State Theatre
22638 Mission Boulevard,
Hayward,
CA
94541
22638 Mission Boulevard,
Hayward,
CA
94541
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp.
Previous Names: Hayward Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Hayward Theatre was located on Mission Boulevard between B and C Streets. It was opened in 1914. It was closed around 1926 and remained vacant until it re-opened on May 8, 1937 as the State Theatre and was still open in 1957. In the late-1960’s and early-1970’s it was used a church. It was demolished in September 1985.
Contributed by
Steve Login
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
I spent a lot of time in downtown Hayward, but don’t remember the State, nor can I think of any building that might have been large enough to have been a theatre. The block that was demolished contained a card room, a gay bar, and a number of other small businesses. Perhaps if the State was a nickelodeon rather than a fullsized theatre this would make more sense to me.
The Film Daily Yearbook 1941 lists the seating capacity of the State Theatre as 600. The F.D.Y.1951 gives a street address of the State Theatre, 626 Castro Street, Hayward. CA Seating capacity 719.
Two notes—Castro Street in Hayward was later renamed and is Mission Blvd in the downtown Hayward area. (Mission Blvd runs all the way from the Warm Springs district of Fremont all the way to about Lewelling in the unincorporated area of Hayward—The street turns into East 14th Street, which continues onward into Oakland and becomes International Blvd.)
The site where this is at now houses a City of Hayward parking structure and a UPS store. The parking structure occupies most of the block. And from the seating capacity, it appears that the State was smaller than the Ritz and the Hayward theaters.
This doesn’t compute. I have not been to Hayward in 6 months, but the former State theatre would have been across the street from the parking structure (the east side of Mission). Add 22000 to the address to get its present address. Thus, 626 Castro Street becomes 22626 Mission Boulevard.
A little searching shows that this would be between Russell City Tattoo at 22622 and Ace Loans pawn shop at 22646 Mission. I’ll have to go over there and see if I can identify the spot. I doubt the building was demolished as the current structure dates to probably the 1920s.
My favorite feature of the State Theater was the marquee. It was equipped with actual light bulbs. It would begin at the bottom and rise to the top culminating with a fireworks-like flash. I was still a young child when the theater closed, but that marquee remained unlit on that building for years. I yearned for it to be lit just one more time before being torn down!
Incidently, the zip code listed for the theater is not 94580. That is San Lorenzo, California. My guess would be 94541.
This info is incorrect. The Hayward Historical Society must have the correct info on it. I believe this page is referring to the Hayward Theater, which burned down I think in the 60s sometime. The State was located across the street and down the block from the Hayward—not sure when it was demolished but probably in the 50’s. My mother worked as an usherette there in the 30’s or 40’s. (She was born in 1921.) Downtown Hayward at one time had the State,the Hayward, and the Ritz all located in downtown Hayward within a mile of each other. They were all beautiful!