1002 & 1004 Main - Grand Opera

Goodland’s first Opera House was a frame building 46 by 100 feet a block west of Main on 10th Street.

There was a stage with a painted drop curtain, and the floor was suitable for dancing and roller-skating.  The Crystal Theater occupied this location for several years.  When the brick building on Main Street was erected, the frame building fell in to disuse, and abandoned, it burned in the 1920’s.

The Grand Opera House was built by a man named Hodge and later was purchased by Fred Hodgkinson, the father of Earl Hodgkinson.  He was a pioneer in Sherman County, arriving in 1886.  He and his neighbor Amanda were married in 1887 and began their lives as leaders of the community.

When the ‘double brick’ was built at the southwest corner of 10th and Main in 1906, it was 50 by 100 feet, and almost thirty feet (3 stories) high.   The store building was 12 foot high and the upper story was 17 feet high with two rows of windows and was constructed for an opera house 50 x100 feet.  Frisbee & Adams furnished the bricks for the new building.  The street floors would house the owner’s businesses, and a double stairway would take the public to the Grand Opera House on the second floor.  The stairway on the outside on the north side of the building had a set going upstairs and one set to be used for going downstairs.  In addition to a large stage, there were dressing rooms; a "U" shaped balcony with box & parquet (main floor) seating and a ticket office.

On Nov. 21, 1906 the Hodgkinson building held its formal opening.   The north show window had a fine display of ladies waists, the south one had gentlemen’s hats and caps, dry goods, boots and shoes, clothing and groceries.   Two fine palm in earthen opts were placed in each show window.  A phonograph furnished pleasing music.  A large kitchen range had been installed in the rear of the store, and from 10 to 2 o’clock a lunch consisting of coffee, tea, biscuits, etc., was served free to all.  A new Weber piano had been put in and in the evening the Goodland orchestra discoursed fine music from 8 to 9 o’clock.  A large number of people attended the opening and seemingly enjoyed the hospitality extended by Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson.  The store is very spacious, and was lighted up brilliantly in the evening.

Opening night at the Opera House was December 10, 1906 with a performance of "Nature’s Nobleman".  Prices for the first night were said to be "right at the prohibitive point" ($3 for a Box’ $2 for a parquet; $1 for gallery!).

Probably the most famous person to have performed there was Milburn Stone, who appeared with the Art Names players in the early 1920’s.  Stone became famous for his portrayal of "Doc" on the televised series of "Gunsmoke".

The opera house was also used for roller skating and dancing, as well as for civic, social and school functions.

Once a road show advertised that it had 110 dancing girls in the troupe that held forth at the old opera house.  In those days the exhibitions were known as "leg shows".  The lyceum courses that once were quite popular forms of entertainment and education used the opera house each winter for a good many years, and famous lecturers and others not so famous appeared here.

There were athletic exhibitions, such as wrestling matches, basketball games, and events of that kind.  Orville Brown, then the world heavyweight wrestling champion, was one of the last wrestlers to perform there.

Politicians expounded from the platform in the opera house the ills of the nation and the state to interested groups of partisans.  Walter Roscoe Stubs, and many other well-known names in Kansas’s history, might be mentioned among those who gave political talks there.  One of the lasts was Congressman Charles Sparks, Goodland’s own representative in congress in the early thirties.

Goodland’s second library was located in this building.  Miss Walpole was the librarian.  A clipping exists from an August 14, 1914 newspaper states that the theater performance, featuring 100 local young people, was a benefit for this library.

The opera house used to be the focal point of interest on election nights, for it was the place where the community gathered to get the "returns."  A big blackboard would provide for the tabulation of local returns in the county contests and a special telegraphic service would bring in the results from over the nation.   The radio, which made it possible for the folks to sit at home and listen to broadcast returns made the old method obsolete.

After Hodgkinson’s mercantile closed, the downstairs was occupied by The Golden Rule Variety store from 1921 to 1926.

In 1930 the Servey Stores leased the building and the Grand Opening was held on February 25, 1931.

In 1934, McCants Store, featuring items from 5 cents to $1 was in business at the location.

During the next years, Taylors’ Grocery occupied the first floor premises, and in 1947, Tom Kiel’s Gamble’s Store opened and remained in business until the late 1960’s.  In 1947, Earl Hodgkinson, owner of the big three story building, had it was completely remodeled for the use of the new Gamble store.  The old stage doors in the rear wall were bricked up and the wall plastered.  The stage, which was on the second floor, for the opera house, was taken out.  The roof and rafters were repaired, and the whole building put in first class condition.

In 1946-1947 Garnett Detty had a dance hall in the second story.  At this time there was only one staircase going up to the second floor on the north side of the building.  When the other stairway was taken out is unknown.

During the following years, adjustments and renovations were made and in 1970, the building was altered radically.  The upper story was removed from the structure and a new façade was constructed, giving the building the appearance of a one-story facility.  A truly modern Gamble’s Store, which it remained until 1978.

In 1979 Pete Fitzgibbons had a hardware and garden supply business that occupied the entire 50 feet frontage. He was in that location until July 1996 when the building was purchased by Robert Harmon.

The first floor of the building was completely remodeled by Mr. Harmon and his business partner, Wayne Turner, to accommodate the handicapped. The new business, Q’s Billiards Parlor, was opened the end of September, 1996. Q's closed in July 2001.