Aztec Theater - Eagle Pass, TX - Vintage Movie Theaters on Waymarking.com

In 1915 Sam Schwartz built the present Aztec Theater. The contractor and architect was Leonard F. Seed. It was the first documented theater designed in the Mayan revival style. Silent movies and vaudeville acts were the first entertainment, and the theater had a twenty-five by forty-one foot stage to accommodate live entertainment. Piano music accompanied the first silent movies. Admission was ten cents for adults and five cents for children, and business was never better. In 1929 the Aztec was one of the first theaters in South Texas to play the new "sound" movie, The Jazz Singer. After twenty-five years in the theater business Schwartz was honored by Adolph Zukor of Paramount pictures for his service to the industry.

At the time of his death in 1969, Sam was the oldest independent theater owner in Texas. The Aztec, despite television and the merger of the movie companies into large corporations, continued operating until 1982, when it was closed. After Sam's death the theater was managed by his son, Arnold I. Schwartz, and his son-in-law, Lloyd T. Munter. It was later managed by his grandson, Maurice P. Munter. In 1991 another grandson, William J. Munter, utilized the space for his law office and refurbished the old theater, which is now used for live performances, movies, and rental for civic events. More than six generations of Eagle Pass residents have gone to the movies at the Aztec.