Princess Theatre
16-18 N. 9th Street,
Fort Dodge,
IA
50501
16-18 N. 9th Street,
Fort Dodge,
IA
50501
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The Princess Theatre was opened in 1910. It was a large 2-story structure with a tall stage tower at the rear. First operating as a 789-seat vaudeville theatre, it had become a motion picture theatre by 1914. Operated by A.H. Blank, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures Inc. It was closed in 1934.
It was converted into a bank. The theatre was demolished in the 1970’s and by 2024 the site is a drive-through bank.
Contributed by
Ken Roe, Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
Fort Dodge: 1850 to 1970 by Roger B. Natte, part of the Arcadia Press “Images of America” series, says that the Princess Theatre was opened in 1910 as a vaudeville house, closed in 1934, and the building was converted into a bank in 1939 and razed in the 1970s.
The 1926 FDY lists the Princess with only 400 seats. I suspect that when the house was operating as a movie theater they simply closed the balcony, and set up the projection equipment in it. As late as 1924, the local Chamber of Commerce publication The Community Builder was noting that a stock company was presenting a new season of plays in the house.