State Theatre
1312-14 E. Broadway,
Alton,
IL
62002
1312-14 E. Broadway,
Alton,
IL
62002
1 person
favorited this theater
The State Theatre opened on Christmas Day, 1939, with the film, “In Name Only” and could seat 530. The Moderne-style theater was hailed by ads placed by its mangement in the local paper as “Alton’s finest amusement spot”.
It operated until 1955, in the end screening second-and-third run films. A couple years later, but former movie house was converted into a storage space, then was unused a number of years before being used once more for storage, which it remained for many years, serving longer in this capacity than as a theater.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Another highlight of the State Theatre history was that on the scheduled Christmas opening day the St. Louis area was hit with one of its worse snow storms. It didn’t put a dent in the number of people that showed up for the opening though as hundreds were turned away because each show was sold out. The management even placed and apology ad in the alton Telegraph the next day.
This theatre should be listed as closed/demolished in the header, the building is no longer there.
Here is a 12/23/39 ad from the Alton Evening Telegraph:
http://tinyurl.com/mrc9kj
Almost readable.