Peoples' Theatre
14 Nason Street,
Maynard,
MA
01754
14 Nason Street,
Maynard,
MA
01754
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The Peoples' Theatre Office Building is a prominent building in downtown Maynard. Even if the building didn’t have that sign on the front, it would be very obvious that this used to be a theatre. The Peoples' Theatre opened in 1921.
Any more information on it would be appreciated.
Contributed by
Ron Newman
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
An advertisement for both the Peoples and Fine Arts theatres is on page 92 of this book:
Maynard: Postcard History Series by Paul Boothroyd
The name of the theatre doesn’t have an apostrophe in this ad.
The caption under the ad says: “On May 6, 1921, Peoples Theatre on Nason Street was opened with a license to show moving pictures. In June 1949, the Fine Arts Theatre, a moving picture house on Summer Street, was opened. A few years later, Peoples was closed, and the Fine Arts became the only moving picture theatre in town.”
The movies advertised for the “Week of December 31” are Dallas with Gary Cooper, Crisis with Cary Grant, and Devil’s Doorway with Robert Taylor. All of these movies came out in 1950 so I assume that’s when the ad ran. Admission was 44 cents, or 16 cents for children before 6:30. There are ‘Daily Broadcasts from WKOX Framingham’ but this is not otherwise explained in the ad.
The STAR Tech Healing and Learning Center appears to be one of the principal tenants of the Peoples' Theatre Office Building. A good photo of the building, complete with intact (or re-created) marquee, is on STAR Tech’s web page.
Since the sign on top has an apostrophe after PEOPLES' , that’s the name I used here when submitting this theatre.
Open May 6, 1921-~1955? Anyone care to verify the exact dates?
Need more info and old photos.
Where did you find the 1955 date?
Here is a photo of the People’s Theatre, from a history of Maynard published in 1921.
Can you also link to the whole book and tell us what page this was on? Thanks.
The book is A Brief History of the Town of Maynard, Massachusetts by William H. Gutteridge. The photo is on page 75, and the theater is also mentioned briefly on page 64.
What is the ‘Rivest Site’ ?
The “People’s” is listed under Maynard in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook. It’s listed as having 700 seats and open 6 days per week. There is also a Riverside Theatre listed for Maynard. It had 383 seats and was also open 6 days per week.