Harter's Opera House
75 W. Market Street,
Wabash,
IN
46992
75 W. Market Street,
Wabash,
IN
46992
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Additional Info
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Haas Opera House
Nearby Theaters
No theaters found within 30 miles
Shown ‘From Plans’ on the 1920 Sanborn, this theater was a reconstruction by the Dickson brothers of the old Harter’s Opera House. The building had opened on December 11, 1876 as a Haas Opera House. It was renamed Harter’s Opera House in 1879.
Changes to the structure included a new Prairie style façade in dark red brick with a green tile pent roof at the top. The stage was modified to flatten the front, and the elegantly curved balcony was either much simplified or removed. Although the building was meant to be a movie theater, a stage and scenery are still shown on the plans.
The remodel cost over $30,000 (nearly $400,000 today), but the theater was unfortunately not a success. It was closed and had been vacant for at least a short time when the J.C. Penney corporation opened a store here in October, 1924.
With only the loss of the marquee, and the addition of a high quality storefront, the building is largely intact. It is today a thrift store.
As a final note, the NRHP listing claims that the Crest Theater next door briefly used space on the second floor during the 1950’s.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Note that on the 1920 Sanborn, the address was 65 (the Crest next door was originally 63).
This house apparently continued to be called Harter’s Opera House after the Dickson Brothers took over and rebuilt it, as that is how it is styled in the 1921 and 1922 editions of Wid’s Year Book. Dickson Bros also owned the Eagle Theatre at that time. Cahn guides from 1900 and 1902 list Harter’s as an 800-seat upstairs house. By 1907, Harter’s is no longer listed in Cahn’s guides, having been displaced by the much larger Eagle Theatre.
This Facebook post from Wabash County Historian has some early history of the theater and a photograph from 1897. The building was remodeled and expanded the following year. This building, the second on the site, the first having been built in 1874 and burned in 1875, opened on December 11, 1876 as the Haas Opera House. It had become Harter’s Opera House by 1879.