The History of The Woodward Opera House

by Peter W. Dickson
©Copyright 1999, All Rights Reserved

This memorandum underscores the major historical significance of the Woodward Opera House in view of the impending public campaign to raise funds for the restoration project. We should emphasize at the outset two general points that must not be overlooked in any discussion of the Woodward's great rarity as an historic structure on a national as well as a state level. First, the State of Ohio's decision in 1996 to support the Woodward's restoration was made before we fully realized how rare this old theater really was.The wisdom of local efforts made to date to preserve the old theater will become more and more obvious as we approach the Ohio and Mount Vernon Bicentennial celebrations which can highlight the Woodward as an historical gem. Second, the precise property location of the Woodward is a most attractive feature which few other historic theaters enjoy. Many are not well located in their respective towns, especially a town with such an historical flavor as Mount Vernon. The economic and commercial benefits to Mount Vernon from a restored theater would not nearly be as great if the Woodward were located elsewhere away from the city's central business district.

The major conclusions about the historical significance of the Woodward Opera House can be summarized as follows:

Overall, it ranks as the second oldest in the nation to the Walnut Street Theater (1809) which has been operated as a theater since the 1820s but which now has a modern and quite ugly 1971 interior.
Given that the Walnut Street Theater no longer has a genuine, original interior, the Woodward Opera House can legitimately claim to be "America’s Oldest Authentic Nineteenth-Century Theater".
The Woodward Opera House may also be an acoustical phenomenon (as claimed in old local newspapers) given its exaggerated high shoe box shape which experts claim is the most desirable for the best sound.

With respect to the first two points, extensive research confirms that the Woodward Opera House can stand on its own historical merits and does not depend on any connection to Daniel Decatur Emmett, the Mount Vernon native who wrote the song "Dixie". The Woodward is a great rarity and national crown jewel simply because there are no other older structures in America built originally to house theaters or to serve as performing arts facilities that still exist with as much authenticity and original internal theatrical features intact.

The proof of this claim is straightforward. No theaters built prior to 1800 still exist. Brooks McNamara in The American Playhouse in the Eighteenth-Century (Harvard University Press, 1969) notes that the first theater was built in Williamsburg (Virginia) in 1716 and more than 70 existed at one time or another in the 1700s but, adds, "No eighteenth-century structure intended primarily as a theater exists today. "McNamara later wrote the preface to Frick & Ward's Directory of Historic American Theaters (Greenwood Press, 1987) which collected data on more than 1000 old theaters. This major research effort did not uncover anything to change McNamara's earlier conclusions. Theater historians and experts do not accept McCrady's Tavern (1778) in Charleston (South Carolina) which has a tiny vestibule, as a genuine theater.

The table of nineteenth-century American theaters period confirms the Woodward's special status. This list shows that the Woodward Opera House ranks as America's Oldest Authentic Nineteenth-Century Theater because the Walnut Street Theater (the oldest theater in continuous operation) was built originally to house a circus and as stated previously, its interior was gutted and redone many times. Its ugly modernistic interior from the early 1970s bears no resemblance whatsoever to its original state. Therefore, the Woodward can justify its claim to be America's Oldest Authentic Nineteenth-Century Theater as well as being the second oldest overall in the nation.

These conclusions are rock solid. Neither Karyl Zietz's landmark work, The National Trust Guide to Great Opera Houses in America (1996)nor Joan Dillon's comprehensive American Theaters (1997) provide any solid evidence to challenge the Woodward's claim. Although admirable in most respects, Dillon fills her list of old theaters with four New England town halls from the 1790s which were only converted for purposes of theatrical entertainment well after the Civil War. The strong Puritan religious traditions in this region of the country explains why there were no eighteenth-century theaters in New England. With respect to the nineteenth-century, Dillon likewise includes many structures such as churches,schools, grange halls, and court houses built between the Walnut Street Theater (1809) and the Woodward Opera House (1851). However, all of them upon meticulous examination of their architectural history have proven to be later, post-civil war conversions of buildings constructed for some other purpose originally. Peter Dickson has prepared a detailed survey of all these buildings to substantiate the Woodward's historic claim and will make it available in published form in the near future.

Finally, the third point concerns the distinct possibility that the Woodward Opera House may have phenomenal acoustical features or properties. The theater's great acoustics was often mentioned in old newspaper articles in the Democratic Banner and Republican News. The Woodward Opera House just happens to have a shoe box shape to an exaggerated degree which is rare and helps to ensure marvelous acoustics. This feature is an important factor which could substantially increase the economic/financial return on the Woodward Opera House given the desire of performers for performing arts facilities which have exceptional acoustical properties. This additional factor is just one more reason to preserve and restore the Woodward, which is not only a "Knox County Gem" but one of America's crown jewels in terms of the nation's cultural heritage.No question about it.