The Park Theatre - a post-War, 1,200 seat suburban operation - launched October 8, 1948 with its grand opening ad in photos featuring “Easter Parade” as the opening film. But on April 19, 1949, its plaster ceiling collapsed on a gathering audience injuring 39 people.
The theatre closed and reopened with a lighter weight, asbestos ceiling tile construction with a grand reopening on July 3, 1949. The venue was retrofitted with widescreen projection to present CinemaScope titles. It closed at the end of its thirty year leasing agreement on its 30th Anniversary, Oct. 8, 1978 with “The Executioner and Truck Turner.” No word if asbestos remediation has taken place.
O.L. Allen announced the WW2 era Lake Theatre in 1944 which was greenlit by the War Production Board for the benefit of Dow Chemical employees. It was a multi-use building with two retailers and the theater. It opened February 1, 1945 with “Tahiti Nights" and an opening policy of midnight shows for the second shift workers. However, that was scuttled early on by local, non-Dow employees and the theatre shifted to Wendnesday matinees in addition to the weekend mats.
Fast forward to June 13, 1997 when the Starplex 10 Cinemas in Lake Jackson was a game changer that allowed J.C. Mitchell and Company to close the Lake Theatre on June 12, 1997 and they donated the facility to the City of Lake Jackson. The Cinema 1 & 2 was downgraded to discount status and continued to offer the Starplex discount kiddie matinees.
The Ray Theatre was Ray Clouse’s second venue after the Pix Theatre. The new build project was designed by local architect Noah Webster Overstreet, Sr., of N.W. Overstreet & Associates. It opened May 4, 1941 with “One Night at the Tropics.”
The National Theatre launched with vaudeville on November 18, 1911 on Tremont Street. The building cost $500,000 - above average for a 1911-built theater but not overwhelmingly as it had 3,300 seats. It would not be unfair to place it with architect Clarence Howard Blackall’s top Boston venues though two steps down from the Colonial and one each from the Metro and Olympia. However, its name and programatic direction didn’t get on track. Just six years later, it became the Boston Hippodrome on November 24, 1917.
It had a brief run as the Waldorf as they tried photoplays and vaudeville for a year from March 17th, 1919 to to April 20, 1920 to no avail. It reopened Jun 11, 1920 reverting to the National Theatre. That lasted six months. It found new operators on Christmas of 1920 and tried legit stage. That appears to have stalled in early 1923. Its biggest booking was actress and notorious drug user Juanita Hansen on the vaudeville circuit who sold out the 3,300 seat theatre for the first time likely since opening day, 1911, for a multiple live appearance show with “The Drug Traffic" as she talked about her struggles with cocaine and life with the addicted star, Wallace Reid.
E.M. Loew took it on the venue on July 13, 1928 wiring it for sound soon thereafter and giving it its first real marketing / advertising since 1923. In 1932, seating was reduced to the main floor indicating that Loew likely re-seated the main floor and gave up servicing the vast reaches of the third and second balconies. Loew left on July 13, 1938 - exactly 10 years and, therefore, likely a sublease expiry only to return for an extended encore run. Loew left in April of 1968 ending a long, 40-year run on a third-run, grind policy.
The venue had a last film run as an independent by the operator of the West End Cinema. The National’s last advertised movie was May 11, 1969 with Stella Stevens in “The Mad Room” and and Jack Palance in “Torture Garden.” In 1971, it became the home of the Boston Center for the Arts and Stage I Theatre at the National Theatre.
The City of Boston had acquired it in 1975 operating it as the National Theatre with opera and other live events. But it closed the National in 1978 for a variety of code compliance issues.
Its lack of architectural firepower, cost of code upgrades, and lengthy dormancy doomed it. The National’s last ad was in August of 1996 asking for bidders to demolish it. That took place in 1997. Its structural resolve wasn’t in question as the building was stout until the midpoint of its razing.
The new Opera House in Dunsmuir opened with a live play on October 17, 1903 called “Shooting the Chutes.” Saloon operator J.C. Wagoner also operated a tavern in the multi-use, two story building. The Opera House scuffled as the G&L Theatre and the Auditorium were counter programming effectively with movies. One of the last events under the Opera House moniker was a game called “Basket Ball” featuring two teams showing great speed and skill in 1916.
A new operator took over the venue on March 1, 1916 and it became the Lyric Theatre. Better operators Creque and Webster came along later in the year renaming it the Strand Theatre on September 30, 1916 with more favorable films and better projection.
In 1922, the entirety of the building was given over to the Strand with a second floor balcony and a main floor. In October of 1926, a three manual Robert Morton pipe organ improved film presentations as the theatre tried to fend off the new-build California Theatre.
With sound an issue, the Strand changed owners three times between 1928 and 1929 - a bad sign. And the Strand appears to have closed following the October 5, 1929 showing of “Captain Cowboy” and an episode of the serial, “Police Reporter” and a George LeMaire comedy short. The Strand basement flooded following heavy rains and W.A. Waschau’s license to operate the theatre expired in early 1930… and that was that.
The space was converted to the Strand Cafe in 1931 and housed J.C. Wagoner’s second-hand furniture store beginning in 1934.
Frank Talmage opened the new Auditorium on July 4, 1913 - a two day celebration - with dancing. Its “formal opening” was as the Auditorium Theater on October 7, 1913 with a stage play, “Officer 666.” Gardner and Lee of the G&L Theatre took on the programming in 1914 switching it to vaudeville and movies. By the end of World War I it was primarily used for events prior to burning down in 1921.
Film executive H. G. McNeese of the Selznick Distributing Corporation of Dallas was also an active small town theatre operator in Texas. In 1927, he acquired the existing Gem Theatre - renaming it the Palace - and built a new theatre in an existing building, the Ken-Tex in downtown Kennedy, Texas. The venue launched on June 14, 1927. McNeese’s plan of buying and selling late silent-era theaters must have worked as a year later, he sold the venue to Hall Industries.
Citing name standardization, they adopted the much less interesting Rialto Theatre on March 8, 1928. They would equip it with sound to remain viable. Hall Indutries also reduced the town to a oner closing its earlier Gem / Palace Theatre. Hall also gave it a widescreen transformation to present CinemaScope titles. Its last advertised show was March 15, 1982 with “Zoot Suit.”
The most unusual item to happen is that the John Wayne, Keenan Wynn, Jeff Chandler, Greer Garson and others Movietime Tour 1951 were forced to make an unscheduled stop when the town blockaded its entry point forcing the tour to either turn around or make an appearance. Photos show Wayne and company in front of the movie theater. Efforts to preserve the venue decades later failed by 2010 as the marquee was offered for sale and removed in 2019. The venue appears to be vacant in the 2020s.
Sam L. Taylor watched his Kozy Theatre burn down in a nitrate film explosion in the projection booth during a busy showing of “Mutiny on the Bounty” on January 23, 1936 which took out the Kozy Ice Cream Shoppe and Taylor’s home all in the same building. Fortunately nobody was killed.
Taylor had seen this before as he watched Fayard’s Pictorium, the nickelodeon he was operating in 1914, also get wiped out by fire. After the Kozy 1936 fire, he signed up local contractor Bernard L. Knost to rebuild a new venue called the Avalon Theatre. The plans were drawn by Moise H. Goldstein, Sr. of New Orleans.
Taylor was a programmer since the 1910s in P-C and knew he his duty was to fulfill the contract for “Mutiny on the Bounty” - the first film shown at the new Avalon on April 19, 1936. It was joined by the Moonlite Drive-In in 1950. Slidell Theatres Circuit took it on in the 1950s steering it to closure in 1959. George Bourgeois & Associates relit it and became the final operators in 1960.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed a great percentage of Pass Christian including the downtown containing the Avalon - which had become an antique store and a book store. A picture in photos shows just the auditorium remaining as the front and lobby were washed away in 2005. This theatre was at 109 East Scenic Drive.
Closed for a streamline moderne refresh in 1946 and came back with that new look on April 13, 1946. The last show listed is January 29, 1956 with a double feature of “The Human Jungle” and “Overland Pacific.” That times out with a ten-year leasing expiry. It became the Regal Furniture Store in 1957. Its neighbor, the Booker T Grill continued into the 1990s as part of the Farish Street Historic District well after the theatre closed.
R.W. Tyson’s Capitol Theatre opened nearby on the same block in 1933 and he decided to have double the fun when he opened the State Theatre here on June 11, 1935 with Columbia Pictures' distributed UK feature with Jessie Matthews in “Evergreen” supported by the Columbia Pictures Andy Clyde short, “Sawbones,” a Columbia “Spice of Life” comedy series short, and a Columbia “Sport Thrills series short, "Flying Pigskins.”
The State Theatre closed at the expiry of a 20-year leasing term on August 11, 1955 with Glenn Ford and William Holden in “The Man from Colorado.” Its next advertisement listed 550 seats for sale along with the Walker Screen, Simplex projectors, Western Electric sound, Carrier HVAC, and more indications of a potential forthcoming demolition. It did join the parking lot brigade.
The Jackson Square Mall Shopping Center was announced in August of 1966 as a regional mall anchored by a Zaire’s department store - its first in the State of Mississippi. The plaza looks to have been downsized between initial drawing and groundbreaking that took place on May Day 1968 at I-20 and I-55. A suburban luxury cinema was added to the drawings that would open a year after the center and operated by Atco of Atlanta.
Zayre department store unofficially launched the center on November 14, 1968. The grand opening was held for the entire center on February 26, 1969. Atco prepped its Ultra-Vision theater, the first such in the state of Mississippi. Its 70' wide screen matched the Deville Cinema’s as the suburban theaters would pressure the two remaining downtown houses for best clearances and the remaining patrons. The Jackson Square Theatre opening was on April 24, 1970 with “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
Atco left the building with ABC Interstate taking over May 1, 1974. In June of 1978, Plitt Southern acquired the ABC Interstate portfolio. Effective November 3, 1978, the Jackson Square Theatre became a Plitt Southern location. Plitt dishonorably discharged the Jackson Square here on Labor Day, September 6, 1982 with “An Officer and a Gentleman.” They made the right call. Zayre left the plaza on December 31, 1987 leading a a swift descent into greyfield status for the shopping center.
A church took over the theatre under the Jesusislordchurch namesake to reduce taxing liabilities and then the City of Jackson followed suit trying to prop up the remainder of the former Jackson Square Mall Plaza which changed its name to The City Plaza - and looking ramshackle in the 2020s.
The Marvel Theatorium, believed to be downtown Jackson’s third nickelodeon, opened June 14, 1907. On December 14, 1908, it became the Hippodrome. It closed in 1909.
he Century opened a little late on October 10, 1901 with the play, “The Little Minister.” The theatre was a multi-purpose building that replaced the Robinson Opera House on Pearl Street while providing needed office space above. The double balcony venue provided a first balcony for smokers and a second for African American patrons.
Its first traveling movie show appears to have taken place in 1904 and would be a harbinger of things to come. In 1915, the venue switched to full time films under the New Century nameplate before reverting to Century.
Saenger Amusement took on the programming with elevated vaudeville. But Kensington-Saenger went bold a a major refresh shown at its reopening on November 12 and 14, 1927. Films would return to the venue under the New Century Theatre name. Its new Robert Morton pipe organ was played by Tom Bautovich on November 14, 1927 with John Barrymore and Dolores Costello in “When a Man Loves.” The organ replaced the upper balcony. The one thing they didn’t consider in the refresh was sound films.
That was rectified when the first talkie was played on February 18, 1929 with “The Shopworn Angel.” It again was called the New Century Theatre. It closed but the opening of a competing theatre, the Capitol Theatre prompted a competitive move. A major refresh led to another grand opening on August 14, 1933 and again as the New Century Theatre.
The Century ended a bit over halfway through on July 1, 1950 with “Renegade of the Sage,” “Killer Shark!” and an episode of the serial, “Wild Bill Hickock.” A. Lloyd Royal of Royal Theatres and Productions took on the house. The venue was given a major makeover becoming the confusingly-named Royal Music Hall relaunching December 23, 1950 with “I’ll Get By.” New Century would have been more acceptable to all - even though it had been played a few times already.
The venue’s final refresh was in January 1954 with an upgrade to widescreen projection to present CinemaScope films. Toward the end of its run, you could see an exploitation film, a live burlesque show, a Halloween spook show, or even an art film as it scuffled to closure. It outlasted other 1950s casualties, the New Joy, State, Royal, Pix, and Majestic. Its closure on June 23, 1959 with Brigitte Bardot in “The Light Across the Street” was played with no announcement of its departure.
Its final ad was just ahead offering all fixtures for sale in a demolition of the Century Theatre (take that Royal Music Hall fans). The building was gone by 1961.
R.W. Tyson’s Capitol Theatre opened here (215 West Capitol not Capital) as a deep discount house on October 16, 1933 in an existing retail building. The first film was “The Big Brain” with a capacity crowd. The moribund Century was relit to make life difficult for Tyson but it encouraged Tyson to open the State Theatre in a neighboring spot. In 1936, the Capitol was taken over by Verne Buck’s Hattiesburg Amusement for another location of its regional chain of Buck Theaters. In February of 1939, it was taken over by Paramount Circuit which ran it for most of its WW2 years.
Discount operator Joy Houck’s Joy Theatres took on the Buck Theatre as the Gay Theatre on April 2, 1945 with “Dr. Gilllespie’s Criminal Case" with ultra low pricing. It was given a face lift with better air conditioning and larger screen at its relaunch later that year as the New Joy on November 24th, 1945.
The New Joy went to no joy after the June 6, 1954 triple feature of “Monkey Business,” “Montana Territory,” and Boris Karloff’s “The Mummy.” The building was converted for other retail uses and the building was still standing in the 21st Century.
Just to fill in some of the comments above, this entry should be the UA Ellis Isle Cinema 4. It was part of the Ellis Isle Shopping Center, a discount strip plaza for southwestsiders in Jackson. The center was announced in 1972 anchored by a Woolco and a Warehouse Grocery Center, purportedly the second largest grocery store in the U.S.A. with the Ogden-Perry twin cinema an original feature. It would get a less than ideal position behind the Center and almost unseeable from the highway that it was parallel to. But that wouldn’t matter as the theatre would ride “Jaws” in 1975 to become the highest attended film in Jackson history (to that point). The architect was Harold Brumfield, Sr. of Brumfield & Associates.
Ground was broken for the plaza in October 11, 1972. The theatre was an original tenant and built during the luxury suburban era of cinema exhibition as the Ellis Isle Twin Cinema. It had twin, 500-seat auditoriums at launch March 29, 1974. The $300,000 venue was under pressure by multiple chains with more screens in the early multiplex era so Ogden-Perry split the twins and had four, 225-seat auditoriums for a total count at 900 seats. That was celebrated on March 14, 1980 as the Ellis Isle Cinema Four. Woolco left the center in bankruptcy in January of 1983. Ogden-Perry would follow suit leaving the theatre following the September 5, 1985 showtimes and their own filing for bankruptcy four days later. The venue reopened at month’s end by an independent, local operator that lasted just three weeks until closure on October 17, 1985.
Gulf States relit the theatre as a first-run house on June 6, 1986 as the Ellis Isle Cinema 4. Gulf was a quick study and just three months later demoted the venue to a $1 sub-run discount house on September 19, 1986. That returned patrons to the theatre. Three months later, UA bought out Gulf States. The venue became the UA Ellis Isle 4 on June 26, 1987 repositioned with first-run titles. On September 11, 1987, it reverted to a sub-run dollar house. In the 1990s, the megaplex era had arrived and UA now had two 10-screen houses in the Parkway Place 10 and the Northpark 10… and the Ellis Isle 4 which it was trying to milk to the end of its lease. That date came on a Sunday night, June 27, 1993, with the UA Ellis Isle Cinema 4 closing permanently with “Sidekicks,” “CB4,” “Cop and a Half,” “Excessive Force” and “Boiling Point.”
The Ellis Isle Shopping Center and its immediate surroundings fell into a deep greyfield status with high vacancy rates and crime rates to match - including cocaine sales in the parking lot. Not good optics as the surrounding businesses also left the area. The Center made it to its 30th birthday but there was little to celebrate. In 2005, New Horizon Church took on the shopping plaza for $2 million taking the former Warehouse turned Sack and Save grocery location for its house of worship. The facility was renamed as The Renaissance (Center) - but the weather gods clearly disagreed and blew that overlay sign away in 2014 revealing the legacy Ellis Isle name. And because conditions didn’t improve, the gods spoke once more and the Ellis Isle signage atop the 70' sign then blew away in the 2020s along with a chunk of the former Woolco anchor store leaving it as the benign (INO) “r"enaissance until New Horizon left in 2024.
The theatre is listed at 1770 Bobby Rush Boulevard when Ellis Avenue’s name was changed in 2022. The former Renaissance / Ellis Isle / derelict plaza could be purchased for $5.25 million - an opportunity for anyone wishing to operate the cinema and a former Woolco.
Houston D. Bowers was a movie pioneer in Jackson. He would operate four different Jackson Theatres using Majestic. Majestic Theatre “#1” / Majestic Theatre No. 1 at 113 West Capitol Street; Gem Theatre / Majestic Theatre No. 2 at 139 East Capitol; the New Majestic Theatre / Majestic Theatre “#2” at 126 E. Capitol; and the long-running New Majestic / Majestic Theatre “#3” here at 124 E. Capitol. His tagline was “Houston Bowers: The Man who Put Move in Movies” (see photos).
Houston and his brother Joe bought a retail operation called Lightning Cash Store and transformed it to Bowers Bros. in 1899. Houston then operated his first nickelodeon, the short-lived Theatorium at on February 7, 1907 with “San Francisco Earthquake and Fire,” “Moonlight Dreams,” and “Fighting the Flames” at 120 West Capitol. It competed apparently unsuccessfully with the Jackson Theatorium which opened on March 16, 1907 at 117 North State by by W.P Flinn, its near neighbor, the Marvel Theatorium - the Theatorium’s neighbor at 113 North State Street opening June 14, 1907 and the longer-running Dixie Theatorium / Dixie Theatre at 216 S. State by Jack Hall.
Majestic Theatre #1 / Majestic No. 1 and Majestic No. 2 (aka Gem): The brothers store was bought out by R.E. Kennington who hired the Bowers Brothers at his store. Houston Bowers decided to get back into movie theatre operation opening the Majestic Theatre “#1” at 113 West Capitol Street on March 6, 1911. His movie house had first-run films and a $3,500 pipe organ - something that was uncommon in that era of nickelodeons in Jackson. Mrs. Katherine Woodford operated the competing Gem Theatre that had opened in 1910 and she was the first female film operator in town. Bowers leased that theatre at 139 East Capitol renaming it Majestic Theatre No. 2 with the original being renamed as Majestic Theatre No. 1.
New Majestic Theatre / Majestic Theatre “#2”: Bowers opened a much more significant movie theatre in the first era of movie palaces with the New Majestic at 126 East Capitol on September 14, 1913. Majestic No. 2 was sold and returned to its original Gem Theatre namesake operating to 1917. Majestic #1 on West Capitol operated just a little longer during the State Fair of 1913 before closing.
New Majestic / Majestic Theatre “#3”. The final Majestic had a 35 year run is is most remembered for its sound era operation. Majestic Theatre “#2” turned out to be undersized as movies became more profitable and better attended than live stage plays and, in many cases, live vaudeville. Bowers would sell the venue to F.W. Woolworth’s dime store which would run more than 60 years in that location. Bowers had purchased the neighboring building at 124 E. Capitol and had it razed for a new-build, very large capacity (1,800 people) New Majestic / Majestic Theatre “#3” was ready on October 22, 1915 for a soft opening with Geraldine Farrar in “Carmen.” He incorporated his entertainment company based on the theater’s opening and with designs on becoming a chain operator.
The theatre had a main floor of around 1,000 patrons with a second balcony for smokers and a third balcony for African American patrons - about 400 cap each said to be very tight. Unfortunately, just prior to the theatre’s launch, Bowers' wife, Octavine Bowers died at around age 40. Two months after the soft launch the grand opening event was just five days away from its grand opening with a major film star en route. Then Houston Bowers, dropped dead at age 44 on December 28, 1915.
His brother found a successor in his boss: dry goods store owner R.E. Kennington in April of 1916. Kennington drew up plans to modernize the theatre (as seen in photos) and - as Kennington’s Majestic Theatre (Majestic Theatre #3” ver. 2.0 - would promptly be gutted by fire in January of 1917. It would reopen on April 17, 1917 with a new look.
Saenger Amusement of New Orleans took on the Century Theatre with live programming in 1917. They made a bold move pairing up with Kennington to make the Majestic Theatre a real movie palace in 1926. Kennington-Saenger’s New Majestic Theatre #3 ver. 3.0 opened June 14, 1926. This was theatre which people remembered because it was downsized to 980 seats and given a $25,000 Morton Organ which was largely built in place of the third balcony other than the console.
The final significant transition was Majestic #3 ver. 3.5 - the addition of Vitaphone sound on September 13, 1928 with “Glorious Betsy.” In the 1930s, it was equipped with sound-on-film replacing discs. In June of 1929, Publix acquired the Majestic, Century and Istrione theaters. But streamline palaces such as the Saenger’s Paramount and the upgrading of the Century Theatre put the Majestic into a third-tier spot. When post-War suburban movie houses, drive-ins, and television put a crimp in business, the Majestic’s days were numbered. Under final operator Paramount-Gulf Theatres, the Majestic closed July 14, 1951 with Rod Cameron in “Oh, Susanna” supported by a cartoon and a newsreel.
Woolworth’s - which had bought the earlier Majestic Theatre #2 - now purchased Majestic Theatre #3 to expand to a larger store that operated all the way to April of 1977. In their tearing out of the old theatre, give Woolworth’s a ton of credit for properly de-installing the moribund Robert Morton organ console from the pit and its mechanics from the third balcony at their expense and properly documenting its donation. Woolworth’s was operating on a 40-year lease. But in 1976, the City of Jackson announced a plan to buy and raze 17 properties for a downtown revitalization project which took out the former Majestic #2, #3 and still operating Woolworth. Woolworth’s closed in April of 1977 and the building was razed thereafter.
The Silver Slipper was purchased by new operators in August of 1941 and they gave the ozoner a new look with new technology at its relaunch on October 17, 1941 as Drive-In Theatre - likely on a 20-year lease.
Half-way through the venue was rebranded as the Hi-Way 80 Drive-In Theatre on January 23, 1951 with “West Point Story.” On February 22, 1954, it was advertised as the 80 Drive-In likely with a new widescreen tower. And closed at the end of its 20-year leasing agreement in 1961.
An article said that the property had been designated for the Interstate project that would become I-20; and although very close by, the I-20 project didn’t use the exact location of the 80 D-I.
The Park Theatre - a post-War, 1,200 seat suburban operation - launched October 8, 1948 with its grand opening ad in photos featuring “Easter Parade” as the opening film. But on April 19, 1949, its plaster ceiling collapsed on a gathering audience injuring 39 people.
The theatre closed and reopened with a lighter weight, asbestos ceiling tile construction with a grand reopening on July 3, 1949. The venue was retrofitted with widescreen projection to present CinemaScope titles. It closed at the end of its thirty year leasing agreement on its 30th Anniversary, Oct. 8, 1978 with “The Executioner and Truck Turner.” No word if asbestos remediation has taken place.
October 8, 1948 grand opening ad with “Easter Parade” as the opening film
O.L. Allen announced the WW2 era Lake Theatre in 1944 which was greenlit by the War Production Board for the benefit of Dow Chemical employees. It was a multi-use building with two retailers and the theater. It opened February 1, 1945 with “Tahiti Nights" and an opening policy of midnight shows for the second shift workers. However, that was scuttled early on by local, non-Dow employees and the theatre shifted to Wendnesday matinees in addition to the weekend mats.
Fast forward to June 13, 1997 when the Starplex 10 Cinemas in Lake Jackson was a game changer that allowed J.C. Mitchell and Company to close the Lake Theatre on June 12, 1997 and they donated the facility to the City of Lake Jackson. The Cinema 1 & 2 was downgraded to discount status and continued to offer the Starplex discount kiddie matinees.
June 13, 1997 grand opening ad in photos.
The Cameo opened Christmas Day 1938 with Wayne Morris “Valley of the Giants” and Ann Shirley in “Girls School”
The Ray Theatre was Ray Clouse’s second venue after the Pix Theatre. The new build project was designed by local architect Noah Webster Overstreet, Sr., of N.W. Overstreet & Associates. It opened May 4, 1941 with “One Night at the Tropics.”
The National Theatre launched with vaudeville on November 18, 1911 on Tremont Street. The building cost $500,000 - above average for a 1911-built theater but not overwhelmingly as it had 3,300 seats. It would not be unfair to place it with architect Clarence Howard Blackall’s top Boston venues though two steps down from the Colonial and one each from the Metro and Olympia. However, its name and programatic direction didn’t get on track. Just six years later, it became the Boston Hippodrome on November 24, 1917.
It had a brief run as the Waldorf as they tried photoplays and vaudeville for a year from March 17th, 1919 to to April 20, 1920 to no avail. It reopened Jun 11, 1920 reverting to the National Theatre. That lasted six months. It found new operators on Christmas of 1920 and tried legit stage. That appears to have stalled in early 1923. Its biggest booking was actress and notorious drug user Juanita Hansen on the vaudeville circuit who sold out the 3,300 seat theatre for the first time likely since opening day, 1911, for a multiple live appearance show with “The Drug Traffic" as she talked about her struggles with cocaine and life with the addicted star, Wallace Reid.
E.M. Loew took it on the venue on July 13, 1928 wiring it for sound soon thereafter and giving it its first real marketing / advertising since 1923. In 1932, seating was reduced to the main floor indicating that Loew likely re-seated the main floor and gave up servicing the vast reaches of the third and second balconies. Loew left on July 13, 1938 - exactly 10 years and, therefore, likely a sublease expiry only to return for an extended encore run. Loew left in April of 1968 ending a long, 40-year run on a third-run, grind policy.
The venue had a last film run as an independent by the operator of the West End Cinema. The National’s last advertised movie was May 11, 1969 with Stella Stevens in “The Mad Room” and and Jack Palance in “Torture Garden.” In 1971, it became the home of the Boston Center for the Arts and Stage I Theatre at the National Theatre.
The City of Boston had acquired it in 1975 operating it as the National Theatre with opera and other live events. But it closed the National in 1978 for a variety of code compliance issues.
Its lack of architectural firepower, cost of code upgrades, and lengthy dormancy doomed it. The National’s last ad was in August of 1996 asking for bidders to demolish it. That took place in 1997. Its structural resolve wasn’t in question as the building was stout until the midpoint of its razing.
The new Opera House in Dunsmuir opened with a live play on October 17, 1903 called “Shooting the Chutes.” Saloon operator J.C. Wagoner also operated a tavern in the multi-use, two story building. The Opera House scuffled as the G&L Theatre and the Auditorium were counter programming effectively with movies. One of the last events under the Opera House moniker was a game called “Basket Ball” featuring two teams showing great speed and skill in 1916.
A new operator took over the venue on March 1, 1916 and it became the Lyric Theatre. Better operators Creque and Webster came along later in the year renaming it the Strand Theatre on September 30, 1916 with more favorable films and better projection.
In 1922, the entirety of the building was given over to the Strand with a second floor balcony and a main floor. In October of 1926, a three manual Robert Morton pipe organ improved film presentations as the theatre tried to fend off the new-build California Theatre.
With sound an issue, the Strand changed owners three times between 1928 and 1929 - a bad sign. And the Strand appears to have closed following the October 5, 1929 showing of “Captain Cowboy” and an episode of the serial, “Police Reporter” and a George LeMaire comedy short. The Strand basement flooded following heavy rains and W.A. Waschau’s license to operate the theatre expired in early 1930… and that was that.
The space was converted to the Strand Cafe in 1931 and housed J.C. Wagoner’s second-hand furniture store beginning in 1934.
Frank Talmage opened the new Auditorium on July 4, 1913 - a two day celebration - with dancing. Its “formal opening” was as the Auditorium Theater on October 7, 1913 with a stage play, “Officer 666.” Gardner and Lee of the G&L Theatre took on the programming in 1914 switching it to vaudeville and movies. By the end of World War I it was primarily used for events prior to burning down in 1921.
Film executive H. G. McNeese of the Selznick Distributing Corporation of Dallas was also an active small town theatre operator in Texas. In 1927, he acquired the existing Gem Theatre - renaming it the Palace - and built a new theatre in an existing building, the Ken-Tex in downtown Kennedy, Texas. The venue launched on June 14, 1927. McNeese’s plan of buying and selling late silent-era theaters must have worked as a year later, he sold the venue to Hall Industries.
Citing name standardization, they adopted the much less interesting Rialto Theatre on March 8, 1928. They would equip it with sound to remain viable. Hall Indutries also reduced the town to a oner closing its earlier Gem / Palace Theatre. Hall also gave it a widescreen transformation to present CinemaScope titles. Its last advertised show was March 15, 1982 with “Zoot Suit.”
The most unusual item to happen is that the John Wayne, Keenan Wynn, Jeff Chandler, Greer Garson and others Movietime Tour 1951 were forced to make an unscheduled stop when the town blockaded its entry point forcing the tour to either turn around or make an appearance. Photos show Wayne and company in front of the movie theater. Efforts to preserve the venue decades later failed by 2010 as the marquee was offered for sale and removed in 2019. The venue appears to be vacant in the 2020s.
The Ken-Tex Theatre opens on June 14, 1927 by H.G. McNeese. He also bought the Palace and renamed it the Gem Theatre.
Grand opening January 5, 1950 ad in photos
Sam L. Taylor watched his Kozy Theatre burn down in a nitrate film explosion in the projection booth during a busy showing of “Mutiny on the Bounty” on January 23, 1936 which took out the Kozy Ice Cream Shoppe and Taylor’s home all in the same building. Fortunately nobody was killed.
Taylor had seen this before as he watched Fayard’s Pictorium, the nickelodeon he was operating in 1914, also get wiped out by fire. After the Kozy 1936 fire, he signed up local contractor Bernard L. Knost to rebuild a new venue called the Avalon Theatre. The plans were drawn by Moise H. Goldstein, Sr. of New Orleans.
Taylor was a programmer since the 1910s in P-C and knew he his duty was to fulfill the contract for “Mutiny on the Bounty” - the first film shown at the new Avalon on April 19, 1936. It was joined by the Moonlite Drive-In in 1950. Slidell Theatres Circuit took it on in the 1950s steering it to closure in 1959. George Bourgeois & Associates relit it and became the final operators in 1960.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed a great percentage of Pass Christian including the downtown containing the Avalon - which had become an antique store and a book store. A picture in photos shows just the auditorium remaining as the front and lobby were washed away in 2005. This theatre was at 109 East Scenic Drive.
Closed for a streamline moderne refresh in 1946 and came back with that new look on April 13, 1946. The last show listed is January 29, 1956 with a double feature of “The Human Jungle” and “Overland Pacific.” That times out with a ten-year leasing expiry. It became the Regal Furniture Store in 1957. Its neighbor, the Booker T Grill continued into the 1990s as part of the Farish Street Historic District well after the theatre closed.
R.W. Tyson’s Capitol Theatre opened nearby on the same block in 1933 and he decided to have double the fun when he opened the State Theatre here on June 11, 1935 with Columbia Pictures' distributed UK feature with Jessie Matthews in “Evergreen” supported by the Columbia Pictures Andy Clyde short, “Sawbones,” a Columbia “Spice of Life” comedy series short, and a Columbia “Sport Thrills series short, "Flying Pigskins.”
The State Theatre closed at the expiry of a 20-year leasing term on August 11, 1955 with Glenn Ford and William Holden in “The Man from Colorado.” Its next advertisement listed 550 seats for sale along with the Walker Screen, Simplex projectors, Western Electric sound, Carrier HVAC, and more indications of a potential forthcoming demolition. It did join the parking lot brigade.
The Jackson Square Mall Shopping Center was announced in August of 1966 as a regional mall anchored by a Zaire’s department store - its first in the State of Mississippi. The plaza looks to have been downsized between initial drawing and groundbreaking that took place on May Day 1968 at I-20 and I-55. A suburban luxury cinema was added to the drawings that would open a year after the center and operated by Atco of Atlanta.
Zayre department store unofficially launched the center on November 14, 1968. The grand opening was held for the entire center on February 26, 1969. Atco prepped its Ultra-Vision theater, the first such in the state of Mississippi. Its 70' wide screen matched the Deville Cinema’s as the suburban theaters would pressure the two remaining downtown houses for best clearances and the remaining patrons. The Jackson Square Theatre opening was on April 24, 1970 with “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
Atco left the building with ABC Interstate taking over May 1, 1974. In June of 1978, Plitt Southern acquired the ABC Interstate portfolio. Effective November 3, 1978, the Jackson Square Theatre became a Plitt Southern location. Plitt dishonorably discharged the Jackson Square here on Labor Day, September 6, 1982 with “An Officer and a Gentleman.” They made the right call. Zayre left the plaza on December 31, 1987 leading a a swift descent into greyfield status for the shopping center.
A church took over the theatre under the Jesusislordchurch namesake to reduce taxing liabilities and then the City of Jackson followed suit trying to prop up the remainder of the former Jackson Square Mall Plaza which changed its name to The City Plaza - and looking ramshackle in the 2020s.
The Marvel Theatorium, believed to be downtown Jackson’s third nickelodeon, opened June 14, 1907. On December 14, 1908, it became the Hippodrome. It closed in 1909.
The Marvel Theatorium opened June 14, 1907. On December 14, 1908, it became the Hippodrome under new operators. It closed in 1909.
he Century opened a little late on October 10, 1901 with the play, “The Little Minister.” The theatre was a multi-purpose building that replaced the Robinson Opera House on Pearl Street while providing needed office space above. The double balcony venue provided a first balcony for smokers and a second for African American patrons.
Its first traveling movie show appears to have taken place in 1904 and would be a harbinger of things to come. In 1915, the venue switched to full time films under the New Century nameplate before reverting to Century.
Saenger Amusement took on the programming with elevated vaudeville. But Kensington-Saenger went bold a a major refresh shown at its reopening on November 12 and 14, 1927. Films would return to the venue under the New Century Theatre name. Its new Robert Morton pipe organ was played by Tom Bautovich on November 14, 1927 with John Barrymore and Dolores Costello in “When a Man Loves.” The organ replaced the upper balcony. The one thing they didn’t consider in the refresh was sound films.
That was rectified when the first talkie was played on February 18, 1929 with “The Shopworn Angel.” It again was called the New Century Theatre. It closed but the opening of a competing theatre, the Capitol Theatre prompted a competitive move. A major refresh led to another grand opening on August 14, 1933 and again as the New Century Theatre.
The Century ended a bit over halfway through on July 1, 1950 with “Renegade of the Sage,” “Killer Shark!” and an episode of the serial, “Wild Bill Hickock.” A. Lloyd Royal of Royal Theatres and Productions took on the house. The venue was given a major makeover becoming the confusingly-named Royal Music Hall relaunching December 23, 1950 with “I’ll Get By.” New Century would have been more acceptable to all - even though it had been played a few times already.
The venue’s final refresh was in January 1954 with an upgrade to widescreen projection to present CinemaScope films. Toward the end of its run, you could see an exploitation film, a live burlesque show, a Halloween spook show, or even an art film as it scuffled to closure. It outlasted other 1950s casualties, the New Joy, State, Royal, Pix, and Majestic. Its closure on June 23, 1959 with Brigitte Bardot in “The Light Across the Street” was played with no announcement of its departure.
Its final ad was just ahead offering all fixtures for sale in a demolition of the Century Theatre (take that Royal Music Hall fans). The building was gone by 1961.
R.W. Tyson’s Capitol Theatre opened here (215 West Capitol not Capital) as a deep discount house on October 16, 1933 in an existing retail building. The first film was “The Big Brain” with a capacity crowd. The moribund Century was relit to make life difficult for Tyson but it encouraged Tyson to open the State Theatre in a neighboring spot. In 1936, the Capitol was taken over by Verne Buck’s Hattiesburg Amusement for another location of its regional chain of Buck Theaters. In February of 1939, it was taken over by Paramount Circuit which ran it for most of its WW2 years.
Discount operator Joy Houck’s Joy Theatres took on the Buck Theatre as the Gay Theatre on April 2, 1945 with “Dr. Gilllespie’s Criminal Case" with ultra low pricing. It was given a face lift with better air conditioning and larger screen at its relaunch later that year as the New Joy on November 24th, 1945.
The New Joy went to no joy after the June 6, 1954 triple feature of “Monkey Business,” “Montana Territory,” and Boris Karloff’s “The Mummy.” The building was converted for other retail uses and the building was still standing in the 21st Century.
Appears to have closed for films on October 10, 1975 with “Jaws.” Its lease was purchased.
Just to fill in some of the comments above, this entry should be the UA Ellis Isle Cinema 4. It was part of the Ellis Isle Shopping Center, a discount strip plaza for southwestsiders in Jackson. The center was announced in 1972 anchored by a Woolco and a Warehouse Grocery Center, purportedly the second largest grocery store in the U.S.A. with the Ogden-Perry twin cinema an original feature. It would get a less than ideal position behind the Center and almost unseeable from the highway that it was parallel to. But that wouldn’t matter as the theatre would ride “Jaws” in 1975 to become the highest attended film in Jackson history (to that point). The architect was Harold Brumfield, Sr. of Brumfield & Associates.
Ground was broken for the plaza in October 11, 1972. The theatre was an original tenant and built during the luxury suburban era of cinema exhibition as the Ellis Isle Twin Cinema. It had twin, 500-seat auditoriums at launch March 29, 1974. The $300,000 venue was under pressure by multiple chains with more screens in the early multiplex era so Ogden-Perry split the twins and had four, 225-seat auditoriums for a total count at 900 seats. That was celebrated on March 14, 1980 as the Ellis Isle Cinema Four. Woolco left the center in bankruptcy in January of 1983. Ogden-Perry would follow suit leaving the theatre following the September 5, 1985 showtimes and their own filing for bankruptcy four days later. The venue reopened at month’s end by an independent, local operator that lasted just three weeks until closure on October 17, 1985.
Gulf States relit the theatre as a first-run house on June 6, 1986 as the Ellis Isle Cinema 4. Gulf was a quick study and just three months later demoted the venue to a $1 sub-run discount house on September 19, 1986. That returned patrons to the theatre. Three months later, UA bought out Gulf States. The venue became the UA Ellis Isle 4 on June 26, 1987 repositioned with first-run titles. On September 11, 1987, it reverted to a sub-run dollar house. In the 1990s, the megaplex era had arrived and UA now had two 10-screen houses in the Parkway Place 10 and the Northpark 10… and the Ellis Isle 4 which it was trying to milk to the end of its lease. That date came on a Sunday night, June 27, 1993, with the UA Ellis Isle Cinema 4 closing permanently with “Sidekicks,” “CB4,” “Cop and a Half,” “Excessive Force” and “Boiling Point.”
The Ellis Isle Shopping Center and its immediate surroundings fell into a deep greyfield status with high vacancy rates and crime rates to match - including cocaine sales in the parking lot. Not good optics as the surrounding businesses also left the area. The Center made it to its 30th birthday but there was little to celebrate. In 2005, New Horizon Church took on the shopping plaza for $2 million taking the former Warehouse turned Sack and Save grocery location for its house of worship. The facility was renamed as The Renaissance (Center) - but the weather gods clearly disagreed and blew that overlay sign away in 2014 revealing the legacy Ellis Isle name. And because conditions didn’t improve, the gods spoke once more and the Ellis Isle signage atop the 70' sign then blew away in the 2020s along with a chunk of the former Woolco anchor store leaving it as the benign (INO) “r"enaissance until New Horizon left in 2024.
The theatre is listed at 1770 Bobby Rush Boulevard when Ellis Avenue’s name was changed in 2022. The former Renaissance / Ellis Isle / derelict plaza could be purchased for $5.25 million - an opportunity for anyone wishing to operate the cinema and a former Woolco.
Houston D. Bowers was a movie pioneer in Jackson. He would operate four different Jackson Theatres using Majestic. Majestic Theatre “#1” / Majestic Theatre No. 1 at 113 West Capitol Street; Gem Theatre / Majestic Theatre No. 2 at 139 East Capitol; the New Majestic Theatre / Majestic Theatre “#2” at 126 E. Capitol; and the long-running New Majestic / Majestic Theatre “#3” here at 124 E. Capitol. His tagline was “Houston Bowers: The Man who Put Move in Movies” (see photos).
Houston and his brother Joe bought a retail operation called Lightning Cash Store and transformed it to Bowers Bros. in 1899. Houston then operated his first nickelodeon, the short-lived Theatorium at on February 7, 1907 with “San Francisco Earthquake and Fire,” “Moonlight Dreams,” and “Fighting the Flames” at 120 West Capitol. It competed apparently unsuccessfully with the Jackson Theatorium which opened on March 16, 1907 at 117 North State by by W.P Flinn, its near neighbor, the Marvel Theatorium - the Theatorium’s neighbor at 113 North State Street opening June 14, 1907 and the longer-running Dixie Theatorium / Dixie Theatre at 216 S. State by Jack Hall.
Majestic Theatre #1 / Majestic No. 1 and Majestic No. 2 (aka Gem): The brothers store was bought out by R.E. Kennington who hired the Bowers Brothers at his store. Houston Bowers decided to get back into movie theatre operation opening the Majestic Theatre “#1” at 113 West Capitol Street on March 6, 1911. His movie house had first-run films and a $3,500 pipe organ - something that was uncommon in that era of nickelodeons in Jackson. Mrs. Katherine Woodford operated the competing Gem Theatre that had opened in 1910 and she was the first female film operator in town. Bowers leased that theatre at 139 East Capitol renaming it Majestic Theatre No. 2 with the original being renamed as Majestic Theatre No. 1.
New Majestic Theatre / Majestic Theatre “#2”: Bowers opened a much more significant movie theatre in the first era of movie palaces with the New Majestic at 126 East Capitol on September 14, 1913. Majestic No. 2 was sold and returned to its original Gem Theatre namesake operating to 1917. Majestic #1 on West Capitol operated just a little longer during the State Fair of 1913 before closing.
New Majestic / Majestic Theatre “#3”. The final Majestic had a 35 year run is is most remembered for its sound era operation. Majestic Theatre “#2” turned out to be undersized as movies became more profitable and better attended than live stage plays and, in many cases, live vaudeville. Bowers would sell the venue to F.W. Woolworth’s dime store which would run more than 60 years in that location. Bowers had purchased the neighboring building at 124 E. Capitol and had it razed for a new-build, very large capacity (1,800 people) New Majestic / Majestic Theatre “#3” was ready on October 22, 1915 for a soft opening with Geraldine Farrar in “Carmen.” He incorporated his entertainment company based on the theater’s opening and with designs on becoming a chain operator.
The theatre had a main floor of around 1,000 patrons with a second balcony for smokers and a third balcony for African American patrons - about 400 cap each said to be very tight. Unfortunately, just prior to the theatre’s launch, Bowers' wife, Octavine Bowers died at around age 40. Two months after the soft launch the grand opening event was just five days away from its grand opening with a major film star en route. Then Houston Bowers, dropped dead at age 44 on December 28, 1915.
His brother found a successor in his boss: dry goods store owner R.E. Kennington in April of 1916. Kennington drew up plans to modernize the theatre (as seen in photos) and - as Kennington’s Majestic Theatre (Majestic Theatre #3” ver. 2.0 - would promptly be gutted by fire in January of 1917. It would reopen on April 17, 1917 with a new look.
Saenger Amusement of New Orleans took on the Century Theatre with live programming in 1917. They made a bold move pairing up with Kennington to make the Majestic Theatre a real movie palace in 1926. Kennington-Saenger’s New Majestic Theatre #3 ver. 3.0 opened June 14, 1926. This was theatre which people remembered because it was downsized to 980 seats and given a $25,000 Morton Organ which was largely built in place of the third balcony other than the console.
The final significant transition was Majestic #3 ver. 3.5 - the addition of Vitaphone sound on September 13, 1928 with “Glorious Betsy.” In the 1930s, it was equipped with sound-on-film replacing discs. In June of 1929, Publix acquired the Majestic, Century and Istrione theaters. But streamline palaces such as the Saenger’s Paramount and the upgrading of the Century Theatre put the Majestic into a third-tier spot. When post-War suburban movie houses, drive-ins, and television put a crimp in business, the Majestic’s days were numbered. Under final operator Paramount-Gulf Theatres, the Majestic closed July 14, 1951 with Rod Cameron in “Oh, Susanna” supported by a cartoon and a newsreel.
Woolworth’s - which had bought the earlier Majestic Theatre #2 - now purchased Majestic Theatre #3 to expand to a larger store that operated all the way to April of 1977. In their tearing out of the old theatre, give Woolworth’s a ton of credit for properly de-installing the moribund Robert Morton organ console from the pit and its mechanics from the third balcony at their expense and properly documenting its donation. Woolworth’s was operating on a 40-year lease. But in 1976, the City of Jackson announced a plan to buy and raze 17 properties for a downtown revitalization project which took out the former Majestic #2, #3 and still operating Woolworth. Woolworth’s closed in April of 1977 and the building was razed thereafter.
Majestic Theatre #2 - September 14, 1913 at 126 E. Capitol with the first being nearby on West Capitol (both operating during the State Fair of 1913)
The Silver Slipper was purchased by new operators in August of 1941 and they gave the ozoner a new look with new technology at its relaunch on October 17, 1941 as Drive-In Theatre - likely on a 20-year lease.
Half-way through the venue was rebranded as the Hi-Way 80 Drive-In Theatre on January 23, 1951 with “West Point Story.” On February 22, 1954, it was advertised as the 80 Drive-In likely with a new widescreen tower. And closed at the end of its 20-year leasing agreement in 1961.
An article said that the property had been designated for the Interstate project that would become I-20; and although very close by, the I-20 project didn’t use the exact location of the 80 D-I.