Grapevine's art deco movie house opened November 21, 1940; the Night Watchman Ghost Tour stops here for a 'caretaker' ghost said to be particular about the proper upkeep of the historic building.
300 S Main St, Grapevine, TX 76051
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Ticket prices vary by production. Ghost tour pricing through the Grapevine Night Watchman tour operator; see their website for current rates.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown Grapevine streetscape; theater on level ground with accessible entrances
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1940 · Opened November 21, 1940 · Architect Raymond F. Smith Art Deco Design · Historic Downtown Grapevine Main Street · 85th Anniversary, 2025
The Palace Theatre opened on November 21, 1940, at 300 S Main Street in downtown Grapevine, Texas. Architect Raymond F. Smith designed the building in the streamlined art deco style that was the standard for small-city movie palaces of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Cinema Treasures documents Smith's design and the opening date.
Grapevine's Convention and Visitors Bureau has documented the theater's history through multiple feature articles tied to its anniversary milestones. The building served the Grapevine community as a movie theater for several decades before the decline of the single-screen neighborhood cinema in the 1970s and 1980s prompted a search for new uses.
The building was eventually preserved and adapted into the Grapevine Palace Arts Center, which now functions as a community performing arts venue. The CVB marked the theater's 85th anniversary in 2025, noting its continuing role in downtown Grapevine's cultural identity. The building sits on Main Street within the historic commercial core of the city, a section that has been the subject of preservation and redevelopment efforts.
Sources
The Palace Theatre appears on the Grapevine Night Watchman Ghost Tour, documented in a 2020 blog account of the tour by Having Fun in the Texas Sun. According to the tour's narrative, the ghost associated with the Palace Theatre is described as a caretaker — a female presence who is said to be particularly attentive to how the historic building is treated. The characterization in available sources is of a protective rather than threatening figure, one who reacts when the building is not being properly maintained or cared for.
Staff accounts noted in the tour material describe a sensed presence inside the theater when no one else is there, and an impression of watchfulness associated with certain sections of the building. No specific historical identity has been assigned to the caretaker figure in the available published sources — the tour framing presents it as a spirit defined by its relationship to the building rather than by a named person's biography.
The Night Watchman Ghost Tour covers multiple locations in historic downtown Grapevine; the Palace Theatre is one stop on a broader walking route through the Main Street commercial district.
Notable Entities
The Night Watchman Ghost Tour includes the Palace Theatre as a stop, presenting the caretaker ghost story and other paranormal accounts associated with historic downtown Grapevine.
Attend a live performance at the Grapevine Palace Arts Center, housed in the restored 1940 Palace Theatre on Main Street — the same building where a protective 'caretaker' ghost has been documented in ghost tour accounts.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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