The Millett Opera House, home of the Austin Club, is a historic building in downtown

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Built in 1878 by local lumber seller Charles Millett on one of his lots, the house was one of the largest performance spaces in Texas upon its completion. It featured 800 removable seats, 24-inch

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 ...

walls, and the largest enclosed space in Texas.The Austin Club - History
The Opera House was designed by Frederick Ruffini, an architect working throughout Texas. The Austin Public Free Schools (today the

Austin Independent School District Austin Independent School District (AISD) is a school district based in the city of Austin, Texas, United States. Established in 1881, the district serves most of the City of Austin and surrounding towns, the City of Sunset Valley, the Village ...

) purchased the opera house in 1940. In the 1950s, it was threatened with demolition, but preserved by a local group of concerned people. It housed a printing company until 1979, when a long-term lease was arranged for the Austin Club, a local private social club. The Austin Club now owns the opera house. The Austin Club renovated the building and divided it into three stories, removing the performance space, but a portion of the original hand-painted ceiling is still installed in one of the meeting rooms. The building is located at 110 East Ninth Street. It was added to 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 ...

in 1978.

Link

National Register of Historic Places - Nomination Form

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Buildings and structures in Austin, Texas City of Austin Historic Landmarks Music venues completed in 1878 National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas 1878 establishments in Texas Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Opera houses in Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks

Link

See also

References