Orpheum Theatre

714 1st Street,
Benicia, CA 94510

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Prof David Ducay
Prof David Ducay on December 25, 2017 at 12:50 am

Thanks for the information. Benicia has only had 3-4 movie theatres and none exist today, the Majestic building is still around but used mainly for stage plays and parties.

I have an old letter head of the People’s Theatre, the Proprietor was a J.B. Maloche, a businessman around the late 1800s. The letterhead does mention it as a Popular moving picture house. Just don’t know any exact dates it was in business…

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 25, 2017 at 12:32 am

The Majestic was built by former Benicia mayor William Crooks, probably as an investment, and it is likely that a deal was made, possibly even before the project was underway, for a theater operator to lease it. The lessee might have been the operator of the Orpheum, or someone else, but either way it’s unlikely that Crooks would have been concerned about the fate of the Orpheum.

I’ve done some searches on the Peoples Theatre in Martinez but have found nothing. Many small nickelodeons came and went quickly in those days, so it might have been one of those.

Prof David Ducay
Prof David Ducay on December 23, 2017 at 10:09 pm

I always wondered why they would close the Orpheum Theatre and open another theatre up right next door (1920 – Majestic Theatre), unless it was the same owner(?)

Joe Vogel, just curious do you have any information regarding the Peoples Threatre in Martinez, Ca. guessing it opened around the same time as the National…

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 23, 2017 at 9:55 pm

Ah, now that the historic photo has been posted it looks like the building was extended upward to add a second floor sometime after the Orpheum closed, so it’s possible that it was erected specifically as a theater in 1913.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 23, 2017 at 9:51 pm

714 is the old, bay-windowed building adjacent to the Majestic Theatre. The building looks to have been built earlier than 1913, and so the National/Orpheum was probably a storefront conversion, closed and reconverted to retail space when the Majestic opened in 1920.

The building is currently occupied by Training Loft 714, a weight loss and “body transformation studio” (outside California aka, a gym.)