The State Theatre

Here we are at the State Theatre, which opened in 1942. The first film shown at this theater was The Fleet’s In, a romance story about a shy sailor and his bets to kiss the stand-offish club star. Twenty-six years later, in 1968, the most popular film of the year was 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film inspired by the ongoing space race in which the University played a role in (we’ll hear more about that later on the tour). 

Unlike most of the other buildings on this tour, this theater is not part of the University of Michigan. Looking around we can see many other stores that serve the needs of the residents of Ann Arbor, like those in Nickels Arcade, which we just passed through. Some of these stores, like Van Boven, which is right down the street there, have been in continuous operation since the 1920s. Other stores, like Bivouac, right next door to Van Boven, used to be entirely different stores.  

Ann Arbor experienced significant physical and cultural growth in the 1960s, shifting from a small town to a city with larger aspirations. In this expansion shopping centers were built that siphoned off business from downtown stores. In the process, the downtown area shifted from serving general Ann Arbor residents to serving mostly college students. Between 1950 and 1970, Ann Arbor’s population more than doubled, jumping to 100,000 people. Many of these people were of different cultural and national backgrounds compared to the typical resident of the previous decades. During this massive population boom Ann Arbor’s character shifted from a typical midwestern white and protestant town to a more diverse cultural center. 

It could then be said that the 1960s is when Ann Arbor truly became the mid-sized diverse city that it is today. Furthermore, there was intense optimism that the population would continue to grow. To quote the Chairman of the Ann Arbor Chamber of commerce at the time, William Bott, “Growth is inevitable ... Ann Arbor is in the corridor of the midwestern megalopolis.” Ann Arbor never did become the metropolis that people were envisioning at the time, instead the city’s growth stabilized, allowing it to retain its midwestern charm while also being a cosmopolitan college town. 

With this growing city, State Street became a hub for student life, gaining the name as the “campus village”. After a day of classes, students could stop by and hit all their daily stops. The everlasting Cottage Inn was a popular pit stop for Pepsi and a pizza, after which students could go to the bank, get a haircut, and end the night with dancing.

State Street was a meeting of the entire community. It comes as no surprise that the Women’s Association of the Ann Arbor Symphony held an annual geranium sale on this street as well. Other days, you could find the summer art fair, farmers markets, and even an annual spring cleanup. Ann Arbor in the 60s was just as unafraid of getting together as a community as we are today, and State Street is a focal point for it.

“About.” Van Boven. www.vanboven.com/about-us/. 

Alvarez, Karen. “Slater’s: Where Giants Rang Up Sales.” Ann Arbor Book Society. https://www.a2books.org/slaters-where-giants-rang-up-sales/.

Hodder, Paige. “An Angel, a Diplomat, and a Fighter” (online exhibit). https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c18f95889851463a83230deb3718722e 

Marwil, Jonathan. A History of Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990.

McLeister, Dan. “Is It Time to Put Brake on Area Growth?” Ann Arbor News. February 7, 1971. https://aadl.org/node/71935.

Michigan Daily Digital Archives. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily. 

Stanton, Ryan. “Vintage photos showcase downtown Ann Arbor’s historical charm.” MLive. January 20, 2023. https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2020/01/vintage-photos-showcase-downtown-ann-arbors-historical-charm.html.