from Seeing Spartanburg: A History in Images by Phillip N. Racine

THE OPERA HOUSE. c.1906.

When this picture was taken, the arcade of the Opera House had been boarded up in preparation for demolition.

The building had red walls and a blue ceiling in its theater, which could seat about 800 people. The demands for entertainment in the city were growing, and the seating capacity was too small to accommodate the crowds.

The manager of the theater, Max Greenwald, of Greenwald's clothing store, brought entertainment to the people up to one month before the building was torn down.

There was a show almost every night, except Sundays, from the fall through the spring. The shows ranged from "A Message From Mars" (with novel electrical effects) and "East Lynne" (for which the Herald reported standing room was sold, and many were turned away), to "Parsifal" (presumably the opera by Wagner).

The structure was demolished in 1906.

(Courtesy of Wofford College)