Homestead's Early Movie Theaters

  Homestead's first movie theatre dates to 1913, the year Homestead was incorporated and at time when the population was far less than 1,000.

  The first movies were shown in Sistrunk Hall which was on the south side of Mowry Street just west of the Bank of Homestead - most recently the Homestead Police Station.  Sistrunk Hall was a wooden structure as were many of the early commercial buildings.  The first movie theatre had a separate section for the black population which probably demonstrates the economic power of the black community at this very early time.

  The Air Dome Theatre was located next to Burdines in Miami.  It was built in 1912 and its earliest use was as a hall to display the stuffed 55 foot long whale shark known as "Big Fish."  Two years later it was used to show movies.  Then in 1916 it was dismantled and shipped by train to Homestead where it was reassembled on Flagler Avenue - earlier known as Railroad Avenue.  After reassembly the building was known as the Homestead Garden Theatre.  Silent movies were shown by J.W. English.  In 1919 the name was changed from Homestead Movies to the Seminole Theatre.  It is now known as the Landmark Hotel.  The last time I was in the lobby the ticket booth could still be seen.

  Jim English probably came to Florida from Georgia in 1915.  In a June-December wedding the 30-year old Jim married the Seminole Café/Hotel owner Mrs. Gussie E. Joiner who had a son about the same age as Jim.  The marriage did not last long.

  Soon after the divorce Jim English constructed a new concrete theatre on the west side of Krome Avenue just up the street from Mowry Street.  He took the name Seminole Theatre with him to the new location, opening on November 26, 1921.  Interestingly the local newspaper reported a crowd of 1,000 for the opening - a number similar to the crowd of Wednesday October 28 when the soft opening of the renovated Seminole Theatre took place. 

  In the early days the balcony was reserved for the black customers.  They had a separate ticket booth at the back of the theatre and entered by way of a stairway which ran up and along the south wall to the balcony. Jim English's Redland District News on March 3, 1940 (just days before the tragic fire of March 8) reported from a Miami Herald series "Men Who Make Florida:" Always visualizing possibilities in "The Empire of the Sun," English bought in 1922 and rebuilt a theatre in Fort Lauderdale and he bought a theatre in Lake Worth.  He started the first theatre in Hollywood and operated all three until 1925.  In that year he sold the Fort Lauderdale and Lake Worth theatres to Paramount interests.  In 1934 he sold the Hollywood Theatre to Sparks."  After Gussie Joiner's death her family sold the Seminole Hotel with the stipulation that the name be changed to protect their good reputation and it was changed to the Landmark Hotel.

  A beauty contest to select Miss Redland District took place in 1927 as a prelude to a Miami contest.  Marion Dorsey Miss Redland District was15 years old.  She was to enter an international beauty pageant at Venetian Pool in Coral Gables as part of the Lion's International Convention. The judges were all from Miami and Coral Gables. Marion wore a bathing suit purchased from Max's Department Store owned by Lizzie and Max Losner. 1927 was also the year that the first talkie was shown at the Seminole.

  Owner Gussie Joiner converted the old theatre space in the by then Seminole Hotel into 26 hotel rooms in 1936.  The now Landmark Hotel still rents rooms.

  The late Jesse Robinson related to me that as a young man he would wait at the Seminole Theatre for the first reel of a movie to finish, take it in its can on his bicycle to the black theatre on SW 4th Street where it would be then shown.  This continued with the following reels.

  A tragic fire erupted on the stage of the Seminole Theatre on March 8, 1940 and the building burned to the ground except for the concrete walls. Fire trucks responded from South Miami, Coral Gables and Miami.  Damage was estimated at $35,000 which included the owner's apartment on the third floor.

  Local contractor Vannie L. Harris rebuilt the Seminole in quick time using a plan which incorporated an Art Deco facade and no third floor apartment.  In the meantime Jim English showed movies out of doors in the alley behind the Seminole.  Today the Main Street organization shows out door movies not far away in LosnerPark.  Vannie is the grandfather of Jim Harris of Harris and Schroeder Builders.

  Photos of war bond parades along Krome Avenue during WWII show folks watching the parade from the theatre balcony just as elected officials viewed the festivities at the soft opening on November 28.

  Almost as important as the Seminole Theatre was the Theatre Soda Shop which opened in 1924.  Newspaper, magazines, popcorn, ice cream, candy, coffee, cigarettes and cigars were sold there from early in the morning until late at night.

  In 1947 Fred Hobart and Bob Dillinger attempted to build South Dade's first drive-in movie.  Ground was cleared for construction of a drive-in theatre on Newton Road, one-fourth mile west of the old Dixie Highway.  The owners:  Fred and Bob "planned for the installation of individual microphones at each car space before a big movie screen."  Bob's widow Jo Ann remembers that Fred and Bob had to attend a meeting on Miami Beach where they were told they could not build the drive-in movie and they did not.  The meeting had nothing to do with government.

  Two years later on December 4 1949 Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Chambers (she was Mary Grace the daughter of Jim and Grace English) opened the Breezeway Drive-in on 15th Street and old Dixie Highway. It was built for them by Vannie Lee Harris. It accommodated 350 cars.  The projected picture was 50 feet by 38 feet; the projection equipment cost $15,000.  The first picture show was "Song of India" with Sabu.  Admission was 48 cents.  On Jan. 7, 1957, the Breezeway became the first drive-in in DadeCounty to host a worship service.  Sponsored by the South Dade Christian Church, services were held each Sunday morning at 8:15a.m.  In the early 1980s the drive-in began showing X-rated movies and became the home of a large Sunday morning flea market.  The current DixieShopping Center was built on the site in late 1985.

  The Palms Theatre was built in the 1950s as a modern replacement of the Seminole.    It was located in the new shopping center on Civic Court with a large cafeteria as part of the complex.  Both the theatre and cafeteria are remembered as having been built by Jim English.  Sometime before the early 1960s the theatre became the Homestead Theatre.  In the 1960s Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello made a visit to the Palms while they were in Miami-Fort Lauderdale promoting their "Beach Blanket Bingo" movie..  They were America's "beach party couple."  Annette is credited with increasing bikini sales 3,000%. The theatre end of the shopping plaza has since been torn down and MiamiDadeCollege now uses that end of the shopping center space as a parking lot.

  From 1972 until 1988 Arturo Deleon operated the former Seminole Theatre as the Premier showing Spanish language movies.  The movies came from the Azteca Film Company in Austin Texas.  They were shown from Wednesdays through Sundays. Tickets were $1.50.  Since Arturo paid 60% of the total paid admission to Azteca, he was left with the popcorn and candy sales as his primary profit source.  Arturo ran the projectors himself. The advent of the DVD player spelled the end of the Premier Theatre and its Spanish language films.  The theatre was just one of Arturo's several business enterprises.  He still is in the harvesting business.  Arturo served as an elected FloridaCity commissioner for eight years with a stint as vice mayor from 1981-82 and was a long time Homestead Housing Authority board member.

  In the 1970s a movie theatre was located in the shopping plaza on the northwest corner of Campbell Drive and US1 where Walgreens and Sedanos are located now.  Hurricane Andrew destroyed the entire shopping plaza and Homestead was without a movie theatre until the Flagship Cinemas Homestead 14 opened at 2250 NE 8th Street in the PortofinoCenter.

  Over the years movies played an important role in the Homestead area's entertainment picture.  The reopening of the Seminole Theatre with newly expanded downtown parking will likely play an important role in the reemergence of Homestead's downtown as a magnet for south Miami-Dade and Upper Keys residents.

  Bob Jensen is Vice President for Community Liaison at 1st National Bank of South Florida, President of the FloridaPioneerMuseum and of the HomesteadDowntownTownHallMuseum and is a retired Navy Commander.

  Editor's Note: Please continue to add to the history of our movies. Contact Bob at Bobmeda@aol.com