Opera House rebuilt!
For regular readers who may remember the story behind the photo from February, which showed the 1906 Short’s Opera House fire on Station Street, this month’s image follows that story.
The accompanying photo was taken in January 1911 and shows the Lynch Transfer Company leaving the train in Shinnston where they have just transferred from train to two wagons and are hauling equipment that was going to be used for the play production entitled “The Red Mill”. The Red Mill, a musical comedy, would be the first stage production held at the new opera house building, which was located on lower Walnut Street.
Lynch’s was a transfer and storage company with their stable and warehouse located along Davis Court. It was owned and operated by John B. and Russell C. Lynch, father and son, respectively. As evident in the image, hauling was done by use of horse and wagon. There were many horse and wagon transfer companies in Shinnston during the early 1900’s. W.H. Hartley and Son as well as Nay Bros. Transfer were two businesses that Lynch’s purchased to enlarge their own company.
Sadly, Shinnston’s history cannot be written without mention of many fire tragedies. Lynch’s is no exception as their stable caught fire in 1937. The Lynch home stood on the [now gravel] lot in back of the Shinnston Volunteer Fire Department, across Walnut Street from Kathleen Panek’s Gillum House Bed and Breakfast.
The Lynch home suffered some damage, but their stables and warehouse were a complete loss. The North Shinnston Land Company, formed by three Hornor’s from Lumberport, two Hood brothers of Big Elm, and Lafayette Rowand, Hugh Martin, and Samuel Benton Davis all of Shinnston, had purchased land in the fall of 1906–several months after Short’s Opera House burned–with the intention of quickly rebuilding a new structure.
However, funding in the early 1900’s took a few years and construction on the new building didn’t start until 1909. During that three year span, The Shinnston Opera House Company was organized and chartered with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars. The first annual
stockholder’s meeting was held at Hugh Martin’s office, an early Shinnston attorney.
The new building was located on the southeast corner of Walnut Street and Davis Court, a location now utilized as a parking lot for Casey’s Restaurant. When built, the large red brick building had a balcony, orchestra pit, box seats to each side, full footlights, curtain lights, a curtain loft, and dressing rooms.
There were also offices within the building. Dr. Donald Fleming, one of Shinnston’s early dentists, was the initial manager of The Shinnston Opera House Company. He contacted Will Deshon, manager of the Grand Opera House in Clarksburg, and asked him to take charge of opening the new opera house in Shinnston. Henry Blossom and Victor Herbert’s comic opera, The Red Mill, was being performed at the Grand in January, so he arranged to have the same play performed as the inaugural play at Shinnston’s new opera house. Mr. Deshon brought his stage workers down via streetcar for the opening to have plenty of help on hand for the expected crowd, which didn’t disappoint.
During its earliest years, many musical plays, minstrel shows, and operas were performed there with several local citizens using their own talents on stage for both voice and character.
Each year, a lease was signed for men to operate the business. W.H. Hess, W.B. Grimm, and George Wilkinson were some of the early lessees of the opera house, each at different times.
Around 1915, new management took over and the building simply became known as “The Rex Theatre”. As motion
pictures were becoming more popular, the Rex started operating both motion and live performances,
with the latter being offered three nights a week. Eventually, it was almost exclusively used as a motion
picture movie house. Tofake Simon and Isaac Peters, both local businessmen and operators of the [now
former] Princess Theatre along Pike Street, merged the Princess with the Rex Theatre in 1917 and
formed “The Princess-Rex Theatre Company, Inc.” They sold the company to Lynnie Monroe in the early
1920’s. Miss Monroe successfully operated the theatres in Shinnston for many years.
In 1940, the Rex Theatre had a severe fire inside of it, leaving only the four walls as a shell. The building
later opened as a skating rink, operated by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Herbert. In January 1957, Anderson
Garage Company, which was located next to the building, purchased the old Rex Theatre/skating rink
building. It was sold by Mrs. Ruth DePace as it had been owned by Frank DePace. Many people may
remember the building being utilized as an exhibition hall with different displays during many Frontier
Days events.
The building was torn down in the late 1990s.
And that’s this month’s story behind the photo.