October 10, 1912 – Iowa City’s Metropolitan Hall – located on the corner of Washington & Dubuque Streets – is totally destroyed by fire.
For most of the second half of the 19th century, Metropolitan Hall was the one of Iowa City’s finest theatres. Sitting atop the impressive, three-story brick building built in 1858 by Robert Hutchinson on the southwest corner of Washington & Dubuque Streets, the Metro hosted a great majority of Iowa City’s social events between 1860 until the early 1880’s, when the nearby Coldren Opera House took over much of the entertainment business in town.
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