Liberty Theatre
Ayer,
MA
01432
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The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists 3 movie venues in Ayer- the Strand Theatre with 745 seats, open 7 days per week; the YMCA auditorium, 600 seats, open 6 days per week; and “Camp Devens” cinema, no information listed.
Here is where the post theater was located at Fort Devens in the 1950s: if you stood with your back to the main gate you would see a large green area, the parade ground, in front of you. Beyond it in the distance was a row of brick buildings. The theater was to your far left, and back aways, with its front facing away from you. The main gate was on a local road, about a mile from downtown Ayer. I have no idea what is there today.
I went to the movies often at Fort Devens in the late 1950s. There was only one movie theater and I think it was called simply “the post theater”. It was located near the front gate, and was a free-standing building. It had a sloping floor but no balcony. There was also a stage with curtains, but I don’t think that it had a prominent stage-house like the Liberty photo posted by Don Lewis. So I can’t say if it was the same theater or not. However, it was built to a common design – many of these Army post theaters looked exactly alike ! The one at Ft. Devens featured regular movies like any other commercial movie theater, with a change of bill in mid-week if I remember correctly.
A view from the early 1900s of the Liberty Theater in Ayer (Camp Devens).