SEGUIN, Texas — Seguin’s old Palace Theatre is a standing reminder of the way life used to be. It was the place to be when people flocked to the movies.

Movies ran on projectors way before digital and downloads.

“These (projectors) ran in this theater since 1947 until 2003, every single day with no problems,” said theater owner Dan Daniels.

Daniels has run the Palace since 1966. Movies and the gadgets that make them go are in his blood.

“Ten years old, I’d come up here and be with the projectionist. I’d come up here and hang out for hours and do all the work while the projectionist sat around. My dad said, ‘Go up there and learn,’ and I did,” said Daniels.

Daniels’ dad, H.A. “Windy” Daniels, managed Laredo’s Strand Theater back in 1915.

“He told me some unique stories of him climbing the water tower and watching Pancho Villa ride across the Rio Grande in Laredo,” said Daniels.

H.A. moved to Seguin to run the Palace in the 1930s. Then, in the 1940s, something unexpected rocked the building.

“That theater blew up from a natural gas leak. No one was hurt,” said Daniels.

That incident forced H.A. to pick up the pieces and start over. The theater that stands today is the one he built. It’s the one Dan Daniels has known all his life.

“It was my home away from home. I got to go to the movies every single day. My childhood was magnificent,” said Daniels.

The rise of movies on demand and downloads would cause things to change. Daniels has had to adapt to a new digital world; a world he says can’t match the magic of movie film.

“You miss the experience of being in a darkened theater. You know, 200 people watching the same movie, feeling the experience together. That’s really important, and that’s missing in today’s world,” said Daniels.