Pines Theatre
113 First St., South, Lufkin, TXThe Pines Theatre was built by the Lufkin Amusement Company with a grand opening on September 9, 1925. The company also owned the Palace and Victory theatres. The opening movie was Gloria Swanson in "Coast of Folly." The 1908 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows a brick structure; the 1927 map shows a 2-story brick movie theatre. The 1928 directory shows the Pines Moving Pictures, East Texas Theatres, Inc.; the 1937 listing is the same. In 1935 Lufkin Amusement Company sold the property to East Texas Theatres, Inc., E. L. Kurth, President (Vol 38, P. 371). In 1950 East Texas Theatres sold the property to T. L. Laird (Vol. F, P. 162). The structure is no longer being utilized as a movie theatre; it is currently being operated by a religious organization as a noon soup kitchen and revival center. It is an
excellent example of an early movie theatre with virtually all the interior detailing intact It is the only remaining example of an early downtown Art Moderne movie theatre in Lufkin. The significance is architecture at the local level.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.