Added a photo I took years ago. The building appeared to be derelict in 2010, and it looks basically the same on the 2024 streetview, although there is a dumpster in front of the door, so someone may be clearing out the junk.
The 1926 Yearbook lists only a New with 500 seats. I’m thinking this has to have been the New. The New name also makes sense because this replaced a large wooden building which was being used as an opera house in 1906. I have found one of the other theaters, but I’m not sure which. I’ll create a listing.
I found some old photos I took in Keota, and at the beginning of 2010 this part of the block was all churned up dirt, indicating that the buildings were recently demolished. I may even have a shot of the rear wall of the theater, but it’s impossible to tell where exactly I was.
The 1914-15 AMPD lists only the Iowa, Grand, and New for West Liberty, so this must have had a different name at that point. Grand is the most obvious choice, since this is a large building.
On the 1912 map, the Knights of Pythias are still shown in the old opera house (NW corner of Calhoun & 3rd). The second floor of this building is just a ‘Hall’. They must have moved in later.
I’ve added a photo I took in 2010. It seems likely the theater was only on one side, but I can’t say which. Unusually, the stoop for the entry to the stairs on the left side has the name Klockenteger carved into it.
No such thing as W 8th. The building is at 257 8th Ave SE. No maps are available, but the building does appear on an early postcard said to be from 1910. The photo studio/framing business closed sometime after 2013, and the ground floor is vacant. 50s has supplied a much better chronology of names than the ‘contributor’.
Still listed in 1956 with 225 seats. The address would have been something like 117 E Broadway. This entire block was demolished years ago for a cheap drive-through bank.
Must be the same place. Obviously it reopened, perhaps sometime after the war. From that brief history, it does not seem like the initial use was as a cinema.
I am positive the address is wrong. The picture that shows the theater closer up is looking at the back of the building at 201 E Main. Downtown is so ugly, and nearly everything in both pictures has been torn down, but I think the address is somewhere around 239-243 E Main.
I don’t see a blacksmith on the May 1910 map. ‘Downtown’ is tiny, and the area where the theater was is vacant. I suspect it was just a little wooden shack if it existed at all.
Address should be 1131 Court Ave, and this was demolished long ago. There’s a really crappy Family Dollar building there now.
The building was a typical turn of the century 2 story brick structure. It was constructed between 1892 and 1898, and was a grocery store through 1911. It was definitely open by 1922. The 1914-15 AMPD lists an Oriental, which might have been this theater. There was an opera house to the south (the Stover), which was still in business in 1922, and may have shown films.
It appears to have been a ground floor house in 1922, but is the sole occupant shown in 1933.
Comments on the other Holland entry suggest that the theater moved into this old house in 1966, and closed in 2001. This is not the florist, that’s on Main. This is a law office. There is a very deep but narrow auditorium stuck on the back of the house. It’s a very strange arrangement.
It is possible that this building was replaced or remodeled at some point, as it is two stories, at least in the front. I will have a photo at some point, once I get around to editing the folder it’s in. It seems from a recent photo I found that it may be part of the restaurant or bar next door.
Some sources have the Rex opening in 1923, but it was clearly open by late 1922. Those sources say it closed in 1927, but it is listed in the Yearbook of Motion Pictures up until 1929.
This may possibly have been the Lyric, which opened in Spring 1913, and closed in 1916. That theater offered vaudeville, and I’m not sure this space would have been large enough.
It’s possible, but unlikely given the dates, that the Lyric may have been in either the old or new Odd Fellows buildings. Benton apparently had some arrangement to show films in an Odd Fellows building, but it wasn’t clear which. I assume that would have been before he opened the Scenic, which was sometime by 1913 at the latest. The Lyric may also have been the small theater on S. Main. The chronology works there, since it’s on the late 1913 map, and gone by 1922.
The notes on this building from the NRHP listing do not offer any identification for this theater, but they do note that the large number of early theaters indicate an intense interest in entertainment, particularly from the coal miners in the area. The coal industry in this part of Iowa is long gone, but Albia had nearly 5,100 people in 1920 (versus just over 3,700 today), and Monroe County peaked at well over 25,000 people in 1910, which today has shrunk to 7,500, less than its 1860 population.
I wonder if the expansion on the north side also dates from 1959?
Added a photo I took years ago. The building appeared to be derelict in 2010, and it looks basically the same on the 2024 streetview, although there is a dumpster in front of the door, so someone may be clearing out the junk.
The 1926 Yearbook lists only a New with 500 seats. I’m thinking this has to have been the New. The New name also makes sense because this replaced a large wooden building which was being used as an opera house in 1906. I have found one of the other theaters, but I’m not sure which. I’ll create a listing.
I found some old photos I took in Keota, and at the beginning of 2010 this part of the block was all churned up dirt, indicating that the buildings were recently demolished. I may even have a shot of the rear wall of the theater, but it’s impossible to tell where exactly I was.
The 1914-15 AMPD lists only the Iowa, Grand, and New for West Liberty, so this must have had a different name at that point. Grand is the most obvious choice, since this is a large building.
On the 1912 map, the Knights of Pythias are still shown in the old opera house (NW corner of Calhoun & 3rd). The second floor of this building is just a ‘Hall’. They must have moved in later.
I’ve added a photo I took in 2010. It seems likely the theater was only on one side, but I can’t say which. Unusually, the stoop for the entry to the stairs on the left side has the name Klockenteger carved into it.
No such thing as W 8th. The building is at 257 8th Ave SE. No maps are available, but the building does appear on an early postcard said to be from 1910. The photo studio/framing business closed sometime after 2013, and the ground floor is vacant. 50s has supplied a much better chronology of names than the ‘contributor’.
Still listed in 1956 with 225 seats. The address would have been something like 117 E Broadway. This entire block was demolished years ago for a cheap drive-through bank.
Must be the same place. Obviously it reopened, perhaps sometime after the war. From that brief history, it does not seem like the initial use was as a cinema.
I am positive the address is wrong. The picture that shows the theater closer up is looking at the back of the building at 201 E Main. Downtown is so ugly, and nearly everything in both pictures has been torn down, but I think the address is somewhere around 239-243 E Main.
I don’t see a blacksmith on the May 1910 map. ‘Downtown’ is tiny, and the area where the theater was is vacant. I suspect it was just a little wooden shack if it existed at all.
The building is in good shape. For whatever stupid reason, I did not take a picture of this or the Burg. It is a knitting/quilting shop.
Address should be 1131 Court Ave, and this was demolished long ago. There’s a really crappy Family Dollar building there now.
The building was a typical turn of the century 2 story brick structure. It was constructed between 1892 and 1898, and was a grocery store through 1911. It was definitely open by 1922. The 1914-15 AMPD lists an Oriental, which might have been this theater. There was an opera house to the south (the Stover), which was still in business in 1922, and may have shown films.
It appears to have been a ground floor house in 1922, but is the sole occupant shown in 1933.
Joe, I agree about the 1914-15 listings being poor for this town. It’s entirely possible the Scenic was still open as well.
The 1884 ‘opera house’ is likely the ‘Public Hall’ shown on the 1885 map. It was in the second story of the building labeled ‘Billiards’ in the photo.
Eddyville also flooded in 1965. The Corps of Engineers built a levee in 1947 or 48.
This was built as a house in 1848. It was still a residence in 1911.
Unfortunately, the last available Sanborn is 1911. It shows this space as vacant. The building dates to 1897.
Comments on the other Holland entry suggest that the theater moved into this old house in 1966, and closed in 2001. This is not the florist, that’s on Main. This is a law office. There is a very deep but narrow auditorium stuck on the back of the house. It’s a very strange arrangement.
Based on comments here, this was the original Holland, and it moved in the ‘60s to the old house on Washington.
The building has a very dull remodel, and is now an antique store.
It is possible that this building was replaced or remodeled at some point, as it is two stories, at least in the front. I will have a photo at some point, once I get around to editing the folder it’s in. It seems from a recent photo I found that it may be part of the restaurant or bar next door.
Some sources have the Rex opening in 1923, but it was clearly open by late 1922. Those sources say it closed in 1927, but it is listed in the Yearbook of Motion Pictures up until 1929.
This may possibly have been the Lyric, which opened in Spring 1913, and closed in 1916. That theater offered vaudeville, and I’m not sure this space would have been large enough.
It’s possible, but unlikely given the dates, that the Lyric may have been in either the old or new Odd Fellows buildings. Benton apparently had some arrangement to show films in an Odd Fellows building, but it wasn’t clear which. I assume that would have been before he opened the Scenic, which was sometime by 1913 at the latest. The Lyric may also have been the small theater on S. Main. The chronology works there, since it’s on the late 1913 map, and gone by 1922.
The notes on this building from the NRHP listing do not offer any identification for this theater, but they do note that the large number of early theaters indicate an intense interest in entertainment, particularly from the coal miners in the area. The coal industry in this part of Iowa is long gone, but Albia had nearly 5,100 people in 1920 (versus just over 3,700 today), and Monroe County peaked at well over 25,000 people in 1910, which today has shrunk to 7,500, less than its 1860 population.