A. J. Young operated a theater or hall in Monticello from about 1922 to 1927.^[1]

Frank Spearman, son of Dr. F. S. Spearman, leased the Young Theatre in May 1930, after becoming “familiar with the operation of picture machines” while working at the theater during the previous year. The San Juan Record reported that he was “able to handle the projection end of the business very satisfactorily” and wished him a “very liberal patronage.”^[2]

The Young Theatre had sat idle for “two or three years” when it was purchased in May 1934 by Marie M. Ogden for use as a “community house.” After “considerable renovating and repairing”, the former show hall was to be “a place for her people to stop for rest while considering their future activities” in the county.^[3]

Ogden led a band of religious settlers who established the Home of Truth settlement in Dry Valley in September 1933. She gained notoriety after one of her followers, Edith Peshak, died of cancer on 11 February 1935. Ogden claimed Peshak had not died and for two years her followers washed Peshak's body in a salt solution three times daily. After the sheriff forced an investigation and found the body perfectly preserved, Ogden secretly cremated the remains.^[4]

1. Polk’s Utah Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1922-1923, 1927-1928
2. "Frank Spearman Takes over Young Theatre", San Juan Record, 22 May 1930, page 1
3. "Theatre Building Bought", San Juan Record, 10 May 1934, page 5
4. “Marie Ogden Led Spiritual Group in San Juan County”, History Blazer, April 1995