A 1930 Spanish-Moorish performance house where three resident figures — a cigar smoker, a former usher, and a woman in white — are reported by staff who have seen them firsthand.
352 Cypress St, Abilene, TX 79601
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by event; check website for current schedule.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic theatre with accessible seating; box office on ground level
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1930 · National Register of Historic Places · Spanish-Moorish Architecture · Performing Arts History · Dracula Premiere Venue 1931
The Paramount was built by H.O. Wooten and designed by architect David S. Castle of Abilene, opening on May 19, 1930. The exterior follows Mission/Spanish Revival lines; the interior is Spanish-Moorish with a painted domed ceiling and seating for 1,187. The theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (reference no. 82001739).
A notable early event: Universal Pictures chose the Paramount to screen the 1931 horror film Dracula two days before its February 14 national release, making it one of the earliest venues to show what became a landmark of American cinema.
The Paramount operated as a movie house until the late 1970s. Downtown Abilene's commercial decline reduced revenue, and the theater closed in 1979 — its first closure since opening day in 1930. The Abilene Preservation League intervened to prevent demolition. Major restoration began in 1986 with funding from Julia Matthews and the Dodge Jones Foundation; the theater reopened in 1987. By 2019 more than 14,000 people attended film screenings there in a single year, and it continues to host a full calendar of performing arts events.
Sources
Three figures have been described repeatedly enough to have become informal fixtures in accounts of the Paramount. The first is an elderly man who smells of cigar smoke and has been seen in the house. The second is a former usher who has been spotted near the basement staircase — at least one firsthand account from a person who visited the theater describes seeing this figure clearly near that location. The third is a woman in white, reported moving through the aisles.
A framed portrait of an unidentified woman that was donated to the theater has been informally called the 'Paramount Ghost' by staff and regular visitors, though no documented history connects the portrait to any particular individual.
The theater operated continuously for nearly fifty years before its 1979 closure, accumulating decades of staff and audience. The Spanish-Moorish interior — painted dome, deep shadows along the aisles, a basement that predates the restoration — provides the physical context for most of the reported encounters.
Notable Entities
The Paramount seats 1,187 and hosts film screenings, ballet, opera, local theater, and community performances year-round. The theater is part of the H.O. Wooten commercial empire that shaped downtown Abilene in the early twentieth century. The Spanish-Moorish interior includes a painted domed ceiling.
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El Paso, TX
The Plaza Theatre opened September 12, 1930 on Pioneer Plaza in downtown El Paso. Developer Louis L. Dent commissioned the Spanish Colonial Revival movie palace in 1927, and the inaugural night drew a crowd of 2,410. Its lavish interior was designed to evoke 'the fabled beauty of Old Spain and the charm of Old Mexico.' After decades of decline, the theatre was extensively restored and reopened as a performing-arts venue, now home to the Plaza Classic Film Festival and a wide range of touring performances.
Granbury, TX
The Granbury Opera House opened in 1886 on the town square. Ground-floor storefronts originally housed a saloon, a saddle shop, and a grocery store, while the upper floor hosted vaudeville and theatrical performances. After decades of decline, the Granbury Opera Association acquired the building in 1972. A $3.5 million renovation completed in 2012 restored the theater to operational condition, and it has been home to the Granbury Theatre Company ever since.
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.