The Globe Theatre in Bertram opened to great fanfare on August 20, 1935. Ninety years later the movie house survives with a warm, nostalgic atmosphere.
Built with locally quarried pink granite, the theatre is a stout building. Even in the dim light the auditorium is a beautiful room. Two-hundred red seats cover the sloped floor. Art deco designs decorate the walls lit by sconces that duplicate the originals.
“The room has great acoustics,” says Emily Jones.
Led by her brother, Zach Hamilton, and his friend Lance Regier, Emily’s family and friends spent the better part of nine years renovating the theatre and saving it from the wrecking ball.
Emily said Zach once had the childhood dream of running the town’s only movie theatre. Emily and her husband, JesseLee Jones, manage the theatre from Nashville, where they own the classic honky-tonk Robert’s Western World.
The theatre operated through a succession of owners for 50 years. When Zach bought the property, over 20 years after it closed in 1985, the city was threatening to demolish it. During the cleanup the roof completely collapsed, so they did benefit concerts in the theatre open to the stars.
The entire stage and dressing rooms were added. Two rows of seats were removed to accommodate a dance floor in front of the stage. Seating upstairs was added by reducing the projector room.
The new 90-year-old Globe Theatre wears its age well as an intimate music hall where the magic of Hollywood still makes an occasional appearance.
The Globe Theatre is at 132 W. Vaughan St., next to the police station in what remains of old downtown Bertram. Make a night of a visit with dinner at the Standard on Vaughan and a concert at the Globe Theatre. On the first Wednesday of the month the theatre hosts a free honky-tonk music show. Find out what’s happening next at the Globe at www.globetheatretx.com.
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This article appears in August 22 • 2025.