious French Renaissance facade and glowing vertical neon sign. Opened in nineteen twenty-six as the flagship of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit, its opulent interior boasts gold leaf, crystal chandeliers, and a Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ that once accompanied silent films and performances by a teenage Judy Garland and Duke Ellington.

Further down the street rises the United Artists Theatre, built in nineteen twenty-seven by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks to showcase their independent films outside the control of major Hollywood studios.

Head west toward Grand Avenue and the monumental Biltmore Hotel on Pershing Square.