Opera House

Bellefontaine, OH 43311

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 31, 2012 at 2:30 am

The October 11, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World said that F. E. and W. S. Ketter, managers of the recently-opened Cozy Picture Palace in Bellefontaine, also had the “picture privilege” at the Grand Opera House.

Volume 1 of Memoirs of the Miami Valley, published in 1919, says that the Opera House opened on December 23, 1880, and was designed by Toledo architect D. W. Gibbs.

Here is an early postcard featuring the Opera House Block. Here is a photo from 2006.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on January 30, 2012 at 11:36 am

There was a Grand Opera House listed under Bellefontaine in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Was that this theater? There are no street addresses in this Guide. The seating capacity was 956, it had both gas and electric illumination, was on the ground floor; ticket prices 25 cents to 75 cents; George Guy was Mgr. The proscenium opening was 26.5 feet wide X 24 feet high, and the stage was 26 feet deep. There were 6 musicians in the house orchestra. There were 2 daily newspapers, and 3 hotels for show folk. The 1897 population of Bellefontaine (which I believe is pronouced locally as “Bell-fon-tin”) was 7,000.