Movie theatres were a popular entertainment in Columbus, Georgia in the 1930s. Theatres included the Royal, Rialto, Lyric, Pastime, Dixie, Palace, Home, Liberty, and Dream Theatres, operated by the Martin Theater Company.

“It all started when Roy Martin Sr. purchased an existing nickelodeon theater on Broadway in downtown Columbus.”

“It was 1912, 1914, I am not really sure,” Buddy Martin said. “… I think it was called the Benita, but I am not real sure about all that, either.” Roy Martin Sr. grew that one downtown Columbus theater into Martin Theaters, which owned and operated movie houses and drive-ins across the Southeast. By the time Roy Martin Jr. sold Martin Theaters in 1969 to Atlanta business tycoon J.B. Fuqua, it had grown to more than 200 screens in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky. Mostly in small towns, Martin Theaters also operated in bigger places like Atlanta, Nashville and Chattanooga” (Ledger Enquirer March 4, 2016).