National Register of Historic Places

Beardstown Grand Opera House

Beardstown, Cass County, Illinois
Listed
May 10, 2000
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
00000471

About this property

The Beardstown Grand Opera House is an opera house on South State Street in Beardstown, Cass County, Illinois. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 2000, and is in the process of restoration. The Beardstown Opera House was originally built in 1872. Nearing completion the opera house was almost completely destroyed by a tornado. After the Opera House was rebuilt by the owners and volunteer townsfolk, the first troupe to play the theater was General Tom Thumb of P.T. Barnum fame. Through the years there have been many owners of this historic building. From 1872 to 1893 a partnership between Henry Krohe and Georgee Schneider controlled the building; facts about Krohe are known, but Schneider is lost to history. A team of five owners took over the opera house for the years 1893 to 1899: they were T.K. Condit, J.P. Harris, Merton Harris, William Deppe and August Deppe. For the five-year period from 1899 to 1904 a set of three owners, three of the previous owners dropped out and a replacement owner came in, controlled the Grand Opera House, Condit, Harris and J.F. Duvall. In 1904 the Deppe family took over control for the next 50 years until, in 1954, the Huss family took over until 1968. In more recent history it was owned by the Irene Schroll family. In March 2004, the opera house was purchased by the Heritage Preservation Foundation, a non-profit organization created for the purpose of owning the Opera House. Four years before, it had been added to the National Register of Historic Places; it is one of two such locations in Cass County.

Location

121 State St.
Beardstown, Cass County, Illinois
40.01752, -90.43431

Categories

ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

La Grange Lock and Dam Historic District
Civil War
7.4 mi
White Oak Hall
Civil War
7.7 mi
Phoenix Opera House Block
Industrial
9.8 mi
South Fulton Churchhouse
Industrial
13 mi
Cunningham, Andrew, Farm
Industrial
15.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Beardstown Grand Opera House listed on the National Register?

Beardstown Grand Opera House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 10, 2000.

What type of historic resource is Beardstown Grand Opera House?

Beardstown Grand Opera House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Beardstown Grand Opera House?

The period of significance for Beardstown Grand Opera House is recorded as the industrial era.

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