Fairmont Opera House

Fairmont, United States

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

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Built in 1901 in Fairmont, Minnesota, the Fairmont Opera House emerged from the vision of Frank A. Day, editor of the Fairmont Sentinel, who urged local businessmen to establish the venue beginning in 1899. The Opera House Company acquired the land in July 1901, and the building opened grandly on February 11, 1902, with a performance of "The Chaperone" by the Frank L. Perley Singing Comedians. From 1902 to 1912, it hosted traveling stock companies, local talent shows, graduations, musicals, conventions, and political gatherings. In 1912, managers W.L. Nicholas and Billy Hay rebranded it as the Haynic Theater and introduced motion pictures. Following a 1926 remodeling and Billy Hay's death that year, the venue reopened on July 27, 1927, as the Nicholas Theatre, featuring a Marr and Colton organ equipped with elaborate sound effects including drums, xylophone, car horns, and horse hoofbeats. The theater operated as a cinema until 1980, when a nonprofit organization purchased the building for $51,000 and undertook restoration efforts after its 1980 listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Type: opera house
Heritage: National Register of Historic Places listed place
Place: Fairmont, United States

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Location

43.65190, -94.46190