This week's Sepia Saturday theme is old movie theaters, which in my way of thinking includes performance halls and opera houses. I remembered the neat photos that I had taken of the McPherson Opera House in September 2010.
Of course, my pictures are not old enough to be considered Sepia, so I spent over an hour trying to find old photos of the building online. I had no idea that this would be so hard to do! I finally found these four that were on the McPherson Public Library site, and felt fortunate to have even successfully completed that mission. It really did surprise me that such a fantastic old building doesn't have more photos on the internet.
 |
| Source: McPherson Public Library |
Located on Main Street in McPherson Kansas is the McPherson Opera House . It was originally built in 1888 for the large sum of $42,000. Over the years it became a movie theater, an apartment building and then was restored to its original purpose. Quite impressive!
 |
| Source: McPherson Public Library |
 |
| Source: McPherson Public Library |
Here are the photos that I took of it in 2010. It is a very beautiful building, and it is so nice that they restored it. They do also use it as a movie theater.
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
If you have more photos, or know of any stories, please leave a comment or email me so that I can add them on to this post. Thank you!
Also, I posted an extra credit Sepia Saturday post about something that means a lot to me this week. Please click on this link, or just scroll down if you can, to read about The Letsom Letters.
~ Kathy Matthews
oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy @ hotmail.com (delete the spaces)
If you enjoy old photos and the stories that go along with them, please join us over at Sepia Saturday.
 | |
At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot! All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.  |
20 comments:
What a pleasure to see an old bulding restored so beautifully and still being used - not like the Majestic in my post.
It really is lovely. How wonderful that it was restored. I'm always sad to see old buildings--even some beauties--fall for something newer and slicker.
I've used one of your photos for next week's book blurb. I so appreciate you allowing me to borrow for BBF. As always, thanks for your generosity!
Interesting to see what $42000 could buy in the day. Nowdays, it might get you a two car garage.
So glad it wasn't torn down for a parking lot.
What a great old building!! Wonderful photos.
Beautiful! I love your photos!
You have some great photos there. I am always happy to see the old buildings refurbished and being used, and this treasure of a building has so much to offer.
Thank you, everybody! It is a fantastic old building and I am glad that they restored it too. It is funny that there isn't much about online though, especially more old pictures. I wonder why.
It’s a lovely old building and beautifully restored, though I have to say I’m not so keen on the advertisements on the side.
I'm glad when communities recognize the treasure they have in old buildings rather than tear them down. The photo of the Minstrel Show -- boy, there's a painful reminder of a genre that needs no revival.
After the wonderfully ornate entrance decorations I surprised to see the very plain back but then realised that originally it would be festooned with posters of what was on and coming. Wonderful to see an old building restored and used.
It's great that it has been restored and looks the same as it did in the past.
It looks great now too and the pictures you took do it justice.
A beautiful restoration. I love old building restored. Like my town in historic Bardstown, Kentucky.
QMM
What a treat to see such a nice restoration, in contrast to the theaters on my blog this weekend. I bet it has great acoustics too.
Many small town "opera houses" were built along the train routes by enterprising show business developers so that touring acts could have a string of theaters conveniently spaced along the rail lines.
It's indeed a beautiful building, well restored. I noticed it's nicely located near some train routes, and it's almost at the geographical center of the US. The group portret with some black faced people is fascinating.
A very elegant and majestic building - how very fortunate that your town saved and restored it, many don't.
Now that is what I call a very happy ending for a lovely building! Hooray!
Thank you for all of your comments! It is interesting to learn of how they placed the opera houses near the railroad tracks for easier access, Mike. Wendy, after reading what you and Rob wrote, that really is a rare photo, isn't it. Especially since there are barely any old pictures of this particular venue around online.
I'll be by to visit you all as soon as I can. This sore mouth of mine and the pain pills are messing me up on my blogging, but things are looking up.
Kathy M.
Oh yes the Opera Houses....not all have been saved...this is a real success story. I have heard at least in CA tales that they called it an Opera HOuse so the man of the house could sneak away in peace, while he was really going to play cards and imbibe.
I missed this when you posted a couple of weeks ago, glad I found it by way of Sepia Saturday. My theater entry was on Palmer Cox, which I see is your book entry for this week's them.
Post a Comment