Opera House (Masonic Opera House?)

The Masonic Temple was a large three story brick building was constructed sometime between 1896 and 1901, on what had been a vacant lot. Originally built as a large rectangular structure, it had a staircase at the north side with the rest of the ground floor divided between two large commercial spaces. The Opera House was located on the second floor, and featured a large balcony and a deep stage. The Masonic Hall was on the third floor.

By 1907, the building had been expanded at the rear, creating an angled façade facing Washington Street. Both the main and rear sections of the ground floor were now divided into thirds, with a broad internal staircase behind the central section. By 1912, the building is noted on maps as the Masonic Opera House (having previously been shown as the Masonic Temple). Sometime around this point, movies began to be shown, but the 1917 map shows only an ‘Old Opera House’ on the second, with a note that the building is to be remodeled.

The Mason’s moved to a wild Egyptian style temple around 1927, and the 1956 map shows the old temple as the municipal building, with the interior seemingly having been completely rearranged. Although the courtroom was located at the rear of the second floor, this would have been behind the original stage.

Sometime after the original historic district listing in 1980, this building, and much of the block was converted into a wasteland of surface parking.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.