The History of the Opera House Concluded

In the 1930s street festivals were held in front of the P.O.S. of A. Hall as we then called it. These festivals involved the usual eating stands, games of chance, bingo, games of skill (baseball throw etc.) that are around today. The only difference was the entertainment available for the event. Oh they had polka German OmmPahPah bands, hillbilly acts, etc. on the stage outside (which was often just the steps to go in the Opera House/P.O.S. of A. Hall), and sometimes inside the hall, but they had contests, boxing, wrestling and talent shows in the hall whereby local boys and girls could try their manhood or exhibit their talents, whichever applied.

After the POS of A dissolved, the Rescue Hose Company made a firehall of this building, and once again many fun events were available in it. There were slot machines, punch boards, a pool table, card tables, and other amusement devises to entice and please any member. You had to be a member or go in with a member, but this presented no problem. Many a rainy afternoon was spent in fun and games in the “firehall”. What memories all, the banquets, the movies, the sporting events, the pool and other games of later years. Even in the Golden Era of comic books and radio, and onward into early TV, the firehall had an attraction for amusement and entertainment that ranked very highly in our town and even in a wider area of Western Snyder County.

Summary: History of THE BEAVERTOWN OPERA HOUSE COMPANY

In 1869 a group from Beavertown decided it was high time Beavertown have some culture. So they had constructed on Center Street a two story wood-frame building, with a stage, dressing rooms, orchestra pit, sloping floor with two aisles, a cloak room, alcove, and all other necessary items to stage opera, plays and vaudeville (which came later). On the second floor, there were meeting rooms for community organizations, and rehearsal halls, as well as storage for the stage props and costumes. When the railroad came to Beavertown, many shows were able to come to Beavertown, and even Jerome Kern tried out some of his world famous operettas at the “Opera House”. Many community and school plays were presented here as well.

We will resume placing photos in this History Corner starting next month!

The Opera House History Continued!

It was profoundly important. It would not only bring in shows from outside the area, whereby these folks would need hotel rooms and restaurant meals which helped support the local economy, but it brought in many visitors from other communities to attend the events, and this too stimulated business on the railroad and in some town stores and shops. Then of course there was the employment generated by keeping the hall cleaned up, maintained, and staffed during the season. When the movie era began, a projection booth was built, a screen was installed, and since there already was a ticket booth, not too many other renovation was needed to start up the movie business. Even before movies the hall had magic lantern shows, or slide shows, often with hand colored high quality slides. Then the vaudeville circuit came and the Chataqua circuit, the jazz bands, and other such acts that were popular in the later part of the 19th century, and the early part of the 20th, not the least of which was the revived black-faced minstrel show. Secret societies were a big thing about this same time, and so the P. O. S. of A. bought the hall, and along with the P. O. A., held their meetings there. But the hall continued as a show place too. A piece was built on the south side, and a basement kitchen and dining hall was put under this piece. Now in addition to shows and meetings, banquets and dinners of all sorts could be held at the hall, and indeed sometimes all three at the same time.

After WWI, a veterans group used the upstairs as a meeting place, and had all manner of captured German helmets, swords and other war paraphernalia stored there. (They also put two German machine guns on their American Legion plot on the Cedar Hill cemetery, along with a British naval rifle {now displayed in front of the VFW below Paxtonville}). When I was a boy, we kids would play war with the “cannon” as we called the naval rifle, and the machine guns, and also in the hall itself, we would helmet and dress ourselves up, take sword in hand and duel. It is a miracle that we did not inflict serious injury on ourselves from these mock battles. I have often wondered what happened to those wonderful artifacts.

To be continued

Moses Specht’s Oregon Hotel History (Cont.)

“Mullie”, and later Jim and Doris Gillespie ran the place as the “Main Street Hotel” from 1951 to 1974, when Hubert Aurand took it over and changed the name to the “Brass Rail Inn”. When Hubert was killed in an auto accident in January 1976, his wife Vickie became owner, and she later sold it to her step-father, Robert Erb, who in turn sold it to Larry Harbst.

Then when Beavertown voted the town dry in the November 1981 General Election, Larry closed the Brass Rail just before 1982 began. Later, he and Mr. Fitzgerald, the owner of the also closed Beavertown Hotel, competed for the one distributorship license available for Beavertown, and Larry Harbst won out. While it is still, as of April 2009, called the Harbst Distributors, it is now owned by Dawn Miller.

Brief Summary

• 1845-1889 Oregon Hotel
• 1889-1919 Conway House
• 1919-1951 Winey/Rine Home
• 1951-1974 Main Street Hotel
• 1981-1982 Rooming House
• 1983-Present Harbst’s Distributorship
• Don I. Frymyer bought it in 1985 and sold it to Dawn Miller in December 2007.

The Fabulous Beavertown Opera House

In 1869 a group from Beavertown decided it was high time Beavertown have some culture. So they had constructed on Center Street a two story wood-frame building, with a stage, dressing rooms, orchestra pit, sloping floor with two aisles, a cloak room, alcove, and all other necessary items to stage opera, plays and vaudeville (which came later). On the second floor, there were meeting rooms for community organizations, and rehearsal halls, as well as storage for the stage props and costumes.

When the railroad came to Beavertown, many shows were able to come to Beavertown, and even Jerome Kern tried out some of his world famous operettas at the “Opera House”. In those days there was no electricity, and no central heating, so you can imagine the hall was used mainly in the warmer, more daylight intensive months. But people would keep their wraps on in the colder months, and other artificial lighting was used such as carbide lights and kerosene lamps. Of course, local band concerts were held, political rallies, various lectures, town meetings, and medicine shows and animal acts also filled the hall. It was simply the main draw in, and for, the surrounding inhabitants of Beavertown. Only churches had an equal level of support. In an era with no radio, television or moving pictures, this was the only non-religious public gathering place, and outside of home entertainment, the only amusement and entertainment center in the whole area.

To be continued