Empire Theater

211 W. Main Street,
Freeport, IL 61032

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 30, 2018 at 10:45 pm

The caption on the vintage postcard got the location wrong. The view is east along West Main Street, from the 200 block. The building with the Empire Theatre sign has been demolished, as has its four-story neighbor at the corner of Galena Avenue.

I’ve set Google street view to the correct location. A business in a surviving building next door to the Empire’s site uses the address 213 W. Main, so I would estimate the Empire’s address as either 209 or 211 W. Main.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 15, 2016 at 11:51 am

The Empire Theatre in Freeport was listed in the 1906-1907 Cahn guide as a vaudeville house. No details were given. It had not been listed in the 1899-1900 guide. Freeport’s main theater, listed in both editions, was the 862-seat Grand Opera House.