State Theatre
503 State Street,
Bristol,
VA
24201
503 State Street,
Bristol,
VA
24201
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 3 comments
This reopened as the State theatre on February 17th, 1938. Grand opening ad posted.
The Eagle Theatre Operated From 1910 Until 1927.
After A Decade, The State Theatre Began Construction And Opened Its Doors On February 17, 1938 With Bob Burns In “Mountain Music” Along With A Popeye Cartoon In “Never Kick A Woman”, With An Original Capacity Of 397.
According to the caption of a photo on page 79 of the book “Bristol,” by George Stone (Google Books preview,) The State Theatre opened around 1940 in a building at 503 State Street, which would put it on the Virginia side of the street. The building had been occupied by a nickelodeon called the Eagle Picture Parlor during the silent era, and had later housed a billiard parlor. It doesn’t say when the State Theatre closed, but the building is still standing, now occupied by a Karate studio. It doesn’t look big enough to have held 750 seats, though.
The caption also says that there was a theater called the Isis next door to the Eagle (probably at 505 State Street.) The Isis operated at least into the 1920s. That building is also still standing.