Keyword(s): Eric L. Flom
The 5th Avenue Theatre, built by Pacific Theatres, Inc., was one of the most lavishly appointed theaters on the West Coast when it opened in September 1926. The theater is located in downtown Seattle ...
A 68-year veteran of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, journalist Royal Brougham was once dubbed "Dean of American Sportswriters." Brougham's column, "The Morning After," was a fixture of P-I sports pag...
Although never known for the cultivation of theatrical talent, during the early twentieth century Seattle had more than its share of businessmen make their mark on the entertainment industry. The star...
Some may have been born into show business, but for Fredric Danz, it's more accurate to say that he was born into the business of shows. The son of pioneer Seattle film exhibitor John Danz (d. 1961),...
In this People's History, avid baseball fan Eric Flom gives a play by play account of the thrilling All-Star game played on July 17, 1979 at the Kingdome. He was 11 at the time.
When it opened on April 19, 1929, Seattle's Fox Theatre was described as being "fairy-like in appearance," but that luster would fade pretty quickly in the years following its debut. Known variously a...
A lawyer noted primarily for his antitrust work, Robert W. Graham lent his talents to a variety of issues in and around Seattle, usually on matters pertaining to health care, education, and the arts. ...
Covering a total of 2,660 square miles, Grant County -- located in the Columbia Basin region of central Washington -- is the state's fourth largest county. It was initially carved out of neighboring D...
Seattle-born Philip G. Johnson oversaw the The Boeing Company during two of its most crucial periods: The growth and expansion of its airmail and commercial transport business in the 1920s and 1930s, ...
The Moore Theatre, Seattle's oldest existing entertainment venue, stood as one of the finest houses on all the West Coast when it opened in December 1907. Located on 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street, th...
Fondly remembered as a fixture of Seattle's downtown, the Orpheum Theatre at 5th Avenue and Stewart Street opened on August 28, 1927. Originally designed to showcase vaudeville and film, the venue was...
Built in 1928 at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle, the Paramount Theatre (originally called the Seattle Theatre) has over its long history brought to town some of the most diverse entert...
Scottish-born B. Marcus Priteca (1889-1971) arrived in Seattle around the time of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. An architect specializing in classical design, a chance encounter with vaude...
Through hard work, dedication, and (to some degree) an interest in bridge, Nat Rogers (1898-1990) founded and helped grow Van Rogers & Waters, Inc. (now Univar USA) into North America's largest chemic...
On December 13, 1894, the Kinetoscope -- the latest wonder from famed inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931) -- makes its Seattle debut in a storefront on the Occidental Block, at the corner of 2nd Avenue...
On December 13, 1902, the Beck Theater in Bellingham, located at 1310 Dock Street (now Cornwall), opens for business with the comic opera Foxy Quiller. The theater, built by Jacob Beck (1856-1915), se...
On the morning of November 24, 1906, a fire starts in Seattle's Grand Opera House, located at 217 Cherry Street. Opened in 1900 by manager John Cort (1859-1929), the Grand is Seattle's premier theatri...
On December 28, 1907, an overflow crowd of nearly 3,000 jams into Seattle's new Moore Theatre at 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street for opening night. The fashionable group includes such honored guests as...
On February 24, 1909, Lieutenant Governor Marion E. Hay (1865-1933) -- acting on behalf of Washington State Governor Samuel G. Cosgrove (1841-1909), then ill -- signs legislation splitting Douglas Cou...
For a week beginning on April 1, 1912, Charles Chaplin (1889-1977), then a featured star of Fred Karno's London Company, earns rave reviews during a Seattle stage appearance at the Empress Theatre. Pe...
On November 24, 1913, in the little town of Pomeroy in Southeastern Washington, the Seeley Theatre opens at 67 - 7th Street. This new Seeley -- a three-and-a-half-story brick structure -- replaces the...
On May 12, 1914, the Alaska Theatre, a motion picture house on 2nd Avenue between Spring and Seneca streets in Seattle, opens for business. With management trumpeting the house as nothing less than "S...
Sometime in 1914, the Clemmer Theatre, located at 901 W. Sprague Avenue, opens for business. Overnight the venue becomes one of Spokane's largest and best-equipped motion picture house.
On July 3, 1914, fire destroys the Jewel Theatre in Hillyard, a suburb of Spokane. Faulty wiring is suspected as the cause. All patrons are able to exit the building safely, although two firemen recei...
Sometime in 1915, Dr. Hiram M. Johnson opens the Lois Theatre in Toppenish, in Yakima County. Located at 211 S. Toppenish Avenue, the venue seated 800 and was originally designed as a legitimate theat...
On January 8, 1916, the Coliseum Theater, advertised as "the world's largest and finest photoplay palace," opens to capacity crowds. (At this time films are called photoplays.) The new venue draws tho...
On April 22, 1916, a large Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest is held at the Bon Marche park (later Westlake Park) in downtown Seattle. The event is organized by local movie exhibitor John Hamrick (18...
On September 14, 1916, a fire of unknown origin destroys the Concrete Theatre in Concrete, in Skagit County, in northwest Washington. The house is showing three Pathe films the week of the blaze, all...