Queen Theatre
Bryan, Brazos County, Texas
Marker Inscription
QUEEN THEATRE A MOVIE THEATRE HAS BEEN AT THIS LOCATION SINCE 1913 AND NAMED “THE QUEEN” SINCE 1914. IT WAS ORIGINALLY LOCATED IN THE THREE-STORY STODDARD HOTEL BUILT HERE IN 1889. THE SCHULMAN FAMILY PURCHASED THE THEATRE BUSINESS IN 1926 AND THE BUILDING IN 1938. IT WAS REPLACED BY A MODERN STRUCTURE WITH STEEL FRAMEWORK, AIR CONDITIONING AND INDIRECT LIGHTING DESIGNED BY PETTIGREW AND WORLEY OF DALLAS. THE TALL, WHITE FAÇADE WAS TOPPED WITH A REVOLVING, NEON-LIT CROWN. IT REOPENED ON NOV. 21, 1939 AND CONTINUED FOR OVER 30 YEARS. VACANT AND IN DISREPAIR, THE BUILDING WAS PURCHASED BY THE DOWNTOWN BRYAN ASSOCIATION IN 2010 AND RESTORATION BEGAN. THE QUEEN IS THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF STREAMLINE MODERNE ARCHITECTURE ON MAIN STREET.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A movie house has stood on this Main Street corner in downtown Bryan since 1913, taking the name "The Queen" a year later inside the old three-story Stoddard Hotel. When the Schulman family rebuilt it in 1939, they gave Bryan a gleaming Streamline Moderne picture palace—steel-framed, air-conditioned, and crowned with a revolving neon crown high above the sidewalk. After more than three decades of showings the Queen fell dark, until the Downtown Bryan Association bought and restored it in 2010.
Why it matters
The Queen is a rare surviving Streamline Moderne movie palace and a reminder of the golden age of downtown cinema, when a small Texas main street could boast neon glamour and a night at the pictures.
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Related people
- · Schulman family
Themes & tags
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