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Built in 1915 by local developer August Paulsen, the Old Clemmer Theater was considered state-of-the-art in its day, seating nearly 800 patrons. The theater represents a turning point in mass entertainment, when vaudeville was relinquishing top billing to silent films and the era of lavishly embellished movie palaces was about to begin. Designed by noted theater architect Edwin W. Houghton, The Clemmer embodied the restrained Neoclassicism of these traditional movie houses. It would come to be known as The State Theater in later years. Inland Northwest residents lined the streets in anticipation to see Casablanca, The Godfather, Gone With the Wind, and thousands of other first-run movies.
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