PlacesPages: Historic Downtown Salem #43: Reed Opera House

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Historic Downtown Salem #43: Reed Opera House

189 Liberty Street NE

Reed Opera House on September 8, 2007

This Italianate and Commercial style building was designed by architect G. W. Rhodes for General Cyrus Adams Reed. Reed came to Salem in 1852 and was influential with the early economic development in Salem, including Jones, Reed & Company (Salem’s first sash and blind company), the Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company, the first telegraph, and the Oregon Central Railroad. He was Adjutant General of Oregon during the Civil War and served three terms in the state legislature where he sponsored bills for the construction of the first state capitol, regulating gambling, closing saloons on election day, and prohibiting public executions.

Reed Opera House on September 4, 2006

The Opera House was built at a cost of $75,000 and consists of over 1 million bricks. The Opera House opened October 9, 1869 with a 1,500 seat auditorium on the second floor. The Oregon Supreme Court and State Library were located on the third floor and seven stores were on the first floor. An Inaugural Ball was held here in 1870 for Governor Grover, and a banquet to celebrate the legislative appropriation for a new state capitol was held in 1872. The western portion of the building served as a hotel under various names, including the Opera House Hotel, the Tremont Hotel, and the Commercial Hotel. The dining room later became the Opera House Saloon, later renamed the Bureau Saloon.

Reed Opera House on October 3, 2006

Eventually E. P. McCornack, president of the First National Bank of Salem, took over the building, and the opera house closed in April 1900 after the Grand Opera House opened at the Odd Fellows Hall. The interior was redesigned by McCornack for use as Joseph Meyers and Sons Department Store, which later became Miller's Department Store. The first floor became a single room, with the main entrance on Liberty Street becoming a main store entrance and a new stairway provided access to the offices on the second floor and a Masonic Lodge room on the third floor.

Reed Opera House on December 9, 2005

The building was rehabilitated again in 1976, with space for almost two dozen new small retail shops created in the basement and on the first floor. The Reed Opera House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1978. In 2003, the building was purchased by Roger Yost, who renovated it yet again and replaced the rooftop pediment, corona and brackets that had been removed decades ago.

Reed Opera House Pediment on September 8, 2007