State Theatre

126 Egan Avenue N.,
Madison, SD 57042

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SethG
SethG on September 10, 2025 at 2:05 pm

It’s confused an awning behind the vertical as part of the sign, and it’s garbled the Red Owl lettering, but it’s fascinating to see what can be done. Pretty soon nothing will be true or provable!

rivest266
rivest266 on September 10, 2025 at 11:34 am

I fired up Google AI studio and uploaded two spectacular images of the State. What do you think?

SethG
SethG on September 10, 2025 at 10:45 am

I can’t understand why the Ruby is not on the 1921 map. Maybe it hadn’t opened by the time the 1914 map was issued, but it was clearly operating during that range.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 9, 2025 at 8:53 pm

The first listing of the State in the FDY is in the 1932 edition. It had 450 seats. The last listing of the 300-seat Ruby was 1931.

Madison also had a house called the Princess, around 1915. The July 3 issue of Moving Picture World that year said" “MADISON, S. D. Cox & Malvey, who conduct the Princess theatre, have purchased the Ruby theatre.”

A page headed “Changes in Publix Theatre Holdings” in the July 1, 1933 Motion Picture Herald includes a list reading: “Madison Theatre Co. (Partnership Operation) "Madison, S. D. "Lyric State”

SethG
SethG on September 4, 2025 at 8:49 am

As might be expected from this contributor, most of the information is wrong. This theater does not appear on the 1921 map. The Ruby must have been something else. It was not converted to retail, it was demolished, along with everything else on the corner, for a really hideous ‘modern’ bank building.