Holland Opera House
808-812 S. Main Street,
Hopkinsville,
KY
42240
808-812 S. Main Street,
Hopkinsville,
KY
42240
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At some point after the mid 1950s, the top story was hacked off. The auditorium, or much of it, was demolished in 1974.
I assume Box 280 was a PO box where they got their mail. I’d assume that like all of these ‘opera’ houses, once movies took hold, there was less of a market for travelling shows, and having a school graduation or political meeting a few times a year wouldn’t pay the bills. Most seem to have closed right around World War I. Fire codes also got a lot less friendly to upstairs auditoriums, although you do see second story theaters hang on until the ‘50s occasionally.
The Opera House at Hopkinsville was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, with the cryptic notation “Box 280.” A mailing address, perhaps?
According to a history of Kentucky published in 1922, R. H. Holland retired in 1916 and ceased renting the Opera House for performances. It doesn’t say why. He still owned the place in 1922.