Paris Theatre
Afton,
IA
50830
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I think this may have been the just recently demolished building on N Webster St. Still on streetview in 2021. It had some character, but I did not bother with it. Does have a lot of windows on the side for a theater, but those could have been added.
I don’t know if the theater in this item from Motion Picture Herald of October 3, 1931 was an entirely new house or simply new to Mr. Wellemeyer. “B. A. WELLEMEYER has named his new theatre in Afton, Iowa, the Aftonia.”
Much later news from Afton is found in this item from Boxoffice January 22, 1962: “Closes Afton, Iowa, Paris
“AFTON, IOWA — After operating the Paris Theatre for nearly 17 years, L. J. Kessler has closed the theatre and sold the building to an oil company. The final screen program at the Paris was shown December 18, the equipment then being dismantled and removed from the building.”
This is pretty vague, and there’s no certainty that these were all the same place. There was a theater on the 1913 map, which is still there on the 1932 version. I’ve made a separate listing for it. The Community name appears in the 1928 listings with 200 seats.