The historic Texan Theatre in downtown Hamilton was destroyed Friday night by a raging fire that also damaged adjacent buildings.

Fire units from every Hamilton County department, as well as Jonesboro and Gatesville, in Coryell County and units from Erath and Comanche counties, battled the blaze into the early hours of Saturday morning.

Fire units and investigators remained on the scene at 110 South Bell St. as late as 10:30 a.m. Saturday cooling off hot spots and making a preliminary investigation of the scene.

The theatre building was located just a few yards from Hamilton’s City Hall and about a block from the Hamilton County Courthouse.

The fire was first reported at about just before 10 p.m. Friday and within minutes the blaze could be seen for miles.

The theatre had been closed during Hamilton’s high school football season and Friday was the first day the theatre was back in operation.

It is not known if anyone was inside the building when the fire broke out.

Emergency medical service units from Coryell Memorial Hospital System in Gatesville responded to Hamilton as a precaution and to offer aid in the event firefighters might be injured.

The 304-seat Texan Theatre was built in 1928.

Fire destroyed the original theater on May 9, 1949.

It was rebuilt in 1950 and increased in size to 500 seats.