State Theatre
20 West Main Street,
Friendship,
NY
14739
20 West Main Street,
Friendship,
NY
14739
No one has favorited this theater yet
Showing 1 comment
This page at Roots Web has what appears to be extracts from an old diary. For the date January 27, 1916, it says: “Mary Pickford at the Star Theatre Monday night in Mistress Nell.”
By 1942, the ads for the State Theatre were carrying the slogan “The Friendly Theatre” and saying that it had lately been remodeled to be the most modern theater in the region.
Mr. W. E. Anderson of Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania, was operating the State in the early 1950s. The October 23, 1952, issue of The Bolivar Breeze had said that on October 19 Mr. Anderson had reopened his State Theatre at Friendship. It had been closed since the previous July 1. It would be open six nights a week, with a matinée on Sunday.
The April 15, 1954, issue of the Cuba, New York Patriot and Free Press carried an ad in which Mr. Anderson offered the State Theatre for sale (PDF here.) The house was apparently not in operation at the time, as the ad said only that it was “ready to start at once.”
An ad for the State in the March 4, 1954, issue of the same newspaper had touted a “gala parade of hits” for that month, so the house couldn’t have been closed for very long when it was offered for sale. I’ve been unable to discover if anyone ever bought and reopened the house.