Dallas-based Harold B. Robb and E. H. Rowley operated over 150 theaters across Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, as the R&R Texas Theater chain, with this building being their most expensive venue at the time of its opening. The three-story buff brick facade enlivened by diamond patterns in red brick and a central bay with an Alamo-scroll parapet and five slender columns linked by polylobed arches gives it a distinctive Spanish Revival character. Barely two months after opening, a fire largely destroyed the theater, but it was rebuilt and reopened in 1931, showing films until the 1970s. Local owners used the space for live productions during the 1980s and 1990s, and the Palestine Community Theatre gradually completed renovations for a reopening in 2005.