The ISIS theatre, located on 297 Main Street of Independence1, provided the small Oregonian town with a multi-purposed entertainment and community room. The earliest documentation found was around June 20th in 1913. This theater was used as a landmark, and often was used as a relative landmark to point people in the correct place. Per example, in the Independence Monitor, there was an advertisement for a special twenty five cent dinner2. The advertisement says “Look for the Sign on Main Street next the Isis Theatre.” Although grammatically inaccurate, this advertisement is a testament to the theatre’s importance in the small town.
Furthermore, this theatre was not only an entertainment space for Independence, it was a meeting place. For example, on June 20th, a notice ran in the Independence Monitor detailing a Farmers’ Union Meeting on the 28th of June3. The notice details the events unfolding during the Union meeting, starting off with a lecture and ending with a musical performance. Besides being a landmark building and a communal meeting place, the theatre provided visual entertainment to Independence. Below is an advertisement for the “World’s Greatest Feature Civilization” on Wednesday, September 27th in 19164. What is interesting about the newspaper clipping is the advertised price. “Prices same as in Portland” points to this idea that this film will provide a similar high quality experience in this small town theatre. Unfortunately, the theatre closed down on Jan 18th, 1958.5
![Independence [Polk Co.], Digital Sanborn Maps, May 1925 - May 1931 (Proquest, LLC, 2016)](/sites/default/files/styles/mt_testimonial_image/public/2020-03/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-12%20at%2011.49.35%20PM.png?itok=sRqZm-0F "Independence [Polk Co.], Digital Sanborn Maps, May 1925 - May 1931 (Proquest, LLC, 2016)")
