The story of the Lincoln Theater unfolds in 4 Acts spanning 100 years:

Act I – 1925-27: Introduction of the setting and characters
Act II – 1927-32: Talkies, the Crash of 1929, and the fallout
Act III – 1933-84: Competition with other theaters, radio and TV with, the rise of multiplexes and the decimation of single screen theaters
Act IV – 1984-present: Non-profit foundation successfully rescues, rehabilitates and builds the audience of the Lincoln

Cliff’s Notes: Act I – April 21,1926 through March 31, 1927

Elden W. Pollock, successful property assessor, married to Alice Decatur,daughter of a Mount Vernon pioneer, sells his Seattle business and builds in a theater and office building on the site of the Decatur family home.

The theater opened to great fanfare, operated by Edwin and Evar Halberg of Port Angeles. The Lincoln Theatre includes the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ™ built into the front of the house, far surpassing the other silent movie houses in Mount Vernon and the rest of Skagit County. The only other purpose built theater in town was 7 years old by 1926 and was a bit drab as the owners.

As the Lincoln was being built, operators of the competing theaters in town tried to stop the Lincoln in the City Council. The two: Waldo Ives, backed by his father’s Seattle money also operated the Empire Theatre in Anacortes; and Oscar Ruth of a pioneer Skagit family, convicted bootlegger and operator of the Ideal theater in Stanwood.

Cliff’s Notes: Act II – March 31, 1927 through April 22, 1932

After 10 months of operation by the Halbergs, March, 1927 Waldo Ives and his father Wilbur bought out the remaining14+ years of the lease as well as the furnishings and projector . The Halbergs returned to Port Angeles having almost tripled their investment in the theater fittings. Waldo now operated all theaters in Mount Vernon and the Empire in Anacortes.

The Ives invested in the first blade sign on the theater in 1928, and less than a year later in the equipment necessary to show talkies.

The Paramount company was building a new, dedicated talkie movie palace, which after multiple name changes became the Lido.

The Lincoln showed its first “talkie” in February. 1929, “In Old Arizona,” a month before the Paramount opened. By July, 1929 the Ives had agreements to operate all Mount Vernon theaters.. After the October 1929 stock market crash they shuttered the other two with only the Lincoln remaining open. Even with no competition, the Lincoln’s weekly receipts fell from $1500 in September 1929 to $600 in February 1932.

The Ives fell behind in their rent of the Lincoln and handed the keys back to landlord Elden W. Pollock and the Lincoln went dark.

Cliff’s Notes: Act III – April 30, 1932 to June 28, 1984

The Ives immediately reopened the dark Mission theater (now District Brewing) immediately and began refurbishing the Paramount to reopen it in 1933 as the Roxy (Lido). As the economy recovered from the depths of the Depression in 1932, Mount Vernon supported two theaters engaged in rather nasty competition, with many promotions as the economy improved.

In October 1937, our aging UW grad showed a lurid film about mobsters, fixed card games and young women forced into prostitution.The city council, aka the city fathers shortened in headlines to “City Dads,” set up a committee to explore a movie censorship ordinance. When the committee returned, the council tabled the motion and moved on. In the same time frame the Lincoln owners took over the operation of the Roxy (Lido) and evicted the UW grad from a Mount Vernon theater for a second time. The Lincoln owners refurbished the theater and reopened it as the Lyric. It retained that name until 1952, when a new operator leased the building and opened as the Lido. The Lyric name was moved to the Mission at that time.

From the late 30’s to the early 1980’s the Lincoln was the flagship theater for a regional movie chain which at various times included the Mission (Lyric), Lyric (Lido), the first drive in movie theater in Skagit County (site of the current Target store in Burlington), and part interest in theaters in Snohomish and Bothell. The Lincoln and sibling theaters in Mount Vernon participated in and sponsored fashion shows, children’s matinees timed to support parent shopping, and various promotions.

By the late 1970’s retail began moving north out of downtown to early shopping malls along College and Riverside with discussions of building what was to be the Cascade Mall beginning in 1982. Two multiplex theaters were built off College between Continental and LaVenture. A month after the second, a 5 plex, went live in 1984 the operator of the Lincoln closed his operation. Attempts were made to show live, local country acts and host beauty pageants.

As the theater began to fail, a group of dedicated theater organ aficionados began voluntarily restoring the theater organ, one of an almost extinct collection. As of this writing only 4 theaters in Washington state have their original theater in place and operation.

Cliff’s Notes: Act IV – 1986 to present

John and Gretchen Pickett bought the Lincoln Theater in 1986 as part of real estate investments they were making in Downtown Mount Vernon. The fate of the Lincoln hung in the balance. Would it go the way the Lyric already had, conversion to a furniture store, or the way the Pickett’s converted the Lido into office space over retail in 1992?

Mrs. Pickett recounts surveying the theater, which was run down and leaked. While she was there she recounted that Jeff Fox, a Whatcom transit driver, and member of the theater organ team, gave her an impromptu concert . Convinced that the Lincoln had value as an historic and active theater she toured other historic theaters in the state and came away with a plan.

Mrs. Pickett and her posse of volunteers set out to get the Lincoln and adjacent office building on the state registry of historic buildings and from there onto the national registry of historic buildings (check the actual names). They set up the Lincoln Theatre Center Foundation as a non-profit in 1987 to operate the theater. The formal status designation and non-profit status opened the way for grants and contributions to repair a leaky roof and refurbish the interior while forcing adherence to the historic design.

By 1989 the Lincoln was hosting movies and live acts on a limited basis. From 1990 to 1999 the annual attendance at the Lincoln grew from 4,000 to 40,000 under the non-profit management.

The City of Mount Vernon bought the theater and office building in 2001 and established a new, 25 year lease with the non-profit. In 2006, a new mayor proposed that the city sell the theater. Support was marshalled in the community and the proposal was withdrawn. The Foundation has operated the theater for almost 40 years hosting local and traveling musical and theatrical acts.