National and State Registers of Historic Places
Iola Theatre
202 South Washington Avenue
Iola (Allen County)
Listed in National Register
Jan 5, 2024
Architect: Churchill, B.F.
Category: theater
Thematic Nomination: Historic Theaters and Opera Houses of Kansas
The 1931 Iola Theatre is located in downtown Iola, Allen County, Kansas at 202 South Washington Avenue. The two-story terra cotta and brick movie theater is symmetrical with a centered entrance under a circa 1960 marquee and a double-height upper façade. The primary elevation exhibits revivalist architectural details popular in the early twentieth century, but the Spanish Revival dominates.The period of significance spans from the year of its construction, 1931, to 1950 when Fox ended its exclusive affiliation with the theater. The theater was originally locally owned and operated, but by the end of the 1930s, the Iola Theatre became affiliated with the Fox studio, exclusively showing this studio’s first-run films until the late 1940s.
