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Builder: Page Organ Co., 1927. Manuals: 2 Ranks: Unknown (probably 5) Action: Electro-pneumatic Notes: Organ console and pipes were located in the front/stage area of theater. The Page Co. instrument cost $12,000. The State Theater was built by Harry Gilbert in 1927. He remodeled a former store (adding a stage/organ area on back of building). The theater was only in business for about 2 years. It was purchased by a competing theater owner, the Haynic/Fairmont Opera House (owned by Finkelstein & Ruben of St. Paul, MN). Miss Bernice Mulare (Chicago and Minneapolis theater organist) was at the console as the State Theataer opened on May 4, 1927. The State Theater was closed and converted back to retail store space (circa 1928-29). The theater had been open for one year. The Page Co. pipe organ was presumed to have been moved (or parted out). It may have gone to another Finkelstein & Rubin theater in the area, as other Page Organ Co. instruments are listed in Southern Minnsota (i.e., Jackson, MN) and Northern Iowa (and even South Dakota). The Page Organ Company was an American manufacturer of theater pipe organs, located in Lima, Ohio. The Page Company started in 1922 as a small company, with a home-built organ. However, the company experienced much growth over the following decade, with a steady demand for theatre organs. The company experienced a decline in the 1930s, with the introduction of sound films, coupled with the onset of the Depression. The company was sold to an employee named Ellsworth A. Beilharz in 1930, who initially assembled instruments from components purchased from the defunct Page Company. In 1984, Beilharz sold the company to two employees, who remain in business under the name Lima Pipe Organ Company, Inc. Organ Historical Society as of 2020. |
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