Theater

114 S. Main Street,
Albia, IA 52531

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SethG
SethG on March 21, 2025 at 6:51 am

This may possibly have been the Lyric, which opened in Spring 1913, and closed in 1916. That theater offered vaudeville, and I’m not sure this space would have been large enough.

SethG
SethG on March 20, 2025 at 11:17 am

The notes on this building from the NRHP listing do not offer any identification for this theater, but they do note that the large number of early theaters indicate an intense interest in entertainment, particularly from the coal miners in the area. The coal industry in this part of Iowa is long gone, but Albia had nearly 5,100 people in 1920 (versus just over 3,700 today), and Monroe County peaked at well over 25,000 people in 1910, which today has shrunk to 7,500, less than its 1860 population.