The Plaza Theatre was constructed and opened in 1912 as a vaudeville venue. The theater was sold in 1919 to United Theater Enterprise (Charles Midleburg and Fred Midleburg of Charleston, West Virginia, and A.B. Hyman of Huntington, West Virginia).

The theater was closed in 1919 while extensive remodelling was undertaken, including the installation of an electric sign on the building façade, motion picture projection equipment, and a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ. On 26 December 1921, now named the Capitol Theatre, the venue reopened as a motion picture and vaudeville theater.

On the morning of 15 November 1923, the Capitol Theatre caught fire, with an estimated $150,000-$175,000 in damages that included a collapse of the building’s roof. The theater was immediately rebuilt. In 1929, the theater was retrofitted with sound film equipment.

The theater continued to operate as a film theater throughout the sound era, but succumbed to economic decline and closed in 1982. The building purchased by Capitol Renaissance 84-1, Limited, a partnership of nearly 30 investors intent on preserving the Capitol Theatre as a community arts center.

The investor partnership encountered financial problems, and in 1991 arranged to turn over the theater to West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) and it is now known as the West Virginia State University Capitol Center.

References: West Virginia State University Capitol Center website : with additional information supplied by Savanna Violet.