Star Theater

805 Excelsior Boulevard,
Hopkins, MN 55343

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rivest266
rivest266 on August 23, 2023 at 5:20 am

Reopened as the Star theatre of Hopkins on December 25th, 1949. Ad uploaded.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 24, 2021 at 10:46 pm

Confirmation of some of the information in my previous comment plus additional information about the Star Theatre comes from the Hopkins Historical Society. Their web site has a photo of the Star from around 1920-21 on this page, and the caption reads:

“The theater pictured here was opened on the 800 block of Mainstreet in 1914 by Jack Shonka. It was variously known as the Hopkins Theater, Royal Theater (after the original Royal Theater went out of business) and finally as the Star Theater until the building burned down in 1954.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 24, 2021 at 7:14 pm

The December 3, 1949 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review carried this brief item in its “Openings” column: “Engler Bros.‘ Star (formerly Royal), Hopkins, Minn., after remodeling.” The Englers were operating the Royal at least as early as 1943, when the house was mentioned in the March 20 issue of Motion Picture Herald. They also operated the Hopkins Theatre.

Due to some shifting of street names in Hopkins, the site of the Royal/Star Theatre is no longer on Excelsior Avenue, but on Mainstreet (spelled as one word.) The building currently at 805 Mainstreet is only one story, and it’s impossible to tell if it is what remains of the theater building or was new construction on the theater’s site. I haven’t been able to discover the year the fire took place.

The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists two theaters at Hopkins: The Harrison Theatre on Excelsior Avenue and the Hopkins Theatre, no location given. I’ve been unable to discover if either house later became the Royal/Star.