Category:State Theater, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Object location	40° 36′ 14″ N, 75° 28′ 12″ W	View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap	40.603889; -75.470000

State Theatre 

former movie theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
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Instance of	movie theater destroyed building or structure
Location	Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Street address	35 N. 6th Street, Allentown, PA 18101
40° 36′ 11.53″ N, 75° 28′ 11.72″ W
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State Theater (1926) 35 North 6th Street (Capacity: 1,421 seats) (Silent/Sound Cinema)

The State Theater in Allentown was located at 35 North 6th Street (southeast corner of North Sixth and Linden Streets) It had previously been known as the Orpheum Theater, which was the first large modern stage theater in Allentown when it opened in October 1906.

With the opening of the larger Colonial theater on Hamilton Street in 1921, in 1924 the Vaudeville acts were moved there, and the Orpheum began showing motion pictures. In 1926, the theater was closed for a renovation and to fully convert it into a cinema, with the addition of a multiple-projector room and a large screen to exhibit films. The theater was reopened on October 11 with a new name, "The State". The renovated theater had a new Spanish style lobby with a floor of flagstones that came from the pavement in front of the Lehigh County Courthouse. The first film to be shown there was "The Son of the Shiek", with Rudolph Valentino with Vilma Banky.

With the renovation, the State became of three large cinemas in Allentown to be owned by the Wilmer and Vincent theater chain (along with the Colonial and Rialto). It had a capacity of 1,421 seats with both floor seating along with two balconies.

The State presented first-run films both during the silent era as well as in sound beginning in December 1928 with the addition of an RCA sound system. The films presented, however, were less than the modern blockbusters shown at the Colonial and Rialto, primarily being "B" pictures and westerns. Generally, the State presented double features, with two films running back to back and the audience seeing both films for a single admission.

The theater closed in the fall of 1943 for alternations and beginning in December, began to present Vaudeville acts again on stage, mixed with a feature presentation on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for 30 weeks. Several War Bond stage shows were held, one of them featuring James Cagney. Cagney had been in Allentown many times on stage at the Orpheum stage theater before it's conversion to the State cinema.

In August 1944, the Wilmer and Vincent theater chain was taken over by the Fabian chain and the theater returned to showing primarily double features, although it did present an occasional stage show. Although it remained elegant, the impact of television, especially beginning in 1948, led to more and more empty seats in the theater. The cost of operations by the Fabain chain began to exceed revenue. With the opening of the Boulevard Drive-In in late 1949 by the chain, it was decided to close the State, and it showed its last film in November 1952.

The cinema stood closed until it was finally sold to Park & Shop Corporation who saw the land it was on more valuable as a parking lot for shoppers who were frequenting the main Business and Shopping district of the city on Hamilton Street. Demolition began in January, 1954 and the former theater and cinema was asphalted over by August. The parking lot and former theater location was redeveloped into the Strata Symphony Apartment Complex as part of the NIZ in late 2017. It opened in December 2018.