Stockton's 1930 Spanish Colonial movie palace — 2,030 seats, a 1928 Robert Morton organ, and a Victorian couple who watch from the balcony.
242 E Main St, Stockton, CA 95202
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Performance ticket prices vary by event. Lobby accessible during events. Classic movie screenings include organ performance.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban downtown. Accessible entrance. Refurbished 2030-seat auditorium.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1930 · National Register of Historic Places (1979) · Spanish Colonial Revival movie palace architecture · One of two 1930s movie palaces in the Central Valley · 1928 Robert Morton theater organ
The Fox California Theatre opened on October 14, 1930, designed by architects Clifford Balch and Floyd Stanberry. The building drew on Spanish Renaissance and Baroque palace architecture for its ornate interior, which original designers distinguished from the more common Moorish fantasy-palace style of the era by emphasizing carved plasterwork and a particular palette of warm tones. The theatre seated approximately 2,500 and was, along with a Bakersfield venue, one of only two movie palaces constructed in California's Central Valley during the 1920s-1930 building boom.
The building occupied a site with earlier entertainment history: the T&D Photoplay had operated on the same East Main Street block before Fox West Coast Theaters Inc. leased it, remodeled it, renamed it the California, and finally replaced it with the new Fox California structure.
The theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. By the late 1990s, the building had deteriorated significantly after decades of changing uses and reduced maintenance. A restoration campaign secured an $8.5 million budget combining funding from businessman Alex G. Spanos, congressional grants, and California's Bob Hope Heritage Fund. Spanos requested the building be renamed for his close friend, comedian Bob Hope.
The restored theatre reopened in September 2004, initially with a performance by Jerry Seinfeld. The renovation restored the interior decor to its original appearance, installed a new sound and lighting system, replaced seating with 2,030 refurbished red velvet chairs, and laid a new 1,200-square-foot Italian marble mosaic floor in the lobby. A 1928 Robert Morton theater organ, sourced from a Seattle Fox Theatre, was installed and debuted in 2005; it is played during classic film screenings.
Sources
The Bob Hope Theatre's paranormal reports concentrate in two locations: the balcony and the main auditorium floor. The most distinctive account is the Victorian couple — a man and a woman in period dress from an era predating the building's 1930 construction — observed standing in the balcony watching the stage. Multiple staff members describe them as appearing solid from a distance and vanishing before they can be approached. Whether they are connected to the building, the earlier T&D Photoplay that stood on the same site, or simply represent a pattern of misidentification is not answerable from available evidence.
In the main auditorium, staff describe rapid temperature drops in sections of the floor that do not correspond to the building's ventilation zones, and a recurring experience of feeling a tap on the shoulder when no one is nearby. These accounts come from staff who work the building regularly across different shifts and positions.
The Downtown Stockton Alliance filmed Episode 3 of their Spirits of Downtown paranormal investigation series at the theatre. Investigators documented cold spots and gathered witness testimony from theatre staff. The series is available on the Alliance's YouTube channel. Visit Stockton's official tourism blog includes the Bob Hope Theatre in its curated list of the city's documented haunted locations, which gives the claims an unusual degree of institutional acknowledgment for a performance venue.
Notable Entities
The Bob Hope Theatre presents concerts, comedy, and theatrical productions year-round. The 2004 restoration returned the Spanish Colonial interior to its original appearance with refurbished red velvet seats, a 1,200-square-foot Italian marble mosaic lobby floor, and the restored 1928 Robert Morton theater organ played at classic film screenings.
The Bob Hope Theatre is a stop on the Downtown Stockton Alliance's Spirits of Downtown paranormal investigation series (Episode 3) and on the US Ghost Adventures Stockton ghost tour. The balcony, where the Victorian couple is most often seen, is a focal point.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Redwood City, CA
The Fox Theatre at 2215 Broadway in Redwood City opened in 1929 as The New Sequoia. It operated as a neighborhood movie house through the mid-20th century, closed, was restored, and reopened as a concert and events venue. The 2022 renovation brought contractors into the building's attic, where they discovered an urn containing human ashes — a find that the theatre's management confirmed publicly.
Pasadena, CA
Gilmor Brown founded the Pasadena Playhouse in 1916 with a traveling acting troupe and built the current 686-seat Spanish Colonial Revival theater at 39 South El Molino in 1924–1925. The California legislature designated the Playhouse the official State Theatre of California in 1937. Brown ran the theater until his death in 1960, producing more than 2,000 plays and training actors who went on to Hollywood careers.
Tucson, AZ
The Fox Tucson Theatre opened on April 11, 1930, as a combined vaudeville and movie house. After closing in 1974 and standing vacant for 25 years, the building was purchased in 1999 by the non-profit Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation for $250,000 and reopened in 2006 following a multi-year, multi-million-dollar restoration.