The Majestic was a Butterfield house at least as early as 1915, when it was advertised in The Michigan Technic, the official publication of the University of Michigan School of Engineering. W.S. Butterfield was listed as lessee, and the house featured two shows of Keith Vaudeville nightly with matinees four days a week. Movies were shown on Sundays. Sunday movies were common in many cities during this era, when state or local blue laws prohibited live performances on the sabbath.
Volume 4 of Charles Moore’s 1915 “History of Michigan” has a biography of architect Fuller Claflin, and names six theaters in Michigan that he designed, the Gladmer among them. This had to have been the remodeling that took place about 1910, as the original architect of Buck’s Opera House (opened May, in 1873) was E.E. Myers. I’ve been unable to discover who was the architect for the late 1930s remodeling.
Trade Journal The Moving Picture World published the following item in its issue of October 3, 1908:
“Danville, Va.â€"The Gaiety Theater, owned and managed by Mrs. E. R. Shepherd, of Richmond, Va., opened its doors to the public on September 14th, played to standing room the first night and has been turning away business ever since. The building is handsomely fitted up, the decorations being most artistic and restful. The chairs are all of the Hardesty automatic folding and revolving type and the seating capacity 300. The house is devoted exclusively to moving and talking pictures. Jas. F. Jackson, recently of Music Hall, Webster, Mass., has been secured as electrician and operator. He is a licensed operator, a member of F. A. T. S. E., No. 144, Boston, Mass., and he is making some of the crank-turners here sit up and take notice.”
The reference to “talking pictures” must have meant that the house was equipped for the Gaumont Chronophone system, or one of the other early sound systems available in 1908. This page from Silent Era has an extensive list of early sound films.
If this link works (the web site is in Beta and rather temperamental) you’ll see five large thumbnails showing the Athens. They are supposed to enlarge, but I can’t get them to do so. Maybe it’s not compatible with either of my browsers.
There is a vintage photo of the Jefferson theatre here. (This is one of those web sites with music, so you’ll also get to hear a MIDI version of “The Sheik of Araby” while looking at the photo)
This web page has information about the Gadsden Cinema, including opening date (April 30, 1970,) reopening as a twin (May 28, 1976,) and a 1989 closing. It reopened as a discount four-plex on March 9, 1993. It also says that after the theater closed as a discount house, it reopened as a first run theater on November 5, 1999, then closed for the last time in 2002.
This house was called the Booker T. Washington Theatre. I’ve been unable to find an exterior photo, but here’s a picture of the auditorium, packed to the walls for a midnight show in 1918.
The Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record, issue of April 23, 1907, had this item: “Cumberland, Md â€"Theater. â€"Maryland Theater Co. has awarded contract to the Brady Construction & Engineering Co., Parkersburg, W. Va., for erection of theater costing alout $70,000 after plans by John D. Allen, Philadelphia, Pa.; seating capacity 1800. (Referred to April 18.)”
This is most likely the theater mentioned in the April 23, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record: “Danville, Va. â€"Theater. â€"Contract for theater to be erected for S. A. Schloss, recently reported, has been awarded to D. Hanna; work to begin at once. Plans were prepared by Hook & Rogers, Charlotte, N. C.” Charles C. Hook was one of the leading architects in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the first third of the 20th century, and was one of the architects of the Carolina Theatre in Charlotte. His partnership with Willard G. Rogers lasted from 1905 to 1916.
As noted at the theater’s official web site (to which Mark_L linked above,) this house opened in 1911 as the Athens Theatre, and was designed by architect Herbert W. Simpson. In addition to The Show Shop and the Kehoe Theatre, Tryon Theatre should be listed as an aka, as the house has gone back to its original name.
The Athens Theatre was restored in 1980, and has since served as a performing arts venue operated by the New Bern Civic Theatre.
The name of the architectural firm was Milburn, Heister & Company. According to the firm’s page at North Carolina State University’s Architects and Builders web site, it was founded in 1909 by Frank Pierce Milburn and Michael Heister, and Milburn’s son, Thomas Yancey Milburn, later joined the firm. The elder Milburn retired in 1925 and died in 1926, so the Durham Auditorium was probably one of the last projects he worked on.
The Jefferson Theatre was under construction by April, 1908, when the Trade Journal Brick and Clay Record reported that the contract to supply 1,000,000 white sand lime bricks had been awarded to the Florida White Pressed Brick Co., of Jacksonville.
The May 27, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record had carried this item about the project: “St. Augustine. Fla. â€"Theater and Business Building. â€"Realty & Theater Co-, has had plans prepared by Fred A. Hendrick for four-story office building, with store and arcade entrance on ground floor, theater in the rear; 90x155 feet; ordinary fireproof construction; steam or hot-water heating; gas and electric lighting: automatic electric elevators; cost $55,000; bids to be opened June 1 to 10.”
There is an item mentioning the Regency in Boxoffice of September 22, 1975. “Jaws” had just entered its fourth month at the Regency I, and “Rollerball” had completed its second month at the Regency II.
Wikipedia’s article on Regency Square Mall has this line: “The mall also underwent a $30 million renovation in 1998, which comprised the addition of a new, 24-screen movie complex to replace the existing six-screen theater inside the mall.” I don’t know of the six-screener was the Regency Twin expanded or not, but it seems likely. I’ve been unable to find anything about it in Boxoffice, though.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, said that Waldron’s Broadway Theatre in Haverstraw was celebrating its 50th anniversary. It had been operated by the same family during that entire time.
George M. Cohan made his stage debut at this theater in the late 1880s. The theater was listed in various editions of Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide as Waldron’s Opera House.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, mentioned this house in its “Theatre Notes” column: “The University, formerly the Band Box, West Fordham Road, Bronx, is now operated by Devoe Theatres, Inc., Alfred Goldreyer in charge.”
Trade magazine Billboard reported in its issue of November 29, 1952, that an attempt to reopen the Rouge Theatre had been thwarted by the city’s new parking law. Existing theaters had been grandfathered in under the new requirements, but the Rouge had been closed for about three and a half months. The city contended that the closing meant the Rouge was no longer an “established” business, and would have to conform to the requirement of one parking space for every four seats before it would be allowed to operate. I’ve been unable to discover if the house ever reopened after this.
The name Grants Pass should not have an apostrophe in it. According to the town’s web site, there was originally an apostrophe, but it was dropped from the town’s official name early in the 20th century.
Town Hall was showing movies by 1908. It was listed in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide, with 600 seats. Because of its limited stage facilities, the house could present only vaudeville, concerts, and movies. The town’s main theater, the Putnam Opera House, had burned down in 1905.
The July, 1915, issue of a religious publication called The Expositor had an item about a deacon of Clarendon Street Baptist Church who, when the church had been holding its meetings at the Scenic Temple, had distributed an advertising circular about the church’s Sunday evening events. The circular said that the evening services included a half hour of movies. It doesn’t give the time period during which this was happening, but it’s clear that the Scenic Temple was used for church services for at least part of the time after it had already been converted into a movie house.
In addition to the Scenic Temples mentioned in earlier comments, there was one in Chelsea, listed as a 1,200-seat, ten-cent vaudeville and picture house in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide. I’ve also found an item in the April 23, 1921, issue of an insurance industry publication called The Standard, saying that the Scenic Temple on Temple Street off Central Square in Cambridge had burned on April 17th, with the loss estimated at $45,000. The house had already been closed for some time.
The Majestic was a Butterfield house at least as early as 1915, when it was advertised in The Michigan Technic, the official publication of the University of Michigan School of Engineering. W.S. Butterfield was listed as lessee, and the house featured two shows of Keith Vaudeville nightly with matinees four days a week. Movies were shown on Sundays. Sunday movies were common in many cities during this era, when state or local blue laws prohibited live performances on the sabbath.
Volume 4 of Charles Moore’s 1915 “History of Michigan” has a biography of architect Fuller Claflin, and names six theaters in Michigan that he designed, the Gladmer among them. This had to have been the remodeling that took place about 1910, as the original architect of Buck’s Opera House (opened May, in 1873) was E.E. Myers. I’ve been unable to discover who was the architect for the late 1930s remodeling.
Trade Journal The Moving Picture World published the following item in its issue of October 3, 1908:
The reference to “talking pictures” must have meant that the house was equipped for the Gaumont Chronophone system, or one of the other early sound systems available in 1908. This page from Silent Era has an extensive list of early sound films.Here is a photo of the Athens Theatre taken in 2009.
If this link works (the web site is in Beta and rather temperamental) you’ll see five large thumbnails showing the Athens. They are supposed to enlarge, but I can’t get them to do so. Maybe it’s not compatible with either of my browsers.
Here’s a nice black-and-white photo of the Carolina Theatre, by Caroline Culler.
There is a vintage photo of the Jefferson theatre here. (This is one of those web sites with music, so you’ll also get to hear a MIDI version of “The Sheik of Araby” while looking at the photo)
This web page has information about the Gadsden Cinema, including opening date (April 30, 1970,) reopening as a twin (May 28, 1976,) and a 1989 closing. It reopened as a discount four-plex on March 9, 1993. It also says that after the theater closed as a discount house, it reopened as a first run theater on November 5, 1999, then closed for the last time in 2002.
Architect Hirschstein’s first name was Jacob.
This house was called the Booker T. Washington Theatre. I’ve been unable to find an exterior photo, but here’s a picture of the auditorium, packed to the walls for a midnight show in 1918.
Architect F.C. Bonsack’s first name was Frederick.
The Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record, issue of April 23, 1907, had this item: “Cumberland, Md â€"Theater. â€"Maryland Theater Co. has awarded contract to the Brady Construction & Engineering Co., Parkersburg, W. Va., for erection of theater costing alout $70,000 after plans by John D. Allen, Philadelphia, Pa.; seating capacity 1800. (Referred to April 18.)”
Robert K. Headley’s book Maryland’s Motion Picture Theatres gives the opening date of the house as November 21, 1907.
This web page has several ads for the Maryland Theatre, including one for the 1927 release “7th Heaven.”
This is most likely the theater mentioned in the April 23, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record: “Danville, Va. â€"Theater. â€"Contract for theater to be erected for S. A. Schloss, recently reported, has been awarded to D. Hanna; work to begin at once. Plans were prepared by Hook & Rogers, Charlotte, N. C.” Charles C. Hook was one of the leading architects in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the first third of the 20th century, and was one of the architects of the Carolina Theatre in Charlotte. His partnership with Willard G. Rogers lasted from 1905 to 1916.
As noted at the theater’s official web site (to which Mark_L linked above,) this house opened in 1911 as the Athens Theatre, and was designed by architect Herbert W. Simpson. In addition to The Show Shop and the Kehoe Theatre, Tryon Theatre should be listed as an aka, as the house has gone back to its original name.
The Athens Theatre was restored in 1980, and has since served as a performing arts venue operated by the New Bern Civic Theatre.
The name of the architectural firm was Milburn, Heister & Company. According to the firm’s page at North Carolina State University’s Architects and Builders web site, it was founded in 1909 by Frank Pierce Milburn and Michael Heister, and Milburn’s son, Thomas Yancey Milburn, later joined the firm. The elder Milburn retired in 1925 and died in 1926, so the Durham Auditorium was probably one of the last projects he worked on.
The Jefferson Theatre was under construction by April, 1908, when the Trade Journal Brick and Clay Record reported that the contract to supply 1,000,000 white sand lime bricks had been awarded to the Florida White Pressed Brick Co., of Jacksonville.
The May 27, 1907, issue of the journal Daily Bulletin of the Manufacturers Record had carried this item about the project: “St. Augustine. Fla. â€"Theater and Business Building. â€"Realty & Theater Co-, has had plans prepared by Fred A. Hendrick for four-story office building, with store and arcade entrance on ground floor, theater in the rear; 90x155 feet; ordinary fireproof construction; steam or hot-water heating; gas and electric lighting: automatic electric elevators; cost $55,000; bids to be opened June 1 to 10.”
Restoration of the Strand Theatre is continuing. Here is the theater’s new official web site.
There is an item mentioning the Regency in Boxoffice of September 22, 1975. “Jaws” had just entered its fourth month at the Regency I, and “Rollerball” had completed its second month at the Regency II.
Wikipedia’s article on Regency Square Mall has this line: “The mall also underwent a $30 million renovation in 1998, which comprised the addition of a new, 24-screen movie complex to replace the existing six-screen theater inside the mall.” I don’t know of the six-screener was the Regency Twin expanded or not, but it seems likely. I’ve been unable to find anything about it in Boxoffice, though.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, said that Waldron’s Broadway Theatre in Haverstraw was celebrating its 50th anniversary. It had been operated by the same family during that entire time.
George M. Cohan made his stage debut at this theater in the late 1880s. The theater was listed in various editions of Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide as Waldron’s Opera House.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935, mentioned this house in its “Theatre Notes” column: “The University, formerly the Band Box, West Fordham Road, Bronx, is now operated by Devoe Theatres, Inc., Alfred Goldreyer in charge.”
Trade magazine Billboard reported in its issue of November 29, 1952, that an attempt to reopen the Rouge Theatre had been thwarted by the city’s new parking law. Existing theaters had been grandfathered in under the new requirements, but the Rouge had been closed for about three and a half months. The city contended that the closing meant the Rouge was no longer an “established” business, and would have to conform to the requirement of one parking space for every four seats before it would be allowed to operate. I’ve been unable to discover if the house ever reopened after this.
Boxoffice of January 19, 1935 carried this in its “Theatre Notes” column: “The Rexy, Houston Street, is dark.”
The name Grants Pass should not have an apostrophe in it. According to the town’s web site, there was originally an apostrophe, but it was dropped from the town’s official name early in the 20th century.
The Tower Theatre is mentioned in Boxoffice of January 26, 1935.
The State Theatre was mentioned in Boxoffice of January 12, 1935.
Town Hall was showing movies by 1908. It was listed in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide, with 600 seats. Because of its limited stage facilities, the house could present only vaudeville, concerts, and movies. The town’s main theater, the Putnam Opera House, had burned down in 1905.
The July, 1915, issue of a religious publication called The Expositor had an item about a deacon of Clarendon Street Baptist Church who, when the church had been holding its meetings at the Scenic Temple, had distributed an advertising circular about the church’s Sunday evening events. The circular said that the evening services included a half hour of movies. It doesn’t give the time period during which this was happening, but it’s clear that the Scenic Temple was used for church services for at least part of the time after it had already been converted into a movie house.
In addition to the Scenic Temples mentioned in earlier comments, there was one in Chelsea, listed as a 1,200-seat, ten-cent vaudeville and picture house in the 1908-1909 edition of Julius Cahn’s Guide. I’ve also found an item in the April 23, 1921, issue of an insurance industry publication called The Standard, saying that the Scenic Temple on Temple Street off Central Square in Cambridge had burned on April 17th, with the loss estimated at $45,000. The house had already been closed for some time.