This is a picture of the intersection of 2700 South (Magna Main Street) and 9100 West, the intersection in front of the Empress Theatre, taken during floods in 1932. The Panama Building is clearly recognizable in the center of the picture.
The building on the right side of the picture is the building that would later become Tom Dyches' Rexall Drugstore. I'm not sure if it was still a ZCMI store in 1932, but it started as a ZCMI in about 1924 or so.
On the left, you can see part of the "Magna Hardware" sign. Magna Hardware occupied the building next-door to the Empress Theatre. George Smith owned the Empress, and his brother Roy owned the Hardware Store. The hardware store remained in operation until about 1977. The building is now used by OHPAA for storage and set construction in support of the Empress Theatre.
The old style gravity fed gasoline pumps are an enigma. They appear to be in front of the Empress, but they might have been installed to service the fire trucks at Salt Lake County Fire Station No. 2, located immediately to the east of the theatre. If anyone knows about the pumps, please leave a comment.
And if anyone has any old photos of the Empress or Magna Main Street near the Empress, we'd love to see them.
(Photo courtesy of D. Kim Dyches, son of Tom & Cleone Dyches)
2 comments:
this is the coolest pic ever thats just wow.
I have to agree. Pretty awesome, but for some reason, kind of creepy too.
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