HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1937 movie palace gutted by fire the night it screened 'The Towering Inferno'
112 E Yosemite Ave, Manteca, CA 95336
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior viewing from a public downtown sidewalk; no admission
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved downtown sidewalk
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1937 · 1930s Movie Palace · Depression-Era Construction · Downtown Manteca Landmark · 1975 Fire · Adaptive Reuse as Brewpub
The El Rey Theatre opened on April 15, 1937 in the 100 block of East Yosemite Avenue in downtown Manteca. Built during the Depression for roughly $110,000, it seated 900, had air conditioning, and was promoted with gold-leaf accents as 'The House of Courtesy.' For decades it was the town's main movie house.
On August 6, 1975 the building was gutted by fire. By a coincidence that local history has never let go of, the theatre had been showing 'The Towering Inferno,' a disaster film about a high-rise fire; the movie's poster was among the few things saved and is now held by the Manteca Historical Museum. According to family members of the original owners and neighbors who lived nearby, the theatre was closed for the evening with no patrons inside when the blaze started, and no one was killed or injured.
The damaged shell sat vacant for more than two decades. It was eventually rebuilt for commercial use and reopened as Kelley Brothers Brewing Company and the Brickyard Oven Restaurant, which operated until around 2012. The facade remains a downtown landmark on Yosemite Avenue.
Sources
During its years as Kelley Brothers Brewing Company, the El Rey building drew ghost stories tied to its fire. Patrons and write-ups described figures in period and 1970s-era clothing wandering the floor, apparitions identified as firefighters, and reports that 'hot spots' from the old blaze could still be felt inside.
The claims rest on a premise that local witnesses reject. Family members of the original owners and longtime neighbors have stated publicly that the theatre was empty when the 1975 fire began and that no one died, in that fire or in the building's earlier history as a movie house. On that point the haunting narrative and the documented record openly disagree, and the firefighter-apparition story reads as urban legend layered onto a memorable fire rather than onto any recorded death.
The building no longer operates as a brewery or theatre. The lore survives in regional roundups of Central Valley haunted sites and in the lingering local memory of the night a Manteca movie palace burned while showing a film about a burning building.
Notable Entities
A walk past the El Rey on the 100 block of East Yosemite Avenue in downtown Manteca. The building has held a movie theatre, a brewpub, and other commercial uses; the storefront and facade are visible from the public sidewalk. No interior access without a current tenant's permission.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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