Rex Theatre
213 E. Main Street,
Ottumwa,
IA
52501
213 E. Main Street,
Ottumwa,
IA
52501
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Polk’s 1918-1919 Iowa State Gazetteer and Business Directory lists the Rex Theatre at 213 E. Main Street. There is no Rex Theatre in the 1914 Polk directory, but a Rex Amusement Company is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory (which probably was compiled later than the Polk directory), though with no address given.
The Rex is listed in the FDYs for 1926, 1928, and 1929, but not in 1927. The Rex most likely opened in 1914 and closed for good in 1929. The building at 213 E. Main is today occupied by a business called McKee Coins. I suspect that it might have been built specifically as a theater, as it has a moderately fancy front compared to most of its its neighbors.
The 1922-1923 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists the following theaters at Ottumwa: Rex, Circle, Strand, Empire, and Princess.
The only mention I have ever found of a Rex Theater was actually of a Rex Theater that existed in Fairfield, IA. around 1950.