Hippodrome State Theatre, Historic theatre in downtown Gainesville, United States

The Hippodrome State Theatre is a three-story Beaux-Arts building in downtown Gainesville that holds a thrust stage and a small cinema. It operates as Florida's State Theatre, functioning as a professional performing arts venue listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building was completed in 1911 and housed a U.S. Post Office on the first floor and a federal district courthouse on the second. It joined the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1979. The theatre company was founded in 1973 by local actors, and the building was converted into a theatre in 1980.

The theatre's name comes from its 1911 building, which served as a post office and federal courthouse before its 1980 conversion. Productions include Broadway and off-Broadway plays and art house films, staged by professional actors with the company's own set, costume, sound and lighting designers. Youth theatre classes and camps run alongside the main programme.

The main stage seats 268 on the second floor, reached by stairs or the historic hand-operated elevator; the 80-seat cinema is on the first floor. The elevator was taken out of service in January 2024 for brake repairs, so check access before relying on it.

The building retains one of Florida's oldest working elevators: the operator must close the screen and door by hand, then pull a crank. It was taken out of service in January 2024 after an inspection found braking problems, and restoration began in February 2025, budgeted at $135,799 and funded by Alachua County's Wild Spaces & Public Places half-cent sales tax.