There’s a lot going on in these articles, which may refer to three different buildings, and definitely two. There is no Quonset style building remaining in town. The address does not exist. The current American Legion building is at 1602 Main. It looks like it’s an old commercial building given a very ugly sheet metal makeover. The 1933 map shows it as two stores, and has the address 406-408. The 200 block then is now the 1400 block, and never had a business of any kind. This should be listed as demolished. It sounds like it was destroyed in the 1960 fire.
The Leese building was constructed in 1925. It incorporated parts of an earlier three story opera house, which still appears on the Jan. 1925 Sanborn. It likely contained a theater from the very beginning.
There is no such address. Highest even 100 on the west end is 134, which quite obviously was not a theater. Going E, the highest even is 108, which belongs to a bank. 126 W Main is a possibility. It’s the right size and shape, but it does have an old fire siren on top, so it might have been municipal.
Falke’s theater was on the second floor. The building housed his implement and auto sales operations. By 1929 it was a dance hall, which still had a stage, by 1941 it had become part of the dealership. For whatever stupid reason, I did not take a picture of it, even though I walked past it.
The address is really confusing. I’m not sure how 8th St was decided on, but it can’t be right. There doesn’t seem to have ever been a Main St. What is now Central Ave was once called Washington. I can’t find a Tulip anywhere, either today or on the 1914 map, the most recent available online. Almost everything running N-S has been renamed and the numbered streets south of 1st St N once had people’s names. The numbered streets from 1st St N northwards always had numbers, only the N was added to distinguish them from their southern counterparts.
There is a later Sanborn of the town, but the LoC doesn’t have it scanned. You have been able to access the Iowa State collection before (never works for me), perhaps you can answer this.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Jan 5, 2024 at 4:14 pm
Look at the other building to see what you think, but a capacity of 200 for this one makes more sense to me.
I suggest the Casino opening in 1912 may have been in the Odd Fellows building on W Main. That was constructed in 1911, and the 1915 map shows a theater there. I’m creating a listing for that one. The only problem is that 750 seems very large for such a narrow structure. I wonder if we haven’t been confused by what is obviously a bogus address. There is also a mystery listing for a ‘Chiefton’ which I suspect is a misspelling of Chieftain. Perhaps that belongs to the large building at 117 N 5th (NOT 118)? The last possibility for the Casino of 750 seats is the old opera house, but that burned in 1939, and can’t have been around to rename in 1948.
All I can say at this point is that the address is definitely wrong, no matter what, and nothing on N 5th could have been a theater in 1912.
The history cannot be right, given the address. The 1915 map shows the ugly building containing the bar (uses a 112 address) as the city hall and fire station. There was a building to the north, but it was gone before 2009, and did not contain a theater in 1915. There is a large building across the street, which could perhaps have been a theater, but it does not appear on that map. I wish the American Classic Images website wasn’t dead, since that would make the ID very easy.
I’ve removed the picture, and put it under a new listing. I suspect the Empress was either in the Opera House that was at 417-421 4th St, or in some newer building. Still existing choices that postdate the 1915 map are the Masonic lodge at 501 Court, a large commercial building at 413-417 Court, or perhaps the two story building at 412 5th (which seems to have had the ground floor extensively reworked).
I’ve added a map view of this theater, and added a listing for another. It’s possible the other one was the Empress, but it’s a pretty small building. The capacity works better for the 5th St address.
It’s hard to say from the very sparse listing, but this might be the same theater that appears on the 1915 map at 408 5th St. It was located in a small one-story brick storefront (the 1909 map shows furniture & undertaking there). It has since been demolished. The location must have been just to the north of the two story building in the middle of the block.
1902 Sanborn calls this the Metropolitan Opera House, but 1911 and later show it as the Metropolitan Theatre. If Fridley had anything to do with that name, it was a renaming after many years as the Met.
Typo in the listing, ‘Hose’. The ‘in recent years’ is a bit vague and confusing, and no longer accurate. Seems to have maybe taken place in the 1990s? The history on the theater website is not terribly clear.
This is not demolished. The history needs a lot of work. This theater appears on the 1911 map. The 1900 map has it as a dry goods store, and the building was built sometime before 1883. The second floor was a lodge room, at least up until the theater operation started.
For some incredibly stupid reason, I did a terrible job covering this town, despite decent weather. I’ve added a Sanborn view, and a shot of downtown with the theater in the foreground. The building is in decent shape, aside from the typical ugly remodeled ground floor.
It was originally 4th from the corner, but a new bank built around 1910 (which is the white building to the right in the photo) replaced the earlier structures. You are correct about the Iowa’s location. This block has been pretty badly butchered, but the distinctive brickwork on the building to the left of the Iowa can still be seen. Address was indeed 106-108 for the opera house.
There’s a lot going on in these articles, which may refer to three different buildings, and definitely two. There is no Quonset style building remaining in town. The address does not exist. The current American Legion building is at 1602 Main. It looks like it’s an old commercial building given a very ugly sheet metal makeover. The 1933 map shows it as two stores, and has the address 406-408. The 200 block then is now the 1400 block, and never had a business of any kind. This should be listed as demolished. It sounds like it was destroyed in the 1960 fire.
The Leese building was constructed in 1925. It incorporated parts of an earlier three story opera house, which still appears on the Jan. 1925 Sanborn. It likely contained a theater from the very beginning.
There is no such address. Highest even 100 on the west end is 134, which quite obviously was not a theater. Going E, the highest even is 108, which belongs to a bank. 126 W Main is a possibility. It’s the right size and shape, but it does have an old fire siren on top, so it might have been municipal.
Falke’s theater was on the second floor. The building housed his implement and auto sales operations. By 1929 it was a dance hall, which still had a stage, by 1941 it had become part of the dealership. For whatever stupid reason, I did not take a picture of it, even though I walked past it.
Thanks for firming up the dates!
Thanks to Ken Roe for providing the theater listings!
The address is really confusing. I’m not sure how 8th St was decided on, but it can’t be right. There doesn’t seem to have ever been a Main St. What is now Central Ave was once called Washington. I can’t find a Tulip anywhere, either today or on the 1914 map, the most recent available online. Almost everything running N-S has been renamed and the numbered streets south of 1st St N once had people’s names. The numbered streets from 1st St N northwards always had numbers, only the N was added to distinguish them from their southern counterparts.
That means the Casino is almost certainly the building at 117 N 5th. It’s certainly big enough, and does not appear on the 1915 map.
Despite driving right past this on my way out of town, I did not take a picture.
My thought as well. That was probably an informal storefront operation. 100 tops is what I’d guess.
There is a later Sanborn of the town, but the LoC doesn’t have it scanned. You have been able to access the Iowa State collection before (never works for me), perhaps you can answer this.
Look at the other building to see what you think, but a capacity of 200 for this one makes more sense to me.
I suggest the Casino opening in 1912 may have been in the Odd Fellows building on W Main. That was constructed in 1911, and the 1915 map shows a theater there. I’m creating a listing for that one. The only problem is that 750 seems very large for such a narrow structure. I wonder if we haven’t been confused by what is obviously a bogus address. There is also a mystery listing for a ‘Chiefton’ which I suspect is a misspelling of Chieftain. Perhaps that belongs to the large building at 117 N 5th (NOT 118)? The last possibility for the Casino of 750 seats is the old opera house, but that burned in 1939, and can’t have been around to rename in 1948.
All I can say at this point is that the address is definitely wrong, no matter what, and nothing on N 5th could have been a theater in 1912.
I suspect the address is wrong as well.
The history cannot be right, given the address. The 1915 map shows the ugly building containing the bar (uses a 112 address) as the city hall and fire station. There was a building to the north, but it was gone before 2009, and did not contain a theater in 1915. There is a large building across the street, which could perhaps have been a theater, but it does not appear on that map. I wish the American Classic Images website wasn’t dead, since that would make the ID very easy.
I’ve removed the picture, and put it under a new listing. I suspect the Empress was either in the Opera House that was at 417-421 4th St, or in some newer building. Still existing choices that postdate the 1915 map are the Masonic lodge at 501 Court, a large commercial building at 413-417 Court, or perhaps the two story building at 412 5th (which seems to have had the ground floor extensively reworked).
I’ve added a map view of this theater, and added a listing for another. It’s possible the other one was the Empress, but it’s a pretty small building. The capacity works better for the 5th St address.
It’s hard to say from the very sparse listing, but this might be the same theater that appears on the 1915 map at 408 5th St. It was located in a small one-story brick storefront (the 1909 map shows furniture & undertaking there). It has since been demolished. The location must have been just to the north of the two story building in the middle of the block.
1902 Sanborn calls this the Metropolitan Opera House, but 1911 and later show it as the Metropolitan Theatre. If Fridley had anything to do with that name, it was a renaming after many years as the Met.
Was renamed the ‘Met’ by around 1944, when the lobby was redone, and a new marquee added. That still existed when the building was listed in 1975.
Typo in the listing, ‘Hose’. The ‘in recent years’ is a bit vague and confusing, and no longer accurate. Seems to have maybe taken place in the 1990s? The history on the theater website is not terribly clear.
This is not demolished. The history needs a lot of work. This theater appears on the 1911 map. The 1900 map has it as a dry goods store, and the building was built sometime before 1883. The second floor was a lodge room, at least up until the theater operation started.
For some incredibly stupid reason, I did a terrible job covering this town, despite decent weather. I’ve added a Sanborn view, and a shot of downtown with the theater in the foreground. The building is in decent shape, aside from the typical ugly remodeled ground floor.
Not a Fridley anymore. Website is: https://humotatheater.com/
Anyone found a picture before that disgusting remodel?
It was originally 4th from the corner, but a new bank built around 1910 (which is the white building to the right in the photo) replaced the earlier structures. You are correct about the Iowa’s location. This block has been pretty badly butchered, but the distinctive brickwork on the building to the left of the Iowa can still be seen. Address was indeed 106-108 for the opera house.