Davenport Theatre
1129 W. 3rd Street,
Davenport,
IA
52802
1129 W. 3rd Street,
Davenport,
IA
52802
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The Davenport Theatre opened in 1912 and almost went down in a fire in its first month of operation. Fire at a nearby barn led to panic in the theatre which was undamaged. The Davenport would add sound to transition into the sound era but ran out of gas in 1934. It would became a Bingo hall known as Line-O in October of 1934. When the Bingo Hall closed, the floor was leveled and the building was used for other purposes.
In Davenport City Directories of 1913 thru 1933 the Davenport theater is listed at 1129 W. 3rd not far from the s.e. corner of 3rd and Marquette. This is one of only three neighborhood theater buildings I know of still extant in Davenport. A former West End resident once told me that some in the neighborhood referred to this theater as “Dingbats” but he did not know the story behind this odd name. Does anyone remember? Location of this theater was unusual, sort of halfway between the Downtown and the West End theaters located on or near Cedar St.
The Davenport Iowa History web site has two photos of the Davenport Theatre under construction in 1912:
View 1
View 2