It opened on Maas part of the Well’s chain of theatres and contained 1,503 seats. That same year, however, the Bijou Theatre was added to the National Historic Record and campaign to save the theater began.The Bijou Theatre is a charming venue built for vaudeville and later adapted for cinema. When the Bijou Theatre closed in 1975, the hotel and theater were slated for demolition. In 1971, it was bequeathed to a local church who then sold it to a businessman. In 1969, it was declared a public health hazard and closed. Meanwhile, the Lamar Hotel next door was used by homeless people and prostitutes. In 1965, Paramount gave up the theater, which then became “Bijou Art Theatre,” a movie theater geared toward adults. In 1935, Paramount Pictures bought the theater and exhibited second-run pictures and live performances only occasionally graced the former grand stage. In 1932, one of the first Chinese-American restaurants in the South, the Pagoda, opened at the site. As a result, the Bijou served as a used car lot and fruit stand during this time. These men later sold the property to a businessman under the premise that the building would not be used as a theater for at least five years. In 1926, the Bijou Theatre was purchased by the owners of the Tennessee Theater. Some of the acts that performed at the Bijou include Will Rogers, the Marx Brothers, and John Phillip Sousa. From 1913 until 1926, the theater focused mainly on vaudeville acts, though it occasionally showed motion pictures. It was the only theater in Knoxville that admitted both Black and white patrons, though African Americans had to come in through a separate entrance and could only sit in the gallery. ![]() Jake Well’s Bijou Theatre opened on March 8, 1909, with a production of Little Johnny Jones. By this point, other, larger hotels had sprung up in town, leading to hard times for the hotel.įour years later, in 1904, the Auditorium Company purchased the property and transformed the ballroom into a theater. After a few more name changes, including “The White House” and the “New Lamar House,” the hotel became known as the “Old Homestead” in 1904. William Sneed died in 1869, and the hotel was owned by seven different family members by 1881. Sanders died in the hospital in 1863, though he was buried secretly so as not to impair morale. In the “Lamar Hospital,” Generals William Sherman and Phil Sheridan made plans for battle. In the space of just one year, it was used as both Confederate General Joseph Johnston’s headquarters and a Union hospital after the Union occupied the city of Knoxville. Sneed leased the building out to a number of tenants in the following years.ĭuring the Civil War, both Confederate and Union Armies made use of the Lamar House. Churchwell nearly doubled the hotel’s previous size and added elevators, a new kitchen, stables, a courtyard, and a “ladies’ entrance.” After changing the hotel’s name back to the Lamar House in 1856, Churchwell sold it to Colonel William H. Churchwell purchased the hotel, which had undergone a series of name changes, and began renovations. In 1817 (or 1819, sources differ), the Lamar House hosted a reception for Andrew Jackson. Lamar House at that time consisted of the Knoxville Hotel, a ballroom, a bar, and a dining room. After his death, the Lamar House was used for concerts, parties, and other social gatherings. Humes began construction on the building in 1815 that would become the leading hotel in the city but did not see its completion as he died a year later. ![]() Leading Knoxville merchant Thomas Humes acquired this site, known at the time as “Lot 38,” in 1801.
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