Existing comment:
Grandest small-town theater in America:
The Majestic Theater has always united Gettysburg College with the broader community. The theater's history begins with Gettysburg College freshman Henry Scharf. After illness claimed his father, the 19-year-old took over his family business -- the Gettysburg Hotel. Three years later in 1925, Scharf built an annex north of the hotel with guest rooms, a gymnasium, and the Majestic Theater. The theater seated 1,200 patrons and was the largest vaudeville and silent movie theater in south-central Pennsylvania.
The theater was modernized over the decades, but it was in the 1980s that the theater experienced major change. A fire destroyed the hotel in 1983, but the theater was saved by the heroic efforts of volunteer fireman.. Afterwards, it was cold and converted into a triplex cinema. In 1988, the college purchased the hotel and theater and began renovating the facilities. The hotel reopened in 1991. Planning for the Majestic Theater restoration began in 1999.
1925 -- Opened:
On November 14, the doors of the Majestic Theater opened for the first time, featuring Cecil B. DeMille's 10-reel epic The Road to Yesterday. |