Lyric Theatre

The Quinby Block was a 19th Century commercial building showing Henry Stoecks & Company’s Dry Goods Store. But when the Pattee Opera House began experimenting with films in the 1900’s, it left a business opportunity to create a movie house. In 1908, one of many silent theatres opened in downtown Monmouth with the Lyric Theatre in the Quinby Building.

The Lyric Theatre opened on the northeast corner of the town’s square with motion pictures, exclusively, on a continuous policy with one hour of shorts played. It branded itself as a place where “high class continuous entertainment played every evening” for a dime. But when other theatres opened in town, the Lyric Theatre shifted to a combination of vaudeville and motion pictures in the early-1910’s rebranding as “The House of Polite and Refined Vaudeville (and Pictures)”.

The Lyric Theatre would drop live shows and had playbills for specific films by 1913. Regular screenings were discontinued in 1915 although the “Lyric Room” was still used for shows and local events shortly thereafter. The building then became a home for the Elks Lodge. The Quinby Building burned down in 1953 and was replaced by a new building during the decade.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.