This week’s photo comes from the scrapbook of Zella (Campbell) Swartz and shows the opera house when it was located at 104 E. Monroe in Mount Ayr. Zella graduated in 1913 while the brick school was under construction, so her high school classes were held here and the upstairs rooms at 112 S. Taylor which were just across the alley to the west of the opera house back door.
The opera house was originally located somewhere near the intersection of Polk and Madison streets and moved to 104 E. Monroe in February 1886. An addition was built onto the structure after moving. As I’ve stated, the building served more than one purpose.
In January 1883 this opera house also served as Mount Ayr’s first skating rink. The Ringgold Record newspaper has a brief paragraph announcing the opening of a roller rink at the opera house. At this time, skates would have consisted of metal wheels on a frame that strapped to the shoes the skater was already wearing. I assume the experiment had its setbacks due to injuries and lack of technology.
We jump ahead to the February 7, 1907 Ringgold Record to find George Hall of Creston had rented the opera house and offered free skating the first night. The paper mentions the roller skating “craze” of 20 years ago. Well, the “craze” was here to stay this time and many smaller towns had skating in various places throughout the early part of the 20th century.
In 1939, E. I. Wilson of Gravity built an outdoor rink with a floor measuring 40 x107 feet and a canopy tent covering the entire floor. This was located across the street south of Hawkeye Lumber at 107 N. Fillmore.
Fay Bryant built the famous Sandwich Shop on the northeast corner of the square in 1931. In 1939, Bryant became the first manager of the Sale Barn Cafe. Having the inside track at the sale barn led to the construction of the Bryant Roller Rink in the parking lot of the sale barn across the street west of Rose Hill Cemetery.
The September 25, 1941 Mount Ayr Record-News relates the rink had opened the previous day with a floor measuring 44×130 feet. It was a frame building with sides that could open for skating during all seasons. There were two restrooms in the south corners, an area for spectators on the north, and music provided by a phonograph system. Japanese lanterns hung from the ceiling.
The rink was open for two sessions in the evening: 7 to 9 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. Also, a Sunday matinee and admission was 21 cents for all.
In September 1941 Highway 3 (as it was called then) had been paved for two years. The USA was coming out of The Great Depression and World War II was not yet in our ballpark. It was a great time to be alive. Much like today.
