Text by Kali and Brooke, students at Presque Isle Middle School
Images from and the students
The State Street Theater was built in 1946 and could seat about 850 people. The Bridgham brothers owned the theater. The first movie that played was “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. The price for children twelve and under was twelve cents, adults’ admission was fifteen cents. When the theater first opened, television was being introduced into homes. Less people came to the theater. In the mid 1950s, the owner decided to close the theater. The building was sold to the New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. It is now used as a parking lot for Maine Public Service employees.
Sources:
Graves III, Richard A. Forgotten Times A Walk Through History. Presque Isle, 2007.