Designed in 1881 by prominent Quaker architect Addison Hutton, the Mauch Chunk Opera House began as a venue with a concert hall seating over 900 on the second floor and a farmer's market on the first floor. Its Concert Hall became a regular stop on the vaudeville touring circuit for established stars such as Mae West, Al Jolson, John Philip Sousa, and Charlie Chaplin. In 1926, the Comerford Amusement chain took over the theater, by then called the Opera House, converted the interior for silent movies, renamed it the Capitol Theater, and operated it until 1962. In 1977, a group of local citizens formed the Mauch Chunk Historical Society and purchased the old concert hall for one dollar, saving it from demolition, and restoration began in the late 1970's with the goal of repurposing the space as a playhouse for local theater productions. In 2003, three local citizens founded JTAMS Productions to help convert the underutilized theater into a concert venue for top-name talent, and together with the Mauch Chunk Historical Society, they helped restore the Opera House as a nationally known performance venue, a year-round attraction for thousands of patrons from across the northeast USA, and an important part of tourist trade in Jim Thorpe; in 2009, Canada's folk trio The Wailin Jenny's chose it to record their first live album.