interested in movies and learned to operate the projector. Holland bought Clinton out in 1910, and became the first Mt. Pleasant native to operate a movie, and the second or third person to own one in Mt. Pleasant. Walter Ferguson was said to have been in the movie business later, and Wade and Davis of Gainesville also had their turn.
John Holland, who later became a jeweler at Swint's Drug Store, also owned an indoor theatre around 1911 located in a store front about mid-block on the east side of what is now the 300 block of North Jefferson Street. Mr. Holland later said that his first venture in the business cost him $300, which included the projector and the folding chairs. Sol Greenspun installed a sloped floor in the building for him. In addition to the indoor theater, Mr. Holland operated an airdome on the northwest corner of Fifth and Jefferson Streets. Movie houses went in and out until according to the Mt. Pleasant Daily Times, they became an established business and John D. Holland finally had the only show in town.
Around this time, John Martin became interested in the motion picture business. He was a progressive promoter of the business here, and in 1910, John Martin bought Mr. Holland's movie theatre and operated it in a store building. Martin also owned an airdome on the property just west of the Cotton Belt office building, which was then located on the northwest corner of what are now East Third and Washington Streets.
Mrs. Martin said that they advertised using a small wagon with a sign board that was driven by Joe Jessup. Mrs. Martin said Joe had a speech impediment and his "ballyhoo" for some of the pictures was rather difficult. He attracted a lot of attention for their movies because people would listen for Joe to see how he would shout the show's title.
John and Norma Martin soon began making plans to build the first really nice motion picture theatre, designed specifically as a movie theatre, between Dallas and Texarkana.
On March 17, 1913, John Martin and R. H. Fuller purchased the two lots where S. W. Webber's livery stable was previously located about mid-block on the north side of West Third Street between Jefferson and Madison Streets. The address is currently 112 West Third Street.
There, Mr. Martin erected the Martin Theatre using ornate architecture modeled after a Chicago theatre. The Martin's grand opening was held December 13, 1913, beginning the history of Mt. Pleasant's longest-running indoor movie theatre. In addition to showing movies (which had no sound when the Martin opened), the Martin contained a stage where traveling vaudeville troupes gave live performances in the early 1900s. The stage was also used for magicians and style shows. The Martin Theatre was remodeled several times. On December 18, 1923, the Martin Theatre installed a large pipe organ.
In the silent picture days any kind of painted screen was used, but later on the "mirroid" was the last word. They cost $150 and John Martin was one of the first to install one. When the Mutual Film Exchange opened in Dallas, Mt. Pleasant was selected as the first place to show their pictures-even before Dallas.
Before local radio and television existed, movie theatres exhibited news and educational films in addition to entertainment features to provide local people with current information of the day. In that day, movies were the only way to provide a large group of people with information, complete with sound and visual demonstrations. News "shorts" (films that showed short news stories of important national and world events) were regularly run between showings of the main feature. On special occasions the Martin Theatre showed educational films, sometimes free of charge, on topical subjects like modern farming practices. The educational films were an important public service to the community, since farming and agriculture were the county's main industry when these films were shown.
John and Norma operated the theatre together for a number of years, but in 1918 John's physical and mental health began to deteriorate rapidly, leaving Norma with combined responsibilities of the theatre and a sick husband.
Mt. Pleasant's movie theaters underwent rapid changes in the next three years. In mid-July, 1925, S. G. Fry and Associates of Omaha opened Mt. Pleasant's second movie theatre, the Palace. The Palace Theatre was located just down the block and across the street from the Martin in the Badt building on the southeast corner of what is now West Third and North Madison Streets. It was directly across from the former City Hall. S.G. Fry and Associates consisted of J. T. Ramage, the first manager, Miss Johnny Cherry, cashier, and two men from Mt. Pleasant. Mr. Ramage said that he had been watching Mt. Pleasant's growth for some time and felt that its business expansion justified another theatre. He had operated a theatre in Omaha, but when it was destroyed by fire he decided to relocate to Mt. Pleasant.
Johnny Martin was confined to the Terrell State Hospital in Terrell, Texas in 1926 due to "a mental breakdown" (to quote his obituary). Norma continued running the Martin until November 27, 1926, when she leased the theatre to Cosmo Enterprises of Dallas, Texas, who owned a number of theatres in Texas and Oklahoma. L. R. Petty, formerly of Jacksonville, managed the Martin under Cosmo's ownership.
Slightly more than a month after Norma sold the Martin Theatre, Johnny died from cerebral hemorrhages on December 30, 1926. He is buried in Mount Pleasant's Masonic Cemetery.
