The Jamestown Opera House is a historic government building and

community center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

in the village of Jamestown,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

because of its well-preserved architecture. Besides serving as a theater, the opera house has functioned as the community's

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

, its

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...

, its

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, and its

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2007. Accessed 2012-12-26.

Historic context

Established on 16 September 1823, Jamestown's first post office was conducted in conjunction with the postmaster's store.Dills, R.S.
History of Greene County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, and the State of Ohio
'.

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

: Odell and Mayer, 1881. For many years, the location of the post office was the subject of a community dispute; each postmaster moved it away from the location used by the previous postmaster, and one postmaster moved its location weekly, prompting comparisons to circuit-riding Methodist preachers.Broadstone, Michael A.
History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries, and Institutions
'. Vol. 1. Indianapolis: Bowen, 1918. A library was functioning in the community by 1870, although its use was restricted to students in the village schools. When the community was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted, its main intersection was that of Limestone and Xenia Streets: Limestone was the north-south road connecting

Urbana, Ohio Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, west of Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. It is the burial place ...

with

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

, while Xenia was the east-west road from Xenia to Washington Court House. In Jamestown's early years, the southeastern corner of the intersection was occupied by a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

that had been replaced with a store by the early 1880s. On this corner of the intersection, the Opera House was built in 1889. It was not originally built as a post office, but the office was moved to the Opera House after the size of the previous post office was discovered to be insufficient for

Rural Free Delivery Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was a program of the United States Post Office Department that began in the late 19th century to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. Previously, individuals living in remote homesteads had to pick up mail themsel ...

regulations. It operated in this role until a purpose-built post office was constructed in 1902.

Architecture

The Opera House is a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

structure designed by John W. McLean and the firm of Matthew Moorman. Its brick walls rest on a

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and are covered with a combination shingle-and-

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

roof. When it was built, the ordinance for its construction provided that it be used only for government offices, causing problems when it began to be used for postal purposes. Besides the offices for Jamestown's village government and for the officials of Silvercreek Township, the opera house was built with a substantial

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

with a

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

, as well as storage for stage equipment. It remained in its designed uses for less than half a century.Jamestown Opera House
, Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission, n.d. Accessed 2012-12-26.

Restoration

In 2007, the Jamestown Opera House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, qualifying both because of its historically significant architecture and because of its place in local history. At the time, it was a work in progress, rather than being actively used for a specific purpose. It's one of two Greene County opera houses on the Register, along with the

Cedarville Opera House The Cedarville Opera House is a historic theater in the village of Cedarville, Ohio, United States. Erected in 1888 on Main Street in downtown Cedarville, it has been a premier part of community life since its construction.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ...

in Cedarville. Using more approximately $225,000 supplied by the state government in the late 2000's in two separate grants, workers installed new windows, improved the electrical and HVAC systems, and restored the exterior walls. Another grant of $50,000 was used to repaint and restore the auditorium. The renovation project concluded in 2010.

References

External links

Jamestown Opera House
{{authority control Government buildings completed in 1889 Buildings and structures in Greene County, Ohio City and town halls in Ohio Community centers in Ohio Defunct fire stations in Ohio Former library buildings in the United States Former post office buildings Former seats of local government Former theatres in the United States Public libraries in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Ohio Post office buildings in Ohio Romanesque Revival architecture in Ohio Theatres completed in 1889 Music venues completed in 1889 Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio 1889 establishments in Ohio