1500 Harford Rd
Baltimore City Maryland

........................The Apollo Theatre on Harford Road , still standing pretty much unaltered after all these years. While the neighborhood around the theater has changed over the years, with entire blocks being torn down for rebuilding, the Apollo has managed to survive , used for many years as a church. The front was at one time painted in an odd yellow, and along with a vacant firehouse and a factory building to the North, are the only three buildings left standing in the block. The Apollo opened in the early 1920's seating between 850 and 1,000 people and maybe as many as 1,300 by one account, has a balcony, and survived showing movies well into the 1970's. You can still see the name APOLLO just under the roof line on the facade of the old theater.

   

.Photo by  Kevin Mueller

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  Above right, the theatre back in the 1920's. The photos on the left and right were taken back in the 1980's.

Ads can be seen below dating from the 1920's all the way to the 1970's.  

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Above,  several old ads from the Apollo Theatre, 1500 Harford Road.  The two top row ads are older ones from when the Apollo first opened. These ads were often a part of a theatre chains ad for several theatres run by that chain throughout the City. Often, the ads were made to look like movie tickets, and the entire ad was no bigger than one's thumb.

     In later years, the Apollo showed movies such as " Ma Barker's Killer Brood "( released in 1960 )  , " The Minotaur " ( again released in 1960 ) , and " 7 Women From Hell " ( a classic from 1961 )  .

Below, is an ad for the Apollo when it was double listed with the Rialto Theatre ( from the West side of the City ) for the movie " Hound of the Baskervilles " ( circa 1939 ) .

References  -
Newspaper Ad - 1918 - For " Forbidden City "
Newspaper Ad - 1920 - For " Idol Dancer "
Newspaper Ad - 1929 - For "Welcome Danger "
Film Daily Yearbook - 1936 - ( seated 850 )
Newspaper Ad - 1936 - For " Dodsworth " & "Give me Your Heart "
Newspaper Ad - 1939 - For " Hound of the Baskervilles "
Film Daily Yearbook - 1943 - ( seated 900 )
Film Daily Yearbook - 1950 - ( seated 900 )
Baltimore Telephone Directory - 1953
Real Estate Tax Assessments - Baltimore City 1959 - Listed to State Theatres Co - $17,000 value on bldg
Newspaper Ad - 1960 - For " Ma Barker's Killer Brood  "

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