............................................................. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, .............................................................................18 West Lexington Street ......................................................................Baltimore,Maryland  ( Downtown ) .......................................................................Early 1920's to the early 1960's ..............................................................Razed for the construction of Charles Center......................................................................Version 1.1 .........................................................................

....................... .............................................................................Photo from the John Kilduff Collection .

Along with the Stanley Theatre and Keith's, the Century / Valencia Theatres are the best known theaters of Baltimore before 1950. The theatres were located on Lexington Street between Charles Street and Cathedral Street and were torn down in the 1960's, to make way for Charles Center, an office complex. There is absolutely no trace of the old theatre or the unit block of West Lexington Street where it once stood. The Century opened in the early 1920's, and had a roof top ballroom which was later converted into the Valencia Theatre. Many of the photos came from John Kilduff's Collection when he worked for the Century Theatre.

.................. ............................One of the many promotional shots of the old Century I have found in the John Kilduff Collection.

.......................... ..................   The Century Theatre was famous for the promotions they had for movies.  Walking books, linking upcoming movies to car dealerships, there was always a way to promote a upcoming movie to get folks to the Century.

.................... The fronts that the Century Theatre had were quite a sight. The entire Unit block of West Lexington Street would light up at night.

......................... As a downtown movie house, the Century always had an ad in the local papers, and  the ads were always colorful, creative and very visual.

....................     When it was first built, the Century had a roof top ballroom, which was later converted into the Valencia Theatre.

........................... The interior of the Century Theatre was quite a sight as well,  one of the " big houses"in downtown Baltimore City.

A few photos of the razing of the Century, with before and after pictures, and the site today.

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