Detroit Opera House

The tall building beyond the fountain on Campus Martius is the spanking-new Detroit Opera House, which opened on March 29, 1869

The tall building beyond the fountain on Campus Martius is the spanking-new Detroit Opera House, which opened on March 29, 1869. Despite its name, the venue offered all sorts of entertainment. The grand opening, in fact, featured a musical comedy with Kate Reignolds, a leading comedienne of the day. Later that year, Detroit was treated to its first symphonic concert at the hall, and, in 1914, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra played its premiere concert there. The interior was decorated by Detroit artist Robert Hopkin, including the main curtain, which was painted by Hopkin and bore the inscription: "So fleet the works of men, back to their earth again. Ancient and holy things fade like a dream." The Detroit Opera House itself faded after a fire in 1897, but it was quickly rebuilt. In the 1920s, it became the Shubert Detroit Opera House. Originally, the main floor was dedicated to retail, and in this photo, the Newcomb-Endicott & Co. store occupied the space. In 1881, J.L. Hudson opened a men's clothing shop there, which eventually relocated and grew into Hudson's department store. In the '30s, the auditorium was gutted, and Sam's Cut-Rate Department Store set up shop until the block was demolished in 1966.

This article appears in the May 2007 of Hour Detroit.
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