National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento County
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22 May 2006
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Imperial Theatre in 1927
Photo submitted with NRHP nomination
(Click Photos to Enlarge)
Imperial Theatre
14171 Market Street
Walnut Grove
Built c1920
The Imperial Theatre, built by local businessman Yonekichi Takeda, was the main source of entertainment for residents of Walnut Grove and much of the Sacramento River Delta. It was especially important during the depression.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the theater hosted amateur nights. Beginning in the 1940s, the theater hosted Christmas shows attended by hundreds of children.
A much smaller theater in Locke showed only Asian language films. Most of the films at the Imperial were in English with occasional films in Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Filipino languages.
The theater closed in 1970.
When we photographed the building, it housed the Walnut Grove Iron Works.
Source: NRHP nomination submitted in 1982.