Orpheum Theater
215 S. Main Street,
North English,
IA
52316
215 S. Main Street,
North English,
IA
52316
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
This theater appears on the December 1916 Sanborn. It was located in a large one story brick building. There is no theater listed for North English in the 1914-15 American Motion Picture Directory, so it may have just been built.
If this theater was not replaced, it is likely the Orpheum Theater, a 400 seat theater listed in the 1926 Yearbook. That theater was still open in 1939, but is listed as closed from 1940 to at least 1943.
Placing the theater today is a bit difficult because every building on both sides of the road is gone, with the exception of the city hall. It was probably located where the prefab shed public works building is.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A book was published in 1954 commemorating the Centennial of North English. It says that “[i]n 1908 Alva Allen built the East Side Theatre. Stage shows were produced weekly and the building was also used for roller skating. Alva Allen sold the opera house to John Whitmore. Other owners were J. W. Hadley and Roy Coxe. Vance Smith and son Dean operate the Orpheum Theatre in the same remodeled building at the present time.”
Vance Smith is mentioned as operator the Orpheum in the April 13, 1929 Motion Picture News. The house had just had sound equipment installed.
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.