A remembrance: Elroy’s opera house

The Elroy High School class of 1931 gathered for a photo in the Elroy Opera House.

An advertisement from Aug. 24, 1905

The Elroy Opera House before its recent demolition.

There’s an empty corner lot on Elroy’s main street these days. But in an earlier time, it would have been one of the busiest corners in all of the downtown. Known as the “opera house,” the building served much of the same function as the Ontario Community Hall and Schreier Hall in Norwalk.

A gymnasium was an extra that many small towns could not afford. Instead, other structures in the community hosted class plays, graduation ceremonies and usually basketball games, even when those games forced the players to avoid obstacles such as wood-burning stoves and support posts.

The building also served as center for cultural events. Plays, musicals and all manner of entertainment could be found at the opera house during the final decades of the 19th century and the early 20th century.

Over the years, it has had multiple owners, with most people recalling it as Hamburg’s Hardware, although more recently it was a fitness center owned by Tom Kotten.

Now, reportedly several investors have purchased the property and razed the building, and Gundersen St. Joseph’s will build a clinic on the site, replacing the modular now located at the far end of Academy Street next to Hansen’s IGA.


Comments are closed.

  • Ontario High School basketball, 1949–50

    February 22nd, 2024
    by

    The 1949–50 Ontario High School basketball team sits on the Ontario Community Hall stage.


    Pictures from the past: Early 20th century Ontario

    November 6th, 2023
    by

    These undated, early 20th century images depict Ontario. Can you offer more information on the photos and what they portray? […]


    Vernon County Museum Notes: Reflections on early Ontario, Whitestown

    August 31st, 2023
    by

    Turning again to the business directories on the 1878 Vernon County plat map, today we’ll look at the town of Whitestown. Of the five businesses listed in this directory, four are in the village of Ontario.


    Palen Park: Before and after

    November 10th, 2022
    by

    Although Ontario has diminished since the August 2018 flood and the subsequent removal of many downtown buildings, one bright spot […]


    St. Luke’s to be placed on National Registers

    July 27th, 2022
    by

    On Saturday, Oct. 1, St. Luke’s Church, located at 30013 Oxford Road in rural Elroy, invites everyone to join them to celebrate being officially listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places.


  • An icy day in Wilton in 1922

    February 26th, 2022
    by

    Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of a severe ice storm that swept the area. Herbert Anderson took this photo of downtown Wilton on that day. (Photo contributed by Alice Brandau)


    Monroe County Retired Teachers Association, 1992

    August 19th, 2021
    by

    Oil City country school, 1948–49

    March 24th, 2021
    by

    These students attended the Oil City country school in 1948-49.


    F&M Bank, 1929

    February 24th, 2021
    by

    Manager George H. Robertson stands in Farmers & Merchants Bank in Kendall in 1929.


    Oden School, 1944

    January 20th, 2021
    by

    This photo, courtesy of Jeanette Berg of Tomah, offers a peek back at Oden, one of Vernon County’s forgotten towns


    Oden/Ontario Homemakers, 1950s

    January 6th, 2021
    by

    Shown here are the Oden and Ontario Homemakers in about 1955.


  • Archives