Adrian Union Hall-Croswell Opera House

About this property

The Croswell Opera House is a historic theater located at 129 East Maumee Street in Adrian, Michigan. It is recognized as the oldest theater in the state and among the oldest continuously operating theaters in the United States. The theater was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on March 2, 1976 and later added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Adrian Union Hall-Croswell Opera House on April 18, 1985. The Croswell Opera House, or Adrian Union Hall as it was originally called, was completed in 1866. It was financed by the Adrian Union Hall Company, whose stockholders included future Michigan governor Charles Croswell. Its first public event, taking place on March 19, was a lecture by temperance advocate John Bartholomew Gough. The hall served many functions during its early years. It hosted concerts, lectures, festivals, and theatrical performances by both traveling troupes and amateur local groups. Famous speakers who visited the opera house included Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Nast, Henry Ward Beecher, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. During the 19th century it hosted performances by Edwin Booth, John Philip Sousa, and Buffalo Bill Cody; the early 20th century saw appearances by Mrs. Patrick Campbell and Maude Adams. The Croswell has gone by many different names. During its first few years of operation, the local newspaper usually referred to it as "New Hall." Around 1869, it started to be called the Opera House. When Charles Croswell retired as governor in 1881, he returned to Adrian and began buying up shares in the Adrian Union Hall Company, eventually becoming the majority shareholder; he then tasked his son, Charles Croswell Jr., with managing the theater. At this time it became known as Croswell's Opera House. Charles Croswell Jr. gave up the manager's job after his father's death in 1886, but although the possessive was dropped, the name stuck. A new lobby was added to the original building in 1882. In 1885, the theater's first electric lights were installed — just two of them — and the entire theater was outfitted for electricity in 1895. The lighting apparatus was designed by Harry A. Fee, who is better known for creating Hidden Lake Gardens in nearby Franklin Township. In 1896, to meet the demands of that era's increasingly elaborate theatrical productions, the stage was expanded and the roof above the stage raised. In the early 20th century, the Croswell faced increasing competition from movie theaters. It was purchased in 1919 by Harry Angell and Robert Codd, who undertook two major renovations. The first, in 1919, converted the Croswell into a movie house. A long arcade-style lobby was added to the front of the building, as was a projection booth. Then, in 1921, the original balcony was torn out and replaced and the entire auditorium remodeled. It was during this renovation that the Croswell's interior took on its modern appearance.

Location

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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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