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Crystal Theatre
221 W. Main Street,
Anamosa,
IA
52205
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The Crystal Theatre opened on November 22, 1913. This theatre appeared on the 1917 Sanborn, in the eastern half of Holts Hall, a two-story brick opera house constructed in 1867. The building originally had a peaked roof, and the opera house was located upstairs, while retail space was on the lower level. The 1905 map shows a barber & pool room in this space. By 1917 the roof had been flattened and the building is shown as 6ft shorter. It seems the old opera house was used as a community hall at this point.
It was closed in late-July 1925 but was still listed in 1926 as the Crystal Theatre, with 200 seats. The Crystal Theatre was converted into a store in 1926.
This building was seriously damaged by fire in the late-1990’s. Today it is a one-story metal shed, with only some stone Quoins visible from the older building. It is currently the local cafe.
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
A Crystal Theatre was in operation at Anamosa as early as 1916, when an item datelined Anamosa in the May 20 issue of Moving Picture World said that “E. J. Kratoska now controls the Crystal theater and Airdome, having purchased the interests of George & Polten.” If only this theater and the Opera House were on the 1917 map, then this had to have been the Crystal, whatever its earlier name had been. In fact, a book called “Anamosa - A Reminiscence” which confirms that this was the location of the Crystal also reveals that, as of 1915, the Princess Theatre was in the block to the east, on the south side of Main street in the second storefront east of Ford Street. Although the name Family Theatre is not mentioned in the book, by process of elimination that must have been the earlier name of the Crystal.
Something is wrong here. Is the address a typo? The building now at 221 W. Main does not resemble the written description, but looks fairly modern and is currently occupied by a restaurant called Larry’s Place. A building that does resemble the description is at 211 W. Main, occupied by a real estate office. Life Connections Mental Health Services is located in the same building, but with the address 209 W. Main. But the book I cited in my earlier comment indicates that the Crystal was in the second storefront east of Garnavillo Street, which would indeed be modern 221 W. Main. If that’s the case then this theater’s building has either been demolished or altered beyond all recognition.
The Princess Theatre’s building is still standing at 103 E. Main Street, occupied by an event center called the Revival Lounge.
Ken needs to substitute the text here with a corrected submission I sent him.
The Crystal, which opened on November 22, 1913, was first operated by the management of George & Henriksen. It originally planned to open on November 15 of that year but was postponed due to an issue with its building material. The Crystal Theatre closed in late-July 1925 possibly due to declining patrons, and was converted into a store in January 1926. Otherwise I don’t see any theaters here that were named either the Family nor the Princess.
The description of the location of Anamosa’s Princess Theatre as of 1915 is on page 128 (scan page n141) of the book Anamosa - A Reminiscence. It is among the recollections of early resident Warren J. Rees (scan at Internet Archive.) The description of the Crystal’s location follows a couple of paragraphs later. It might be that the name Family Theatre was simply an error by the AMPD, or the name might have been used very briefly by a short-term operator of the Crystal.
Incidentally, page 10 (digital scan page n23) of the Reminiscence book features an undated early photo of E. C. Holt’s Building. What might be movie posters are on display in the windows of the storefront the Crystal occupied.
Here’s the website I looked at, if you want to take a look: