The Kingsland Theatre, located at 6461 Gravois Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri
opened in October 22, 1924 by the Freund Brothers chain. For the next 30 years, it provided movies to patrons until it was sold in 1964 Herschel Lester. He changed it to Lester’s Old Fashioned Gospel Singing, bringing monthly revivals to the South Side.

Twenty years later, it became a movie theater again in March 1984. The new owner, Herman Carnell, installed a new roof, foyer, sidewalks, wallcoverings and guttering. He also converted the small balcony into a second screening room with a capacity of 90 people. The first floor had over 700 seats. Carnell sold the building in 1997 and it was razed to build an Aldi supermarket. Photo by John Margolies, 1988.