Opera House - Durant, OK - Concert Halls on Waymarking.com

The J.L. Wilson building is a 2-story building constructed in 1901. It has stone side walls and a flat roof. The facade facing Evergreen has a single storefront, with display windows which wrap around a canted corner on the southeast. The clerestory is extant, and currently has the words OPERA HOUSE painted across it.

The thing that makes this building unique is the use of pressed tin on the overhanging cornice, on the canted corner, and between each of the second floor windows. The building was placed on the National Register in 1982.

In 1904, Wilson first opened the Opera House. In the pre-statehood days of Indian Territory, the opera house attracted the entertainers of the day. Wilson sold the building in 1908, when it was remodeled and upgraded and continued as an opera house on the second floor.

The building has been used for a variety of things over the years, but still retains its identity as an Opera House, and currently houses a coffee shop known as Opera House Coffee.

* Built by J.L. Wilson in 1901
* The Federal government set up a court on the second floor from 1902-1904, to help protect the white settlers since the town was still under Indian jurisdiction at that time
* In 1904, Wilson set up an Opera House
* In 1908, he sold the building and it was remodeled and continued as an Opera House for the next few decades. This owner kept the building until 1985
* From 1915-1919, while a new federal building was being constructed, it served as the Durant Post Office
* In the 1920's and 1930's, the second floor was used as a drill hall for the Oklahoma National Guard
* In the 1930's the second floor was also used as offices for the WPA * The first floor area has housed a furniture store, dry goods business, and for years was the Double-Dip Ice Cream Parlor
* It was remodeled and refurbished again in 1985
* Today, the first floor is occupied by the Opera House Coffee shop. OPERA HOUSE has been painted across the clerestory

Website: Not listed

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