The Opera House

Built on this site in 1870, the Opera House was a wooden building with a porch and covered entrance facing Fourth Street, funded by Corvallis residents through subscriptions and donated labor. Inside were a horseshoe-shaped gallery facing the stage, movable straight-backed chairs, and three large wood-burning stoves for heat. It was first used for dancing, roller-skating, city band performances, and box socials. In 1887, a gala banquet celebrating the laying of the cornerstone for the first building of the State Agricultural College at the site of Benton Hall was held there. In 1886, Rice's Evangeline filled the building to capacity, with eight hundred people seated and others standing, and it was the first time girls wearing tights were seen in Corvallis. In 1901, citizens held a memorial service there for the assassinated president of the United States, William McKinley. High school and Corvallis College graduation ceremonies were also held there. In 1910, professional entertainment included The Taming of the Shrew featuring Charles Hanford, Miss Marie Drofnah, and a company of thirty, while a production of Pinafore by Oregon Agricultural College's Madrigal and Glee Clubs under Professor W.F. Gaskins was equally popular. Frank Groves managed the Opera House from 1905 until 1914, and as the era of travelling dramas and minstrel shows ended, he rented most of the building in 1915 to the Gazette-Times newspaper, whose presses remained there until 1926. After the newspaper moved into its own building, other businesses including Russell's Second Hand Store and Witzig's Electric Co. occupied the building. The Opera House was torn down in 1950, the site became a parking lot for a Safeway Store, and the Benton County Bank was erected there in 1977.

Corvallis, Oregon · United States