A tobacco barn once stood here, and during the Civil War part of the battle of Salem was fought here. Later the barn was torn down, and the lot was used to store barrels of salt, factory wagons, plows, and other goods owned by A. H. and H. B. Clark. A well was also dug on the site. Louis Fischer then bought the lot and built the present-day Fischer Building, where he operated a mercantile until his death. J. D. Musgraves, an embalmer and undertaker, occupied the first floor, and later Day and Stephens Hardware used that space. The second floor served as the opera house, with ornate painted wall panels, pictures of famous Shakespearean actors of the time, a curtained stage, and lighting from kerosene lamps and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. School graduation exercises and alumni association events were held there. The building was later sold to Professor J. W. Hunt, who then sold it to the Salem Masonic Lodge, which remodeled the opera house interior. It remains the home of the Salem Masonic Lodge.