{"nrhp_refnum":"70000214","name":"Springer Opera House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"105 10th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Muscogee County","state":"GA","lat":32.46485708800003,"lon":-84.99077268999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-12-29","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1978-06-02","areas_of_significance":["Communications","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story red brick building at 105 Tenth Street in Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia, housing an opera house built in 1871 by Francis Joseph Springer to designs by architect Daniel Mathew Foley. The structure was formerly a Victorian hotel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the theater is of national if not international importance because it hosted many leading figures of late 19th and early 20th century American theater, as well as boxers, lecturers and statesmen. It also highlights the retention of original features, including a rare wooden stage grid, and a locally led restoration after the building closed in 1959.","narrative":"Built in 1871 for Francis Joseph Springer, an immigrant from Alsace, this opera house occupies a massive three-story red brick building at First Avenue and Tenth Street in Columbus, Georgia. Architect Daniel Mathew Foley designed it, and the building once also served as a Victorian hotel. The 450-seat auditorium has two balconies, three tiers of boxes, stenciled borders and a stage with a wooden grid, one of very few left in America. Its first event was an amateur concert, but over the decades it hosted performers such as Edwin Booth, Oscar Wilde, Will Rogers and Ethel Barrymore, along with lecturers and statesmen. Changing entertainment habits turned it into a movie house, and it closed in 1959. A citizens' group formed in 1964 and led a restoration funded locally. A theater museum off the lobby displays photographs, costumes and memorabilia. The nomination cites this record of performances and the local rescue as its reasons for recognition.","period_of_significance":"1871 (19th century)","architect_builder":"Daniel Mathew Foley (architect); Francis Joseph Springer (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored opera house in use as a theater and museum; upper stories used for storage and only the opera house had been restored at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.654733-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/70000214.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000214/cacb26c08b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000214/cacb26c08b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Springer_Opera_House_-_Interior_(Columbus,_Georgia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Springer_Opera_House_-_Interior_(Columbus,_Georgia).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209140","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springer_Opera_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7580869"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/muscogee-county/springer-opera-house-70000214/"}