PSTOS - Granada Theatre, The Dalles Oregon

Granada Theatre - 2/6 Robert Morton
The Dalles, Oregon
223 East 2nd Street
Organ installation timeframe: 1929 -

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Looking West on 2nd Street, c.1935

Looking West on 2nd Street, c.1948

Looking West on 2nd Street, c.1951

c.1950's

The Moorish style Granada Theatre opened in 1929 and was built by the M.R. Mathew family at cost of $125,000.00. The architect was William Cutts of Portland, Oregon. The theatre was built at the peak of the silent movie era and a 2/6 Robert Morton organ, originally from The Dalles' Mission Theatre, was installed. Within a year of opening, VitaPhone and MovieTone equipment was installed for "talkies" and the organ was no longer required. The instrument was eventually purchased by Dick Raupach of Portland and formed the core of his residence organ.

The following two photos offer a glimpse of the original Granada signage. The tall narrow sign was replaced in late 1948 by the neon marquee shown above.

Looking West on 2nd Street, 1944.

c.1944.

Looking East on 2nd Street, c.1940s

Looking East on 2nd Street, c.1948

The Junchen opus lists indicate the Granada organ was originally from the Mission Theatre, also in The Dalles. Unfortunately, no reference to a Mission Theatre in The Dalles can be found.

Here, the words "Mission Theatre Monteray Park" are penciled on low CCC of the Morton Bass Flute.

Click for a larger version of this image (42K)

Markings from the Bass Flute as removed from the Raupach residence.

It's likely that the organ was originally from the Mission (Monterey) Theatre in Monterey Park, CA and then later redeployed to the Granada Theatre in The Dalles.

Granada Theatre, c.1920's