Lincoln Theatre (Los Angeles, California)

 theatre, historic landmark

2300 South Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90011

Now closed as a theatre, the Moorish Revival design theatre opened in 1927 and was a popular venue during the 1920s where African Americans enjoyed movies, late night minstrels, live dancing, comedy, and musical shows. It was often referred to as the “West Coast Apollo” because it featured many of the same acts as the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The opening featured Curtis Mosby’s Dixieland Blue Blowers and the film “Rose of the Golden West,” starting Mary Astor and Gilbert Roland. It served as a key site in jazz history, featuring such performers as Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Nat Cole, Fats Domino, Sammy Davis Jr., and BB King.

The Lincoln Theater provided the only large venue for entertainment in the black community until the Apex Club opened its doors in 1928. It was designed by John Paxton Perrine and built by Adolph Ramish. There were at least five theaters along the Central Avenue corridor: the Lincoln, Globe, Tivoli, Angelus, and Hub. The largest of these was the Lincoln Theater.

In 1962, the Lincoln Theater was officially sold to the First Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ and dedicated “The Crouch Temple” by Bishop Samuel M. Crouch. After Crouch’s death in 1976, the headquarters was moved to Crenshaw. The Lincoln Theater is now under co-ownership with the Mission Evangelica Juda and serves as a church under the Iglesia de Cristo Ministeries Juda led by Pastor Alberto Wizel.

It was designed by architect John Paxton Perrine who worked extensively in southern California. Perrine was notable for his lavish theater buildings in Art Deco, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Moorish Revival styles. In 1928, he designed the opulent California Theater in San Bernardino, which combined Spanish Colonial and Moorish Revival styles. Built to present vaudeville acts as well as motion pictures, Will Rogers made his final public appearance there in 1935. Other theaters by Perrine include the California Theater in San Diego (1926), the Roosevelt Theater in Hawthorne (1926), and the Fox Theater in Redondo Beach (1927).

It was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #744 in 2003.

cinematreasures.org/theater/1969/
www.cinematour.com/tour/us/25948.html