MARCH 6 ISSUE ANSWERS: A New Place of Entertainment. The Gray family, Hugh, Noah and James, local brothers and residents, constructed the elegant Italianate style Opera House started July 1869.The Grand building at 213 Main Street is the last remaining opera house of this style in Michigan. The building was designed by a young architect with great promise, Oscar S. Buel, costing $22,000, an unbelievable sum at that time. It is a three story brick construction with heavy brackets and hoods over the arched windows. The bottom floor had three stores, several offices, a ballroom and auditorium complete with second floor surrounding balcony, and a dome ceiling which made for perfect acoustics. It was famed to have seating for 1,200 without crowding, elaborately furnished and fitted with lighting fixtures and plated glass imported from France. (The Romeo Observer) The celebrated dedication was in 1870 with two events, one with 500 to 600 visitors and the other 600 to 700 participants. What entertainment happened there was magical. Many speeches were noted by The Observer: The feisty and determined Elizabeth Cady Stanton the famous women’s rights advocate for the right to vote, abolition of slavery, women’s right to divorce and temperance. Also speaking was U.S. Senator Zachariah Chandler. Many

MARCH 6 ISSUE ANSWERS: A New Place of Entertainment. The Gray family, Hugh, Noah and James, local brothers and residents, constructed the elegant Italianate style Opera House started July 1869.The Grand building at 213 Main Street is the last remaining opera house of this style in Michigan. The building was designed by a young architect with great promise, Oscar S. Buel, costing $22,000, an unbelievable sum at that time. It is a three story brick construction with heavy brackets and hoods over the arched windows. The bottom floor had three stores, several offices, a ballroom and auditorium complete with second floor surrounding balcony, and a dome ceiling which made for perfect acoustics. It was famed to have seating for 1,200 without crowding, elaborately furnished and fitted with lighting fixtures and plated glass imported from France. (The Romeo Observer) The celebrated dedication was in 1870 with two events, one with 500 to 600 visitors and the other 600 to 700 participants. What entertainment happened there was magical. Many speeches were noted by The Observer: The feisty and determined Elizabeth Cady Stanton the famous women’s rights advocate for the right to vote, abolition of slavery, women’s right to divorce and temperance. Also speaking was U.S. Senator Zachariah Chandler. Many performances included a popular choir from Tennessee, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Romeo Band Association, The Mendelssohn Quartette, High School Graduation and Science Fairs, The play Uncle Tom’s Cabin complete with a full pack of Cuban and Spanish bloodhounds, social “sock hops” (dances). It was noted before indoor plumbing, a long line of “powder rooms” were lined up behind the building for women in fancy dresses and men in tails.
Unfortunately, the cultural center was plagued by fires: one in January 1876; the second fire, a month later, nearly destroyed the entire complex; and another fire in 1940. It was rumored to have had five fires in all. In 1885 the Gray Brothers sold it to John Smith, a banker and land owner. In 1919 the Mason’s bought it for $8,000. In January 1923 it was dedicated as a Masonic Temple and has been so ever since. Today they gladly rent it out for weddings, showers, and many other types of venues, complete with kitchen.
–Joan Beringer,
Romeo Historical Society staff