In 1923 Tony Duvall purchased the 16-unit Iris Apartment Building and built onto the north side of it a small theater named The Gem. In 1930 Duvall demolished The Gem and replaced it with the larger New Iris Theater and an 8-unit apartment building. The New Iris was later renamed the Vista and then the Desert Star Playhouse.^[1]

1. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Murray Theater