Hagerstown's Maryland Theater
The History
The Maryland Theater was opened on May 15,1915 on South Potomac Street
in Hagerstown. The theater still stands there today nearly eighty-three
years later! It was designed by the famous American architect, Thomas Lamb
who had designed many other famous theaters such as the Madison Square
Garden. The red carpet, pillars, and marble stairs helped make the construction
of the theater add up to about $200,000. Seating was available for 2,500
people including 1,000 seats on the main floor, 1,200 seats on the on the
balcony, and box seats on the side wall.
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In the early years the theater saw mostly live entertainment
and silent movies. In the beginning the Alsatia Club would put on a minstrel
show every year until racism became an issue. Also very popular were the
amateur shows featuring the local talents. In 1928, Al Johnson starred
in "The Jazz Singer" which was the first talking movie that played at the
Maryland Theater. In the 1930's and into the 1940's came many big name
stars to perform there. People like Will Rogers, Debby Reynolds, and Tex
Ritter appeared at the theater mostly to promote films or to sell war bonds.
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In 1934 a man by the name of John Hersh came to work for the theater
as an usher. Eventually he became a manager, and along with his family
he lived in an apartment on the fourth floor of the building.
Through the 1960's movie attendance fell due to the great popularity
of the drive-ins and the increasing number of families who owned their
own televisions. So, in November of 1973 the Maryland Theater was forced
to close.
Three months after they closed the theater a huge fire broke out
that could not be brought under control for six hours. Both the entrance
area and the lobby were destroyed along with four floors of the apartments,
including the one that the Hersh family lived in. Ironically enough, John
Hersh, Jr., was one of the firefighters on duty that night. Luckily, the
auditorium was left unharmed. Many different people bought the theater
in hopes of restoring it, but this was too costly and nobody succeeded.
A wrecking crew was preparing to save the Maryland Theater when a group
of citizens led by two local contractors, Jack Garott and Steve Sager,
started a campaign to "Save the Maryland Theatre!" Over $225,000 was raised
and the theater was completely restored in under two years.
The Maryland Theater
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