Pioneer moving picture theater owner and well-known real estate operator. Tate's first job was working as a cash and delivery boy for a St. Louis Department store. From 1872 to 1885 he worked in the law offices of Donovan & Conroy and Arthur and John F. Lee. He graduated from the St. Louis Law School. He served as the secretary of the St. Louis Police Board for four years before going into the real estate business. He formed the Columbia Theater Company with Zach Tinker and built the Columbia Theater, considered to be one of the finest high-class vaudeville theaters in America. The firm also controlled the Grand Opera House, Havlin's Theater and the Imperial Theater in St. Louis.
He was one of the best-known vaudeville managers in America and was instrumental in forming the Orpheum Circuit. He managed the old Bijou Dream and Dime Museum in St. Louis and promoted the original Missouri Athletic Club. Keenly interested in the 1904 World's Fair, he brought the Hagenback animals to the United States for exhibition. At the close of the fair he formed a partnership with Carl Hagenback and John Havlin, a Cincinnati theatrical manager, to operate the Carl Hagenback Trained Animal Circus. The circus toured the country for six years before being sold to Col. Ben Wallace and becoming known as the Hagenback-Wallace Circus.
At one time in his theatrical career, he also operated the Great Northern Theater in Chicago and the Great Northern Theater in Buffalo. He was also associated with E. D. Stair and John Havlin in the old Stair and Havlin popular-priced legitimate theater circuit.
After his son Lee was killed in an automobile accident in 1921, he erected the Lee H. Tate Hall as a memorial to him on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.
He was one of the best-known vaudeville managers in America and was instrumental in forming the Orpheum Circuit. He managed the old Bijou Dream and Dime Museum in St. Louis and promoted the original Missouri Athletic Club. Keenly interested in the 1904 World's Fair, he brought the Hagenback animals to the United States for exhibition. At the close of the fair he formed a partnership with Carl Hagenback and John Havlin, a Cincinnati theatrical manager, to operate the Carl Hagenback Trained Animal Circus. The circus toured the country for six years before being sold to Col. Ben Wallace and becoming known as the Hagenback-Wallace Circus.
At one time in his theatrical career, he also operated the Great Northern Theater in Chicago and the Great Northern Theater in Buffalo. He was also associated with E. D. Stair and John Havlin in the old Stair and Havlin popular-priced legitimate theater circuit.
After his son Lee was killed in an automobile accident in 1921, he erected the Lee H. Tate Hall as a memorial to him on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Pioneer moving picture theater owner and well-known real estate operator. Tate's first job was working as a cash and delivery boy for a St. Louis Department store. From 1872 to 1885 he worked in the law offices of Donovan & Conroy and Arthur and John F. Lee. He graduated from the St. Louis Law School. He served as the secretary of the St. Louis Police Board for four years before going into the real estate business. He formed the Columbia Theater Company with Zach Tinker and built the Columbia Theater, considered to be one of the finest high-class vaudeville theaters in America. The firm also controlled the Grand Opera House, Havlin's Theater and the Imperial Theater in St. Louis.
He was one of the best-known vaudeville managers in America and was instrumental in forming the Orpheum Circuit. He managed the old Bijou Dream and Dime Museum in St. Louis and promoted the original Missouri Athletic Club. Keenly interested in the 1904 World's Fair, he brought the Hagenback animals to the United States for exhibition. At the close of the fair he formed a partnership with Carl Hagenback and John Havlin, a Cincinnati theatrical manager, to operate the Carl Hagenback Trained Animal Circus. The circus toured the country for six years before being sold to Col. Ben Wallace and becoming known as the Hagenback-Wallace Circus.
At one time in his theatrical career, he also operated the Great Northern Theater in Chicago and the Great Northern Theater in Buffalo. He was also associated with E. D. Stair and John Havlin in the old Stair and Havlin popular-priced legitimate theater circuit.
After his son Lee was killed in an automobile accident in 1921, he erected the Lee H. Tate Hall as a memorial to him on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.
He was one of the best-known vaudeville managers in America and was instrumental in forming the Orpheum Circuit. He managed the old Bijou Dream and Dime Museum in St. Louis and promoted the original Missouri Athletic Club. Keenly interested in the 1904 World's Fair, he brought the Hagenback animals to the United States for exhibition. At the close of the fair he formed a partnership with Carl Hagenback and John Havlin, a Cincinnati theatrical manager, to operate the Carl Hagenback Trained Animal Circus. The circus toured the country for six years before being sold to Col. Ben Wallace and becoming known as the Hagenback-Wallace Circus.
At one time in his theatrical career, he also operated the Great Northern Theater in Chicago and the Great Northern Theater in Buffalo. He was also associated with E. D. Stair and John Havlin in the old Stair and Havlin popular-priced legitimate theater circuit.
After his son Lee was killed in an automobile accident in 1921, he erected the Lee H. Tate Hall as a memorial to him on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Bio by: Connie Nisinger
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
