AS TIME GOES BY
Wood County History
By LOU MALLORY - Chairperson, Wood County Historical Commission
Entertainment is an important part of all our lives and I am guessing that many of you enjoy watching movies or attending live theater performances.
Residents of Mineola have had many forms of entertainment since the town was founded in 1873.
Before 1900, Mineola's citizens were entertained at its one opera house or by medicine men and traveling tent shows.
In 1900 the City Theater opened but burned in 1903. From 1910 to 1914 the Air Dome offered silent movies with background music provided by local musicians. It was a roofless structure with dirt floors, sheet metal walls and folding chairs.
In 1916, the Star Theater, which had opened in 1910, was sold to Mrs. R.T. Hooks. She ran it until 1920 when she leased the Select Theater building from a local banker, R.J. Gaston.
Mrs. Hooks renamed the recently purchased theater after a motion picture company called Select Pictures. The Hooks family operated the theater until 1928 when they moved to west Texas.
The Select was leased to Gus Doering until 1933 when the Hooks family returned and leased the theater again. Mr. Hooks died in 1934 and Mrs. Hooks continued to operate the theater until 1936 when she purchased the Select Theater for $15,000. As her health failed, her son, R.T. Hooks, Jr. purchased his mother's interest.
In 1948, Mrs. Hooks hired W.C. Little, a local contractor, to remodel the theater and more than $50,000 was spent to add a gradually sloping floor and an elevated stage with the screen located near the back wall.
The stage had backdrops and curtains elevated by pulleys and ropes. Dressing rooms were located on each side of the stage and the auditorium had box seats on the sides.
The theater not only had a concession stand but also an ice cream parlor across the lobby. One unusual feature was the moviegoers could press a button to summon a waiter from the ice cream parlor to take their order.
The most striking feature of the Select Theater is the neon tower which stands 24 feet above the building. It could be seen for miles. The tower is divided into three parts. Two parts of the base revolve in opposite directions, and the ball, which does not revolve. The new 1948 Select Theater was an 834 seat house. The price for adults was 40 cents and nine cents for children under 12 years of age.
Mrs. Mattie Hooks died in 1953, and her son, R.T. Hooks, operated the business until his death in 1961. From that date until 1986, two long-time employees, James Dear and Truman Thomas, formed a partnership and operated the theater.
On October 31st, 1986, they retired and gave their interest in the Select Theater to the Lake Country Playhouse. Kathleen Hooks, widow of R.T. Hooks, sold the building to the Playhouse in December 1993. After more than 80 years, continuous motion picture entertainment continues in Mineola.
The Select Theater is thought to be the oldest continuously operating motion picture in the state of Texas.
Even today, the Lake Country Playhouse offers live theater presenting four to six plays yearly. On all other weekends, the theater features current movies which are shown on Friday and Saturday nights with a matinee on Saturday afternoons.
If you haven't already been to a play or a movies at the Select, enjoy a visit to this historic theater for a few hours of entertainment away from the cares of daily life.
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