Sycamore State Theater
420 W. State Street,
Sycamore,
IL
60178
420 W. State Street,
Sycamore,
IL
60178
5 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Sycamore State Theater (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Main Street Theatres
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Fargo Theatre, State Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
815.895.3549
Manager:
815.895.2301
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- May 12, 2008 — Sycamore theater reopens
The 900-seat Fargo Theater was opened on December 12, 1925. It was equipped with a Geneva pipe organ. It was closed on November 2, 1938, but reopened later that month with 491 seats. On August 6, 1940 it was renamed State Theater. It once contained a 60-foot-screen. The State Theater was closed in the 1970’s and became a church.
It became a theater once again in the late-1980’s and was completely renovated by a private individual with the desire to run films and have live musical entertainment. The idea collapsed quickly and the theater remained closed in spite of having just been completely renovated.
In 1990, Main Street Theatres bought and reopened the State Theater after splitting the main floor into two theaters. A year later, the stage was converted into a third screen and the now triplexed theater still shows first run films today. Seating capacities are: 208, 188 & 160.
Contributed by
Mark Gulbrandsen
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
This is the current owner of The Sycamore State Theatre. The theatre was built in 1925 and opened in December 12 of 1925. It opened under the name The Fargo Theatre. In 1940 Fargo sold the theatre and it became the state theatre. The theatre has 3 theatres, number 1 has 208 seats, number 2 has 188 seats, and number 3 has 160 seats. The phone number of the theatre is 815.895.2301. You can also call that number to get information.
There seem to have been three Fargo Theatres in the area. The others are listed here as the Geneva which is clearly a sister theatre to this, and the (New) Fargo. As of 1930, the Geneva theatre had been renamed, this was known as Fargo, and the one in DeKalb was known as the New Fargo. All were owned by the Polka Brothers circuit of Maywood at the time, along with the El Tovar, Deerpath, Pickwick, and Des Plaines. In 1923 they also owned the New Maywood, Yale, and Melrose Park.
Former Geneva Mayor (1903-04, 1907-10) and State Representative (1910-1912) Henry B. Fargo died in 1932, so it must have been sold by his estate if the sale took place in 1940. The Sycamore State’s web page is http://sycamoremovietheater.com/default.aspx
Here is a February 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lzggbv
I just shot a couple of pictures of the State while on the way through Sycamore at sunset yesterday. Here are links to them:
View link
View link
Theatres are one of my photographic ‘collections’; I have a bunch more to post when I get the time.
Uploaded a Film Daily reference to closing on 11/2/1938.