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DeGive's Opera House was the main venue for opera in the U.S. city of
Palmer Building
which is in turn was replaced in 1976 by an office building at 41 Marietta Street. Earlier confusion about the location of the original DeGive's stems from two misunderstandings. First, the location was assumed to be the site of the Kimball opera house. However, this building was at the SW corner of Marietta and Forsyth; DeGive's was at the NE corner. Second, it had been assumed that the location may have been on at the corner of Marietta and Broad (not Forsyth) based on Reed's ''History of Atlanta''. However, this reference is only to Atlanta's antebellum Masonic Hall, later destroyed in a fire in May, 1866. In 1893, DeGive opened the new, larger DeGive's Grand Opera House, which would later become
"DeGive's Opera House", Atlanta History Center
{{Atlanta landmarks Theatres in Atlanta Concert halls in the United States 1871 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Max Corput buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Atlanta Buildings and structures demolished in 1921
DeGive's Opera House was the main venue for opera in the U.S. city of Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
from 1871 until 1893.
History and location
TheAtlanta History Center
The Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead (Atlanta), Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and has a large campus featuring historic gardens a ...
describes how Belgian consul Laurent DeGive purchased an unfinished building at the corner of Marietta and Forsyth and hired architect and civil engineer Max Corput to design the opera house.
The opera house opened on January 24, 1870, and was expanded in 1873–1874 to accommodate over 2,000 people. The opera house was later occupied by the Columbia Theater and later still by the Bijou Theater. The building was demolished in 1921 to make way for the construction of thPalmer Building
which is in turn was replaced in 1976 by an office building at 41 Marietta Street. Earlier confusion about the location of the original DeGive's stems from two misunderstandings. First, the location was assumed to be the site of the Kimball opera house. However, this building was at the SW corner of Marietta and Forsyth; DeGive's was at the NE corner. Second, it had been assumed that the location may have been on at the corner of Marietta and Broad (not Forsyth) based on Reed's ''History of Atlanta''. However, this reference is only to Atlanta's antebellum Masonic Hall, later destroyed in a fire in May, 1866. In 1893, DeGive opened the new, larger DeGive's Grand Opera House, which would later become
Loew's Grand Theatre
Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree Street, Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It was most famous as the site o ...
, at Peachtree and Forsyth.
Earlier opera house
DeGive's was not the first opera house in Atlanta. The first shows performed in Atlanta predate theAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
and were primarily performed in makeshift facilities modified for the operatic arts. Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
saw the formation of the Atlanta Opera House and Building Association. The association obtained the southwest corner of Marietta Street and Forsythe Street to construct a five-story opera house. By 1868, they were out of money. Instead of hosting great performances, Atlanta's first opera house, the Kimball Opera House as it was later known, was sold at a loss. It served as Georgia's state capitol from January 1869 to July 1889.
See also
* Opera in AtlantaReferences
External links
"DeGive's Opera House", Atlanta History Center
{{Atlanta landmarks Theatres in Atlanta Concert halls in the United States 1871 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Max Corput buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Atlanta Buildings and structures demolished in 1921