Opened as the Lagoon Theater on June 3, 1916, the Uptown is one of the oldest surviving theaters in the Twin Cities area. A name change to the Uptown on April 11, 1929, coincided with the installation of sound equipment and a screening of The Dummy. A fire broke out in the ventilation system during Trade Winds on April 25, 1939, but the cinema was rebuilt soon after by the firm of Liebenberg & Kaplan. This new Uptown Theatre re-opened on November 16, 1939, with The Women.