Caprock Chronicles: The Lyric Theatre, first proper picture show of Lubbock
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Editor s Note: Jack Becker, editor of Caprock Chronicles, is a librarian at Texas Tech University Libraries. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about Lubbock’s early movie theaters is the second of a two-part series by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock attorney and historian. In Part One, the Band Hall and Orpheum Opera House were examined.
Erving McElroy, operator of the rickety old 1909 Opera House theater, decided Lubbock needed a proper movie house, and his idea produced the first big bright lights in a small dark town. In 1913, he established the Lyric Theatre on Texas Avenue at a prime location across the street from the Lubbock County Courthouse, and the Opera House soon disappeared.