Book available now! Cheboygan Opera House: The Early Years, a history of the Opera House between 1877 and 1927 by Kathy King Johnson. For more info, click here or on the image below.
History of the Opera House: Part 1 A House of Wood
by Kathy King Johnson
Mark Twain dubbed the 1880s in America “The Gilded Age.” Things seemed golden on the outside: rapid growth, western expansion, and immense wealth as industrialization marched west. It was a time of great profit for the lumber business in Northern Michigan, to meet the needs of building homes and businesses. Because of access to the Straits of Mackinaw and the Inland Waterways, Cheboygan was perfectly positioned to move lumber nationwide. But under the shiny surface of the Victorian era, cultural and economic inequity festered. Immigrants supplying the labor lived in poverty and overcrowded conditions. Western Expansion meant the destruction of the Native American culture as Sitting Bull fled to Canada and Crazy Horse surrendered to the Cavalry.
George W. Bell, born in 1844 in Penobscot, Maine and his wife Lydia took advantage of the opportunity to move to Cheboygan. Cheboygan needed a lawyer. And George liked the lakes, the forests and the great energy generated by the growing village. Frank also brought with him an excellent academic education, experience as a schoolteacher and a law degree. He passed the bar in 1868. George Bell, Watts Humphrey and D.R. Joslin were the first attorneys in Cheboygan, arriving in May of 1869 when George was only 25. The Bell family settled in town and had their first child, Annie May. Popular, handsome, and kindhearted, Bell served on many committees and service organizations. His heart was in politics. He became Judge of the Probate Court Cheboygan County and Circuit Court Commissioner. And he joined the Cheboygan village council.
Bell had dreams for the village of Cheboygan. In July of 1877, he brought forth a plan for a town hall. The hall combined council chambers, a fire engine room, a police station and an opera house. “According to the plan, it is to be 40 by 70 feet, two stories high, with 30 feet posts. The lower story is to be 11 feet high in the clear and is to be divided into rooms for various village uses. The upper story is to be 17 feet high in the clear and to have a gallery. The building is to be designed to be a frame building, built on a stone foundation and to be located on the village lot on Huron Street and is to contain the present lockup which will occupy a portion of the lower story.”
There was no quorum at that meeting to take a vote, but those present agreed the village was in great need of a hall and concluded, “We do not ever think there ever will be a time when a building can be completed as cheap as it can at the present.” The estimated cost was $2500, around $61,000 today.
On August 4th, village council members W.W. Strohn, President, George W. Bell, attorney, and trustees, McGinn, De Puy, McKervey, Farrell, Hall, and Perrin voted to approve the plan. On August 18th, they voted to receive sealed bids for contractors. On September 1st, D.J. Burkley was awarded the contractor job over four other competitors. On September 8th, the Council voted to award him $300 for the job.
Only one week later, a load of lime arrived on the Dreadnaught from Detroit to make cement for the foundation. By September 29th, the walls were raised. Burkley pushed hard and by October 27, the building was enclosed and the first coat of plaster was finished.
As in any small town, there were controversies. A court suit was raging over an unfair race at the Cheboygan Horse Park. Two horses broke gait and crossed in front of another horse, who should have won. There were complaints about an ongoing fire in the sawdust pile. And with the new town hall rising before their eyes, citizens were critical. They wanted fancier doors and windows to make it look nicer. On November 3rd, the council rejected the request as the improvements were not in the budget.
The estimated completion date of December 20th was just around the corner.
Interior details were still being decided, and stoves to heat the hall were an issue. On November 24th the council voted to let President Strohn choose the stoves. He ordered five “Round Oak” parlor stoves from Dowagiac. The stoves arrived December 8th on the City of Concord.
With the hall nearing completion, George Bell asked for a vote to insure the building for the price of $25. Five months after George Bell proposed a town hall, it was finished on December 22, 1877. The structure was complete with an elevator for the fire hose, council rooms, a jail, a stage and a gallery. The inside was nearly bare except for the stoves, without decorations, curtains or chairs.
Everyone had ideas on the first big event at the town hall. Who would it be? A formal opening? The Happy Seven Minstrel Group? The newly formed community theater?
