The Jefferson Theatre: the house that turned around

Built 1912, opened February 8, 1913 — closed 1978

The first picture palace: The Jefferson was Fort Wayne's first theatre built for the movies on a palace scale. Contracts for its construction were let in November 1912 — the Journal-Gazette of November 17, 1912, reported the letting and named the designer, local architect Charles R. Weatherhogg — and on February 2, 1913, the paper carried the announcement that the Jefferson would open on February 8; local histories date the house simply to 1912. Its first advertisements called it "the largest, safest, and best picture theatre in the state," and for a generation it was downtown's popular family house. It originally faced Calhoun Street; a major renovation — the grand reopening came in 1940 — reoriented the theatre to face West Jefferson Boulevard, across from the Emboyd. The Jefferson holds the city's most romantic theatre story, and it is documented: it was at the Jefferson that Clyde Quimby met his future wife, Helen — she was the pianist who accompanied the silent pictures. The house played the landmarks long: The Jazz Singer, the first talkie, ran eight weeks at the Jefferson, and the first runs of Gone With the Wind, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, and Dr. Zhivago were Jefferson engagements.

The long decline: The Jefferson's seat count tells its century in numbers: the Film Daily Year Book listed 1,298 seats in 1941 and 1943 and 1,100 in 1950, and Stephen Weaver's history of the house gives 795 seats for its final configuration. On December 21, 1946, the Jefferson closed for repairs as Quimby pulled its equipment out; Alliance Theatre Corporation reopened it on August 20, 1947, and Alliance ran it into the 1960s alongside the Embassy and the drive-ins. The Jefferson closed in 1978, as the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission was eyeing its block for the proposed Civic Center; the block's even side is now taken by a Hilton hotel. Of the downtown palaces, only the Embassy — across the street, more or less — outlived it.

Sources:

1. Stephen Weaver, The Jefferson Theater: A History of a Fort Wayne Classic, via ACGSI, Allen INGenWeb, J named places — opened 1912 facing Calhoun Street, the reorientation to West Jefferson Boulevard, The Jazz Singer's eight weeks, Clyde and Helen Quimby's meeting, the 795 seats, the first runs named, and the 1978 closing as the Redevelopment Commission eyed the block.
2. Cinema Treasures, Jefferson Theatre comments, working from the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette — construction contracts let November 1912 and architect Charles R. Weatherhogg (Journal-Gazette, November 17, 1912); the February 8, 1913 opening announcement (February 2, 1913); the December 21, 1946 closing for repairs and the Alliance reopening of August 20, 1947; the Film Daily Year Book seat counts of 1,298 (1941, 1943) and 1,100 (1950); Alliance's Fort Wayne operation in the 1960s.
3. University of Saint Francis student history of the Jefferson Theatre (com584students.pbworks.com, 2010) — the 1913 Fort Wayne Daily News advertisements ("largest, safest, and best picture theatre in the state") and the 1940 grand reopening after the remodel.