Princess Theatre

kencmcintyre on January 23, 2007 at 1:22 pm

This article describes the sale of a Princess theater in 1915. The location is in southern Iowa, but as my Iowa geography is subpar perhaps someone else can weigh on where this theater may have been:

Princess Theatre Sold

C. F. Schnee becomes owner and manager of the Princess Theatre, one of the best equipped and most attractive movie playhouses in southern Iowa, next week. A.L. Barker, owner and manager of the theatre, closed a deal Monday for the sale of the equipment of the house. The building, which was erected by L. M. Stanton, is owned by S. Varga of Leon. Mr. Schnee has owned a number of movies and is an experienced theatrical man. He expects to keep the house up to the high standard maintained by Mr. Barker.

Mr. Barker and J.L. Taylor started the first picture theatre in the town about seven years ago, and since that time the former has been actively engaged in the business. He thoroughly understands every detail of the show business and is a very popular manager. He has a wide acquaintance with theatrical people, and the Princess has prospered under his able management. Mr. Barker has not definitely decided as to his future business plans but will likely locate in a large town. He has two or three propositions under consideration at the present time.

Calmuse on September 26, 2007 at 2:24 pm

Definitely not the Princess. This small former theater at http://tinyurl.com/2btf36 has been a costume shop for about 30 years, and it’s in West Des Moines, a suburb with a street and numbering system that duplicates many Des Moines addresses and confounds people unfamiliar with that area.

Here’s a link to a blog that includes info on the Princess, which was a live stage venue. The post about the Princess is titled “A Legitimate Question.” http://lostcines.blogspot.com

The fifth-most-recent entry in that blog is a 1980s-vintage article published in 1996 (see the post “The Genuine Article.”) It describes some of the old cinemas—some of which were extravagant, especially for a small city like Des Moines.

Most of the blog’s photos have perms, but the Princess photo doesn’t appear to have any. The Princess was located on 4th Street in downtown Des Moines (not West Des Moines).

The Princess photo: View link

The Princess should be classified as closed/demolished.

Joe Vogel on April 9, 2011 at 3:48 am

The September 11, 1909, issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering ran an item about the plumbing, heating, and ventilation system of the new Princess Theatre, then under construction in Des Moines. The Princess Theatre was designed by the firm of Hallett & Rawson (George E. Hallett and Henry D. Rawson.) The item said that the roof of the building would be on by the middle of September, so construction was most likely completed before the end of 1909.

Hallett & Rawson was a leading Des Moines firm in the late 19th and early 20th century, but I’ve been unable to find any theaters other than the Princess attributed to them.

Joe Vogel on May 25, 2012 at 10:05 pm

Data on this Flickr page says that the Princess Theatre was at 314 4th Street.

However, Marcia Meller, the author of the article on this web page, gives the impression that the Princess was never a movie theater, but in 928 went directly from being a legitimate house to hosting sporting events and public meetings.

WorldCat lists A History of the Princess Theatre of Des Moines, Iowa, a 1949 Thesis/Dissertation by Raymond Scott Hill. The only copy the catalog lists is in the University of Iowa Library in Iowa City. Maybe someone who has access to the library will find this comment and examine the book to see if it says anything about the Princess ever having shown movies.