The Ragsdale Opera House was Newton's main center of entertainment for nearly 30 years. Its grand opening was held on December 8, 1885, featuring Barney McCauley in the comedy Uncle Dan. Under construction since May 29, 1884, it was completed at a cost of $80,000. Located on this corner, the building measured 75x150 feet. The theater occupied the west end of the second and third floors, while the ground floor consisted of six business rooms, one of which housed Newton's Post Office. The theatre seated 800, not counting eight private boxes that seated five each, and included a dress circle, a parquet, a balcony, and a gallery ornamented in the latest fashions. Its stage measured 30x50 feet and rose from the stage floor to the top of the building, and there were 32 sets of scenery. The belfry held a three-faced Seth Thomas clock with a 600 pound bell that could be heard two miles away on a quiet day. Every part of the building was lighted with gas and heated with steam. Its builders, James M. Ragsdale and his brother, Thaddeus P. Ragsdale, left a small grocery business in 1879 and became successful in real estate, limber, cattle, and banking. They became bankrupt in 1890 and lost possession of the Opera House in 1892. The Opera Block kept the Ragsdale name until J.H. Knoepker, who purchased the building on March 1, 1905, renamed it the Knoepker Opera House in 1907. On January 1, 1915, a fire destroyed the Opera House and several other businesses on the block.