{"nrhp_refnum":"76001364","name":"Hayesville Opera House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hayesville","county":"Ashland County","state":"OH","lat":40.773073726000064,"lon":-82.26193421799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick theater building at 1 East Main Street in Hayesville, Ashland County, Ohio, opened in 1886 and owned by the village. It has shops on the ground floor and a theater above.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of a fast-disappearing type, the local lyceum or playhouse. Its stage, dressing rooms, seats, decor and heating system survive largely intact, along with six original painted scenery panels made by Sosman and Landis of Chicago in 1886. It has also served the community as a meeting place since it opened.","narrative":"Hayesville Opera House is a nearly square, two-story brick building at 1 East Main Street in Hayesville, Ohio, opened in 1886. Shops occupy the ground floor, while the theater entrance sits at the center of the north side. The roof is hipped, and the brick cornice has simple corbelling. Inside, the theater remains close to its original state: a raked stage flanked by four gaslit dressing rooms, 350 original seats, patterned metal wainscoting and ceiling, and a large pot-bellied stove. Six painted scenery panels, one inscribed 'Sosman and Landis, Chicago, 1886', survive, which is unusual for such perishable items. Dressing room walls carry the names of plays and casts, including a note about Buffalo Bill in October 1888. The building has hosted political and church meetings, graduations, and early movie showings. It is cited as a surviving example of the small community playhouse, and village and township offices share the first floor. A restoration effort was under way when it was listed.","period_of_significance":"1886","architect_builder":"Sosman and Landis of Chicago (scenery makers); no architect named","architectural_style":"Vernacular, with Italianate elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Being restored at the time of nomination; used for plays and public meetings, with village and township offices on the first floor. A window grouping on the west side was altered around 1920.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.373918-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/76001364.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001364/59fe99c8c8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001364/59fe99c8c8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Chris Light (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hayesville_Ohio_Townhall-Old_Opera_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Light (talk)</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:Hayesville_Ohio_Townhall-Old_Opera_House.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986637","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q81359405"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/ashland-county/hayesville-opera-house-76001364/"}