State Theatre
63 N. Main Street,
Washington,
PA
15301
63 N. Main Street,
Washington,
PA
15301
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The State Theatre could have opened about 1932 or 1933. The Eberson Archives in Florida have an album of 24 photos. In the 1960’s it was known as the Penn Theatre and was operated by the Associated Theatres chain
Any further information would be appreciated.
Contributed by
Graeme McBain
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
There is unfortunately no website where the photographs can be viewed. I am the project archivist at the Wolfsonian working on the John and Drew Eberson archives and am currently working on cataloging these images. There seem to be two different theaters built by Eberson at different times under the name State Theater in Washington, PA. If anyone knows the history of these buildings I would appreciate the information. I will upload an image when I get the time.
I worked at the State Theatre in Washington, Pa from 1956-1958, There were 4 theatres in Washington, Pa during this period. The State was the largest and had a balcony. I remember installing the marquee letters for the Ten Commandments about 1956. Directly across the street was the Washington Theatre which was managed by the same team that managed the State. A male, I remember as Mr. Cardone and a lovely tall brunette by the name of Gina. I remember seeing Tex Ritter in person at the Washington in the early 50’s. The Washington usually ran 2nd rate movies while the State had 1st run movies and was known for their Saturday morning Cartoon Shows. The 3rd theatre in town was the Basle at the corner of Main & Chestnut which became the Midtown in the 80’s. The theatre was named for Bill Basle who owned the theatre and hired my mother Gladys Aurouze as a cashier in the early 50’s. The 4th theatre was the Court on
Chestnut St which was the mainstay for the Saturday westerns double feature. The State was renamed the Penn in the mid 70’s. I graduated in 1958, joined the Air Force and in 1963 started a career with the D.C. Police Dept.
I retired 20 years ago. When I joined the force in 1963 there were a number of beautiful theaters in DC. However in those days my bride and child usually attended the drivein theaters in Waldorf, Indianhead highway, Branch Ave and Hyattsville.
I have studies an old photo of the PENN THEATER, which is identified as being the State Theater when it closed in 1973. The more I look at the marquee, it seems to me to be have been the marquee for the Washington Theater but I am not sure. My reason for thinking this is that the Penn photo seems to show a triangle shaped marquee while the State Theater had a rectangular marquee. Personally, I don’t remember a Penn Theater in Washington, Pa. I am only going on the photo stating that it was previously called the State Theater. Their is a photo of the State theater taken in 1949 online at Flicker.com as well as photos of the Basle Theater. Yes, It was spelled BASLE and not Basel as some have identified it, The 1955 photo online shows the spelling on the marquee.
Chuck,
My apologies, You posted the link above for the 1949 photo of the State Theater.There is a Flicker link for the State theater which shows an interior shot of the lobby with the staff taken about 1960.
Chuck,
Here is the link to the 1960 photo of the State Theater lobby and staff in Washington, Pa.
Jim
View link
Sadly, it has been demolished for (what else?) a parking lot.
The building that the State’s entrance was in, at least, was still standing when Google’s street view truck went by. At that time, 63 N. Main Street was occupied by a comic book store called The Gaming Dungeon, and that store is still listed on multiple web sites, and has a Facebook page active as recently as last April. It was also the location of a CCG event scheduled for September 24 this year.
From Google’s satellite view, the building looks a bit small to have held an auditorium seating over 1,300. There’s a big parking lot behind it that could have been the site of a big auditorium, but it was a parking lot as long ago as 1969, according to an aerial view at Historic Aerials, so if the theater was still operating in the 1970s, as sgtjim says above, then it must have been in the building that shows up in the Google street and satellite views.
The Washington Theatre, which was across Main Street from the State, has definitely been demolished, though. Maybe that’s the theater spectrum was thinking of.
I have been looking at old issues of the Observer-Reporter on Google News Archives. The Penn Theater closed on April 24, 1973. The last film to play there was “Soylent Green” with Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson.