Majestic Theatre

At the turn of the century Ft. Worth's live entertainment consisted chiefly of saloon, dance hall, church, and school presentations. Matters changed in 1905 when Karl Hoblitzelle founded the Interstate Amusement Company and chose Ft. Worth for its Southwest Vaudeville Theater Circuit. One of Interstate's famous "Atmospheric" Majestic Theaters was built at Tenth and Commerce streets (one block south) in 1910-11. The Majestic's lavish interior included Turkish rugs, French doors and mirrors, plush Spanish leather upholstery and a lobby with marble floors, hand-painted walls, and 18 karat gold leaf ceilings. The 1,356-seat theater reportedly contained the country's first indirect stage lighting system and the country's largest concrete arch, an 80-foot balcony support beam. Performers on Ft. Worth's Majestic stage included Will Rogers, Walter Huston, Tallulah Bankhead, and Fred Allen. The Theater added feature movies to its vaudeville program in 1922 and in 1932 discontinued its vaudeville presentations. Thereafter strictly a motion picture theater the Majestic fell on hard times and closed in 1953. Despite efforts to restore it, the Majestic was razed in 1970 to make room for the new Tarrant County Convention Center. (1993)

Majestic Theatre is a historical marker in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, dedicated in 1993. It is one of 358 historical markers documented in Tarrant County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 501 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7519, -97.3290 near Fort Worth. The nearest cataloged historic site is Worth, General William Jenkins (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Hotel Texas, Shelton Building, and Daggett, Ephraim Merrill.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5439004828. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.