Brown's Hall, Rockford, IL

Submitted by scott on

In 1863 the Rockford post office was located on S. Main Street what was then the Holland Block. At that time there was no mail delivery and people living on the east side of the river were forced to walk to retrieve their mail. So great was the agitation that several prominent citizens talked of building the post office on West State Street. Finally Horace Brown came forward and said that if he could be assured of the post office he would build a structure to house it. This assurance was given and the construction was begun. When the building was completed Mrs.

The Metropolitan, Indianapolis

Submitted by scott on

Built at a cost of $60,000, the top two levels of the Metropolitan’s three stories were devoted to its 1200-seat theater, while the street level featured storefronts, a cagey hedging of bets on the part of Butsch. Other theater managers struggled with low attendance and protests by local clergy of the “immoral character” of the theater, so Butsch called his establishment a hall, rather than a theatre.