A grand building once stood on the corner of North Water and Columbus Streets in Downtown Kent.
The Kent Opera House, built in 1889, boasted plush seating for 900 and a first-class stage. Tickets were between 25 and 50 cents in the days before motion pictures. As a destination for travelling shows, the venue drew stars like W.C. Fields to Kent. Unfortunately, he was stranded at the Kent train depot when his troupe ran out of money.
The opera house also served as a meeting place for the International Order of Odd Fellows, a global fraternal organization that had raised $20,000 to construct the building.
The opera house struggled for much of its life with financial difficulties, especially as traveling shows became less prevalent. It was eventually outfitted to show moving pictures with sound (鈥渢alkies鈥�) but its decline was hastened by the Great Depression. Once dubbed 鈥渢he handsomest building in town," it eventually closed in the 1950s and was demolished in 1963.
The Kent Historical Society has several artifacts on view from the building, including the beautiful chandelier that once hung in the lobby, plus a chair, bar rail and spittoon.
