Star Theatre | |
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| Location | 200 S. State St., Argyle, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates | 42°41′59″N89°52′2″W / 42.69972°N 89.86722°W Coordinates: 42°41′59″N89°52′2″W / 42.69972°N 89.86722°W |
| Built | 1878 |
| Architect | Alanson Partridge |
| NRHP reference # | 80000154 |
| Added to NRHP | November 7, 1980 [1] |
Star Theatre, also known as Partridge Hall, is a shop/meeting hall/theater built in 1878 in Argyle, Wisconsin, in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [1] [2]
Argyle is a village in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 857 at the 2010 census, up from 823 at the 2000 census. The village is located within the Town of Argyle.
Lafayette County, sometimes spelled La Fayette County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It was part of the Wisconsin Territory at the time of its founding. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,836. Its county seat is Darlington. The county was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who rendered assistance to the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Alanson Partridge was a carpenter who moved from New York to Wisconsin in 1856. In 1878 he built the north wing of the building, with his carpentry shop on the first floor and a large hall above. It was called Partridge Hall, and rented for meetings, dances, and meals. Partridge himself sponsored some events like a Christmas Ball, and advertised it with barkers in the streets. Partridge advocated temperance, so alcohol was not served there. Some time after 1881 he added the south wing. [3]
A barker, often a carnival barker, is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing members of the public, announcing attractions of show, and emphasizing variety, novelty, beauty, or some other enticing feature of the show. A barker would often conduct a brief free show, introducing performers and describing acts to be given at the feature performance. Professional barkers strongly disliked the term and instead referred to themselves as "talkers".
The temperance movement is a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote complete abstinence (teetotalism), with leaders emphasizing alcohol's negative effects on health, personality, and family life. Typically the movement promotes alcohol education as well as demands new laws against the selling of alcohols, or those regulating the availability of alcohol, or those completely prohibiting it. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the temperance movement became prominent in many countries, particularly English-speaking and Scandinavian ones, and it led to Prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933.
The building is two stories, frame covered with clapboards. Most of the windows have curved tops and the east gable is decorated with a bell-shaped fascia. The hall on the second floor had a stage. [3]
Fascia is an architectural term for a vertical frieze or band under a roof edge, or which forms the outer surface of a cornice, visible to an observer.
In 1908 Partridge sold his hall to Argyle's Modern Woodmen of America. They continued to rent out the hall, and it remained a social center of the community, hosting meetings, proms, lectures, roller skating, and basketball games. In 1920 the hall was renamed the Star Theatre, and began to show motion pictures: silent films and talkies. [3]
Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) is one of the largest fraternal benefit societies in the United States, with more than 750,000 members. Total assets reached US $15.4 billion in 2016. Though it shares the same founder, it is not affiliated financially in any way with another, similarly-styled fraternal benefit society, WoodmenLife, and despite the name "Modern" is actually older than its counterpart.
In 1945 the movies stopped and the building sat idle. For a while it was used as a hatchery. Around 1980 it was restored to house shops and a restaurant. [3]
