Around the turn of the 20th century, Madison County's prosperity from the discovery of natural gas also brought a high level of entertainment as traveling shows crossed the country by rail and performed in suitable venues. With trains passing through town, Pendleton became one of five Madison County communities with its own opera house. Dr. Ossian Cook, a physician and one-time Pendleton postmaster, acquired this building in the 1890s and once used it as a post office, then sold it to his older brother, Dr. John W. Cook, also a physician. By 1898, it had become an opera house with significant capacity. On Nov. 2, 1900, gubernatorial candidate Col. Winfield Durbin of Anderson addressed an audience of 400 there. In 1900 and 1901, the Pendleton Gazette recorded receptions, speeches, band concerts, performances by local players, minstrel shows, an oyster supper, commencement exercises, a hypnotist, and traveling theater companies. A Feb. 2, 1900 story suggested why the opera house did not last long: although "Peck's Bad Boy" was called a fine show that should have drawn a crowd, Pendleton audiences did not patronize such high-class shows liberally enough to make it easy to induce the best companies to stop there.