I posted a photo from the 1905 flood a while back HERE. Looking closely at it, I noticed in the background was a sign for “Dreamland”. I have been working on posting histories of the old theaters in Saginaw and It was fascinating to me that I found the old Dreamland theater in this photo.
The theater once stood at 408 E. Genesee where it makes the turn to the south and where Rally’s is located now. I cold not find the exact date when it opened, but this photo was from 1905. That’s when some of the early theaters and nickelodeons began to open up in old storefronts across the united states.
the 1915 Polk directory lists George Marr as the manager and Russel Marr the film operator, I am guessing Russel is his brother. The 1921 Polk directory lists Harry Mabrey as the manager. Sometime after 1915 George Marr must have left to start his own theater. He and his wife were the owners of the Marr Theater on Gratiot HERE and the Royal Theater on Jefferson HERE.
The info I found said the theater closed in 1925 but then reopened at a later date, but it did not say which year. then it said it closed in 1940. if anyone remembers the old Dreamland theater I would love to hear about it in the comments.
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