State Theatre

100 Main Street,
Jewett City, CT 06351

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Pussycat Theatres

Architects: Walter Robinson Shiner

Styles: Art Deco

Previous Names: Jewett City Cinemas, State Theatre Twin

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News About This Theater

State...Jewett City Connecticut

The State Theatre on Main Street in the Jewett City section of Griswold opened in 1939.

Originally a single screen, the later-twinned theater was part of the Welch Theatres chain along with cinemas in Norwich, Willimantic, and Killingly.

The Jewett City Cinemas closed in April of 2003, but was renovated and restored, and returned to its original name, the State Theatre, when it reopened in April 2005, but the theatre closed again in August of 2005. In November, 2005, the State Theatre once more opened under new ownership. Once again the theatre closed in April 2006.

Contributed by Roger Katz

Recent comments (view all 52 comments)

bvita
bvita on September 25, 2006 at 6:24 am

Actually the equipment went to North Dakota where it will be installed next month. Most of the seats went to NH. We pulled the booth out the majority of the chairs in May. The remaining 153 chairs were pulled in July.

All of the equipment is now out of the buiding and what’s left is an empty shell.

Brian Vita, President
Cinema Service & Supply, Inc.
www.cssinc.com

Roger Katz
Roger Katz on December 8, 2006 at 5:49 pm

Please update status to closed.

movies10063
movies10063 on November 21, 2008 at 7:04 pm

the state theatre had 216 seats in each auditorium

jessNdavie
jessNdavie on March 18, 2009 at 2:04 pm

Hi,
I was wondering if any of you know who might possibly be in ownership of this empty shell of a theater now? Please let me know if you have any information. I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks so much.

bicyclereporter
bicyclereporter on June 15, 2010 at 8:01 pm

Stupid me, I forgot to post about this the other day. I was on a bike trip and snapped pix (emailed to CinemaTour). It’s the Jewett City Pharmacy. The marquee is still there but empty of letters and “STATE” is still above it.

2 poster holders are on either side of the exit doors. There’s a drop ceiling but it’s spacious inside. The owner says the back offices are where the stage house is, but there are no remnants of the original theater.

robboehm
robboehm on May 8, 2011 at 5:38 pm

Just came upon this. When I summered in nearby Voluntown in the 1950s the theatre was only open on weekends. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.

rokcomx
rokcomx on June 3, 2012 at 5:03 am

In summer 1974, the State in Jewett City was being run by the Boston/NYC branch of the Pussycat Cinema chain and screening Deep Throat. The State shared employees with the nearby Palace Twin in Norwich, also part of the chain, which sometimes showed mainstream films on one screen and X-rated features on the other.

Don Lewis
Don Lewis on June 3, 2012 at 2:04 pm

From 1941 a photo postcard view of Main Street along with the State Theatre in Jewett City.

robboehm
robboehm on January 22, 2015 at 12:25 pm

Never heard of the second film on the marquee in the postcard, Honolulu Lu until now. Starred Lupe Velez, Leo Carrillo and Bruce Bennett.

robboehm
robboehm on March 30, 2015 at 7:43 am

Uploaded photo from Cinema Tour referred to by bicyclerider. He shows the address as 80. When you look at his picture the entrance is now at the right hand side of the building whereas the postcard image shows it further to the left. Possible explanation, when the theater was twinned the building was modified and the entrance relocated to what had been the store next door. Can’t tell if the façade was altered. In the postcard the theater entrance portion is significant higher than the adjacent buildings.

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