Weekly History: York Theater on Georgia Avenue

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It's been awhile, but here's Weekly History, where I write about an old photo of the neighborhood. This shot is from 1920, the York Theater at Georgia Avenue and Quebec Place. The building still exists and looks almost the same, though without the marquee and the cool neon sign. Today it's the Fishermen of Men Church. Interesting to see what sorts of things we used to have in the neighborhood. I would certainly go to a  neighborhood movie theater, something like Visions in Dupont used to be, if you remember that place.

The old photo is from Shorpy.com, a great site for photos, and some commenters even posted a news article about the theater's opening. It was opened by Harry Crandall, who opened a number of theaters in the area. One of those was the Knickerbocker Theater at 18th and Columbia, where the plaza and bank building are today. Sadly, during a blizzard in 1922, the Knickerbocker's roof collapsed and 98 people were killed, with 133 more injured. Crandall and the architect both later committed suicide. Crandall also opened the Metropolitan Theater at 932 F Street NW, or next door to where the original 9:30 Club was.

Here's the same building today.