Major Theatre
121 E. 3rd Street,
Washington,
KS
66968
121 E. 3rd Street,
Washington,
KS
66968
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The Major Theatre was built in 1936. The theatre was air-conditioned and fully equipped with all the latest devices for motion pictures. The electrical and neon marquee and display were also of the very latest type.
From almost its entire history, the theatre was run by the Swiercinsky family, whose patriarch and matriarch became known affectionately in Washington as Charlie and Rose.
But in the mid-1980’s, after nearly six decades of service, the Swiercinskys sold the theatre and retired.
Contributed by
Paul Salley
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
It is really awesome to see my great-grandparents theater on the web! Thanks for documenting it!
The Major Theatre seated 350 people.
A complete history of the Major Theatre can be read on the link below;
View link
The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook gives the address of the Major Theater as Main Street, Washington. KS. However this does not map today and has possibly been re-named?
According to the link posted above by Miss Melba Toast, C.H. Swiercinsky came to Washington in 1921 and purchased the Majestic Theatre. This was demolished and the new Major Theater was erected on the site;opening in 1936.
After closing in the mid-1980’s it was burnt down in the late-1980’s and never replaced
2006 link is now dead, archive link at http://web.archive.org/web/20070702102054/http://www.reeldiaries.com/moviehouse/articles/majortheater.htm
Complete link: http://web.archive.org/web/20080907181207/http://www.reeldiaries.com/moviehouse/articl es/majortheater.htm
I suspect ‘Main Street’ was just lazy shorthand for downtown. I’ve definitely seen that used in listings here and other references. There never was such a street. The theater was roughly at 121 E 3rd St. The Kansas Film Commission took photos of downtown in 1990 and July 2001. In 1990 the theater is obviously closed, but still has the marquee and canopy. In 2001, it is derelict, and all the openings are covered with weathered plywood. The sign and canopy are gone.
I don’t think this was a direct replacement of the older theater, but I can’t be sure. The 1911 map shows a small row of shops here. There is a theater at the NW corner of the square, as well as an opera house on Commercial (now C St).
The history is wrong, per Ken’s comment long ago. This was built in 1936. If anything was built here in 1921, it was the Majestic, which was replaced by this theater. Also, Chris’s link does not work due to formatting, but the older one from rivest does.