HNY26-(DCH) The Oakman Theatre Traditional Cache

The Detroit Cinema History (DCH) caches are dedicated to the local creation,
viewing, or enjoyment of cinema-related items in the local area.

This can include, and is not limited to, people, places, and things
relating to Cinema or both past-and-present.

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This series is a companion to
the Michigan Cinema History (MCH) and
the Ontario Cinema History (OCH) series.
 

🎬 Historic Movie Theater (Now Repurposed)

• The Oakman Theatre opened on December 24, 1919, and was designed by prominent theater architect C. Howard Crane. At the time, it was a sizable neighborhood movie house with seating for over 1,200 people. The theatre was named for the street Oakman, which is now named Woodrow Wilson here.

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The Oakman Theatre was a business, and they issued Stock certificates (1935)

• It originally operated as a cinema, likely showing silent films and early talkies during its early decades. 

• The theater closed in 1937 during the Great Depression era, then briefly reopened in the 1950s before closing permanently as a movie house. 

​Dec 24 1919 Grand Opening Ad

🏙️ Later Uses

• After its life as a cinema, the building was used as a church for many years until the Congregation moved out in 2009.

• In recent years the structure has been used by another business that calls the building home now.

Oakman 1970s Overhead

🧭 Neighborhood Context

• The Oakman Theatre sat in Detroit’s Dexter-Linwood / Oakman Boulevard area, a part of the city with a rich early-20th-century residential development history. Oakman Boulevard itself was a major early transit and residential route designed in the 1910s. 

• Nearby today you’ll find other cultural institutions along Woodrow Wilson and Oakman Blvd, like Detroit Repertory Theatre (a long-running professional theater on Woodrow Wilson Avenue), but the Oakman Theatre itself is no longer an active entertainment venue.

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Mid-2010s Street View of the building