{"nrhp_refnum":"77001437","name":"Majestic Theatre","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1925 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dallas","county":"Dallas County","state":"TX","lat":32.783638249000035,"lon":-96.79479041399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story theatre building at 1925 Elm Street in downtown Dallas, Texas, designed by theatre architect John Eberson. The cornerstone was laid on 18 October 1920 and the theatre opened on 11 April 1921.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a classic example of the opulent movie palace and an atmospheric theatre by John Eberson. It was the flagship of Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres chain, which brought vaudeville and later films to the southwest. The building reflects the entertainment industry at its height in the 1930s and 1940s.","narrative":"Majestic Theatre, at 1925 Elm Street in downtown Dallas, is a five-story, five-bay theatre designed by John Eberson in a Renaissance Revival manner. Its cornerstone was placed in October 1920 and it opened in April 1921, replacing an earlier Majestic of 1905 that had burned. Eberson was known for atmospheric theatres, and the auditorium kept its machinery for ceiling effects of clouds and stars, a fan-shaped plan seating 2,400 on three levels, and Roman garden paintings on the walls. Built as the flagship of Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres, it hosted vaudeville and, from 1925, motion pictures, and many well-known performers appeared on its stage. Hoblitzelle introduced air-conditioning and sound films to southwestern theatres. Exterior changes were mostly confined to the ground floor, including a 1948 marquee, while the lobby and auditorium kept much of their ornate detail. The theatre closed in 1973 and passed to the City of Dallas in 1976, which planned restoration for performing arts use.","period_of_significance":"1921","architect_builder":"John Eberson","architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Closed as a movie theatre in July 1973 and given to the City of Dallas on 28 October 1976; the form marks it unoccupied and says the city intends to restore it as a performing arts center.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.078847-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/9716/40971699/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001437.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001437/d736804386-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001437/d736804386-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"JVanT","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Majestic_Dallas_Exterior.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JVanT</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Majestic_Dallas_Exterior.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"04000894","name":"Dallas Downtown Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/dallas-downtown-historic-district-additional-documentation-04000894/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971699","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majestic_Theatre_(Dallas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6737714"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dallas-county/majestic-theatre-77001437/"}