State Theatre
91 Montcalm Street,
Ticonderoga,
NY
12883
91 Montcalm Street,
Ticonderoga,
NY
12883
No one has favorited this theater yet
Showing 7 comments
70 years ago today ( May 8, 1953) Columbia’s first color 3-D feature “Fort Ti” directed by William Castle - had it’s World Premiere at the State theatree.
The address is wrong. This was at 91 Montcalm, now the empty lot next to the ugly abandoned pharmacy. The building looks much older than 1937. I believe this was a remodel of Ive’s Opera House (later the Union Opera House), a brick veneered wooden structure which was built sometime between 1890 and 1895. At least through 1912, Montcalm was known as Exchange, and this would have had an address on W Exchange. Champlain (then known as Main) was the E-W divider.
The 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 1,000. The opera house was on the second floor, with two storefronts below. Access was by a central staircase. It was definitely showing movies when it was damaged in a major fire sometime around March 15, 1916 (caused by someone using a torch to thaw water pipes).
State Theatre behind truck turning onto Lake George. Carrying a section 4 of the M.V. Ticonderoga. Undated photo credit Ticonderoga Heritage Museum.
The State Theatre opened in June of 1937. The original marquee featured 800 incandescent bulbs and “countless yards of neon tubing”.
Thanks for the correction Warren. I missed that “t” in the ad print.
In January 1945 the State Theater was part of the Kalle chain:
View link
The State was taken over in the early 90’s by a theatre employee who de-twinned it (piggyback configuration) and was restoring it. One night, about 10 or 12 years ago now, the theatre collapsed.