Majestic Theatre

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just here to pass it along the way Duane does. Now, San Antonio has seen its share of grand things, but every now and then something gets built that stops people cold. Nineteen twenty-eight.

That's the year they raised the Majestic Theatre, and they did not raise it cheap. Three million dollars. In nineteen twenty-eight.

You let that number sit a moment. The man holding the checkbook was Karl Hoblitzelle, owner of the Interstate Theatre chain. When Hoblitzelle wanted a showplace, he didn't just want a building.

He wanted a statement. So he called on John Eberson to design it, and Eberson was exactly the kind of architect you call when a statement is what you're after. What Eberson gave him was chiefly Spanish Colonial Revival in design, though calling it just that is a little like calling the Alamo a real old building.

The Eclectic features pile on in the best possible way. Paired columns sweep outward supporting a full-width canopy. An elaborate marquee commands your attention from the street.

And inside, there is an ornate palace courtyard interior that makes you forget, just for a little while, that you are standing inside a building at all. That was Eberson's whole idea with what he called atmospheric theatres. You were meant to feel transported.

And here is the thing that makes the Majestic worth stoppin' for on a Texas road. Most of those atmospheric theatres Eberson designed in the nineteen twenties are gone. Not this one.

The Majestic stands as an outstanding example of the few that remain, a three-million-dollar dream that outlasted nearly everything around it. Karl Hoblitzelle wanted a showplace. Turns out, he got one that the years couldn't close.

What the marker says

Constructed in 1928 at a cost of $3,000,000, this structure was designed by John Ebersonf or Karl Hoblitzelle, owner of the interstate theatre chain. Chiefly Spanish Colonial Revival in design, its Eclectic features include paired columns supporting a full-width canopy; an elaborate Marquee; and ornate place courtyard interior. The majestic is an outstanding example of the few remaining atmospheric theatres designed by Eberson in the 1920s. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1991.