George W. Carver Theatre | Teatro Rey | La Plaza Theatre

In Galveston, the Martini family is a household name. These days the Martini name can be found on 21st and Church Street on the old Martini theater and here, just west of Rosenberg Avenue on Market Street. At one point, the Martini family owned eight theaters, one of which was opened in Galveston‘s Black Business District. The George W. Carver theater opened in 1940. The Martini family opened this theater specifically for African-American audiences. The area north of Broadway and west of Rosenberg Avenue was Galveston‘s Black Business District during racial segregation. The George W. Carver theater operated for 19 years until 1959, when Mateo Vela bought it and converted it to Spanish-language films directed at Hispanic audiences. Mateo named the theatre Teatro Rey. In the 1970s, the theater changed hands and was briefly called the La Plaza theater until it closed in 1979. The shell of this theater today stands as a reminder of segregation, marginalization, and eventual racial integration—a stepping stone to a past that is not so far behind us.

Interested in information covered in this episode? Reference links below:
African American Historic Places in Galveston
Lost Restaurants of Galveston’s African American Community
Black Galveston
African-American History Resources: Reconstruction to the Present
La Plaza Theater
1947 Fire Map Showing Theatre

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