{"nrhp_refnum":"84003697","name":"Cedarville Opera House","other_names":["Cedarville Town Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"78 N. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cedarville","county":"Greene County","state":"OH","lat":39.74186979500007,"lon":-83.80682458399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-02-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story brick Richardsonian Romanesque town hall and opera house at 78 North Main Street in Cedarville, Greene County, Ohio, built in 1888 at the intersection of Main and Xenia Streets.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it served for almost a century as the political and social center of the community, housing township and village government offices and hosting touring plays, graduations, rallies and other events. It also holds one of the best preserved opera halls in the area and is an impressive example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1888 at the corner of Main and Xenia Streets in Cedarville, this brick building combined local government offices with a second-floor opera hall. Its Richardsonian Romanesque design includes a projecting tower with a round-arched entrance, hexagonal turrets, a gable stone inscribed TOWN HALL, 1888, and a five-story campanile once used to dry fire hoses. Inside, the opera hall survives with its stage, curved balcony with box seats, dressing rooms, sloped floor, theater seats and ticket booths. The first floor has housed township trustees, village council and mayor continuously, and formerly held the fire department and jail; it now serves the police, waterworks and library. For almost a century the hall hosted touring plays, graduations, medicine shows, political rallies, minstrels and musicals, making it a social and political center for the community. It was recognized for this role and as a well-preserved example of a style popular for large public buildings from 1870 to about 1900.","period_of_significance":"1888","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as in excellent condition and occupied; the first floor is used by township and village offices, police, waterworks and library, and the upstairs hallway is noted as vacant in a photo caption.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.150533-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/84003697.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003697/16c3efd53f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003697/16c3efd53f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cedarville_Opera_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cedarville_Opera_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988750","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedarville_Opera_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2493236"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/greene-county/cedarville-opera-house-84003697/"}