{"nrhp_refnum":"75001448","name":"Woodward Opera House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main and Vine Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mount Vernon","county":"Knox County","state":"OH","lat":40.392514978000065,"lon":-82.48587820599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-10-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story red brick commercial building and opera house at the southwest corner of Main and Vine Streets in Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, built in 1851-52 and also known as the Struble Building.","why_significant":"It is presented as an excellent mid-nineteenth century commercial building and opera house. Woodward Hall opened in 1853 and hosted lectures, plays, minstrel and vaudeville shows. It is linked to Daniel Decatur Emmett, credited with creating minstrelcy and writing \"Dixie\".","narrative":"Rising four stories at the corner of Main and Vine Streets in Mount Vernon, Ohio, this red brick building was constructed in 1851-52 on land leased to Ebenezer G. Woodward for a fire wall. A men's clothing store has occupied the ground floor from the start, while the third and fourth floors held Woodward Hall, later called the Woodward Opera House. The hall opened in 1853 with a lecture on phrenology and went on to host operas, plays, lectures, minstrel shows and vaudeville. Local musician Daniel Decatur Emmett, credited with creating minstrelcy and composing \"Dixie\", appeared at a minstrel show there late in his life. The building has a bracketed cornice, hood-molded windows and arched stage-end windows. Inside, the theater retains painted stencils, wallpaper and a gessoed ceiling medallion with stars and musical instruments. The hall closed in 1925 after use as an Ohio Guard drill hall. Plans called for an art guild hall and a minstrelsy Hall of Fame.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Ground-floor commercial use continues; the upper floors are vacant or empty, the theater floor and balcony are empty, and the opera hall was closed in 1925.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.324368-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/75001448.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001448/e0461ccb96-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001448/e0461ccb96-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Wdzinc","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodward_Opera_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Wdzinc</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodward_Opera_House.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"11001092","name":"Downtown Mount Vernon Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/downtown-mount-vernon-historic-district-11001092/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989537","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138399326"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/knox-county/woodward-opera-house-75001448/"}