Kingston Theatre

Cheboygan’s downtown isn’t unlike other Michigan cities, with its downtown being anchored around a grand old movie theater. Cheboygan already had an established Opera House for live performances. The Kingston wasn’t Cheboygan’s first movie theater and there have been others since. Frank Kingston had a vision of combining the two forms of art, live performances and projection movies, in one building. The Kingston not only did this, but it was more ornate and elaborate than any other movie house in the area. Originally done in Art Deco style, it had a ticket booth trimmed in white and gold, posters of movie stars, and an ornate tin ceiling in the front lobby. The stage had curtains and pulleys, a trap door and dressing rooms for live performances. There was even an area for the orchestra to play. The Kingston Theatre was considered the “finest in the state outside of Detroit”.

Not only was the Kingston more beautiful than other theaters in the area it was grander in size. Originally designed with 1,063 seats, it was able to accommodate many more movie goers than other theaters. In 1911 there were no less than 3 small theaters in operation. The Kingston first opened its doors on March 22, 1920 with the movie Pollyanna, a silent film. Up until the mid 1920’s silent films were the norm, which was why there was a need for an orchestra in a theater.

Cheboygan didn’t just have seated theaters, there was a drive-in movie theater located near the intersection of Highway 27 and Highway 33. The drive-in theater was open here from 1952 until 1985. At it’s peak, the drive-in had 500 car spots.

The Kingston is still in operation today and is part of a chain of theaters in Northern Michigan which includes Gaylord, Petoskey and Bellaire. The Kingston has undergone many changes over the years. At one point the lobby included video rentals and arcade games. In recent years these items have been removed and the lobby has been restored to its former glory.

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