Star Palace Theatre
22 West Main Street,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
22 West Main Street,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
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Bway- according to a July 1913 Patchogue Advance article, the Star Palace was not the first theatre in town. The second Unique (laterly Rialto) beat it to the punch. The 1910 date which is mentioned in Hans Henke’s Patchogue the Early Years, and in the heading of this site, seems to be invalidated by the 1913 news article. Mr. Henke’s second book, uses 1913 as the opening date. While the early book contains a photo of the theatre being built and a night time shot, there are no interiors. Apparently, in addition to the race to be first, there was competition for customers. Barkers were at the four corners (Main and Ocean) trying to drum up business (November 21, 1913 Patchogue Advance).
And, just in passing this was the second Star Palace; the first one was at 32 South Ocean Avenue.
I didn’t realize this was Patchogue’s first theater.
Suffolk County News Aug 24, 1917
The Star Palace, Patchogue’s largest theatre, changed hands last Thursday when George T. Holmes leased the theatre for a term of five years. The new lessee is Nathan Goldstein, proprietor of the Unique Theatre. The rental price is $3,000 per year.
Mr. Holmes is known as the pioneer motion picture theatre man of Suffolk County. The first “movie” theatre was opened in Patchogue by L. E. Hammond in 1908, and a few months later Mr. Holmes purchased the business.
Does anyone have any photos of the interior of the old Star Palace.
I worked at the Rialto too! And before me, my sister was an assistant manager. That put one or the other of us there from around 1968/69 until 1974.
Yes, I was looking for info on the fire at the Rialto which led me to Cinema Treasures. I worked at the Rialto Theater for 2 ½ years in high school. Fire played a large part in the changing face of the village. I remember the LAce Mill fire in 1971. They should have let it go then. And there was a big fire on West Main Street at the restuarant supply store in the winter of 1965-66. I remember that the firemen had to deal with frozen equipment (on the trucks-not their own). I was walking hoem from my girlfriend’s house and stopped to watch.
Actually, yes, fire was a big thing in Patchogue’s Main St’s past. I have a book on Patchogue’s history, and there is one photo of a fire after another. The one you mention on the Southeast corner of the four corners was a huge one. Dept store fires, store fires, and of course the famous fire at Swezey’s. So much of Patchogue’s Main St went up in flames. And of course, to keep on topic, Patchogue’s Rialto Theater on South Ocean Ave also burned to the ground.
There was a BIG fire in those other buildings around 1957-58. It destroyed what was then Havil’s Jewelers (the store on the street level southeast corner), and of course the stores and offices above it. I was going to the dentist on the second floor across the street ans could see the bulldozer knocking down what was left (they had put a fence up shortly after the fire for safety). The fire was a big thing at that time. A lot of the firemen had new watches shortly after that fire, for some reason.
Ahh, thank you. I didn’t realize there were 3 floors. Funny, the building across the street also had a fire that knocked the 3rd floor off the building. They then added a new third floor on some years later, and it doesn’t at all match the brickwork of the original building. The third floor is done in a “modern” 60’s style.
There were 3 floors to those buildings. After the fire, they were knocked down to two floors and the radio station moved to N. Patchogue. The Bridal Suite Shop now stands at #22, where the Star Theater was. According to an older former resident of the village, the Star Theater was quite THE place. Sort of where the hoi-polloi went to be seen.
Currently the buildings still do have a second floor though. The buildings don’t look “that” old though. They probably date to the early 60’s, so they may have replaced the buildings where the fire was.
There was a fire in those buildings in the very early ‘60s; Radio station WPAC had offices there. The upper floors, as I recall, were demolished. I know that in the early '60s there were stores there, The Picket Restaurant was there as early as 1962-63
There was a fire in those buildings in the very early ‘60s; Radio station WPAC had offices there. The upper floors, as I recall, were demolished. I know that in the early '60s there were stores there, The Picket Restaurant was there as early as 1962-63
A bridal store and law office, among other businesses are in the two story building that repaced the Star Palace. The store buildings definitely date to about the early 60’s, so the Star Palace was probably demolished in either the late 50’s or the early 60’s.