Majestic Theater
347 Maynard Street,
Ann Arbor,
MI
48104
347 Maynard Street,
Ann Arbor,
MI
48104
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This history courtesy Dave Taylor. Note it confirms the 1907 opening date, different address and seating capacity.
“The Majestic Theater opened at 324 Maynard St. on September 19, 1907 with 1,100 seats; it was owned by Charles August Sauer, a lumber baron, and the structure was a former roller skating rink. Sauer and his brother built the first City Hall for Ann Arbor in 1907, and he became Mayor of Ann Arbor in 1915; unfortunately he passed away that same year at the age of 48 of typhoid fever shortly before Christmas.”
The Ann Arbor District Library has a 1930 photo of the Majestic. The caption gives the opening date of the theater as September 19, 1907
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.