State Theatre
210 S. Main Street,
Culpeper,
VA
22701
210 S. Main Street,
Culpeper,
VA
22701
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Pitts Theatre was a 1,200 seat Art Deco style cinema opened in 1938 in Culpeper, VA. It was part of the Pitts Theatre Chain in central Virginia owned by Senator Benjamin Pitts. The manager of the chain was my grandfather, T.I. Martin.
The chain was sold in 1970 to R/C Theatres (owned by Richard Cohen?) He renovated the theater by removing some seating and covering the walls with gold fabric. After renovation it seated about 900. The balcony was originally used by African-Americans who entered the theatre through a separate entrance at the street level.
Contributed by
William Martin
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Could the 210 Main Street address be incorrect for the State Theater? I found a theater called R/C Culpeper Movies 4 and their address is 210 South Main Street. Here is a website that shows the R/C Culpeper Movies 4.
The new 4 plex is across the street and “sort of” in the next block.Address should be close,but an odd number.I was actually in Culpepper again today,on business.The State is really quite a large theater for such a small town.
According to this website, the State Theater will be renovated.
Here are some recent photos of the State Theater.
This is another photo of the State Theater.
This was the State Theater in 1981.
Here is a November 2009 article about the State Theater.
One thing for sure,NOTHING is going on,as of last week,with the building.Looks worse than ever.
As the owner’s name was Benjamin Pitts, there should not be an apostrophe in the aka above.
The Culpeper house was one of several mentioned in an article about expansion of Benjamin Pitts Enterprises which appeared in Boxoffice of August 14, 1937. The Pitts Theatre in Emporia had recently opened, the Victoria at Fredericksburg was due to open by Labor Day, and the East End Theatre in Richmond was under construction. The as-yet-unnamed house at Culpeper was in the planning stage. I’ve been unable to find anything about the opening in Boxoffice, but it most likely happened in 1938.
R/C Theatres renovated the Pitts and changed the name to State Theatre in 1970, according to Boxoffice of September 21 that year.
The only thing that appears to be happening is that the sign saying great things are coming has been “freshened”.