The Tacoma Opera House Company commissioned a group of architects to design an office and theatre block in downtown Tacoma. At this time, Tacoma was experiencing a building boom. It began shortly after the Northern Pacific Railroad first reached Tacoma in 1883. Chicago theatre architect James M. Wood (see my previous installment #214 ) designed the Tacoma Theatre. Wood was a native of New York City, born in 1841. Early in his career, he moved to Chicago and eventually opened an architectural firm for himself.

The Olympia Opera House (or Olympia Theater) was built in 1890 by Washington Standard publisher John Miller Murphy and featured the latest developments in theater construction. The theater had electric lighting, a seating capacity of 1,000, and several lounges and refreshment opportunities. At the time it was built, it was adjacent to the Swantown Slough and the foot of Budd Bay .... , the trolley went by the opera house, providing easy access for local citizens as well as visiting legislators and lobbyists.

The Masons acquired this former opera house in 1912. Built by John Ming in 1880 and renowned throughout the Pacific Northwest, the theater hosted such famous performers as Otis Skinner, Eddie Foy, Marie Dressler, and Katie Putnam. In 1915, noted Helena architects George Carsley and C. S. Haire redesigned the building in the exotic Egyptian Revival style. Under the Mason’s care, the original handpainted 1880s scenery remains in occasional use, as does the spectacular $10,000 pipe organ they installed in the remodeled auditorium in 1915.

When Mark Twain came to Butte in the summer of 1895, one of five cities in Montana he visited, his international fame came before him. His August 1 performance at Maguire’s Opera House on Broadway, where the Leggatt Hotel now stands, was to a receptive audience that more than filled the opera house’s 1,100 seats. Twain himself enjoyed the audience, surprised “to find this London-Parisian-New York audience out in the mines." 

The Great Falls Grand Opera House was built in 1891 and was dubbed Montana’s most beautiful playhouse. In its lifetime it saw hundreds of play troupes, lecturers, and entertainers. It was the shining pride of the city. Unfortunately, like all things that shine, it began to dull as movies rose in popularity and road shows declined. The Grand Opera House struggled to keep its doors open, and in 1955 it was torn down. The sophisticated dream of an opera house seems to have started with a Mr. John Maguire and prompting from the Great Falls Tribune.

In 1890, the town decided that a new opera house was needed and Thomas H. Bjoin stepped up to make it happen. Bjoin was a former alderman who worked in the livery and machinery business. He decided to erect a building the size of a full block on South Main Street.

The hotel itself is a brick structure, three stories and a basement, with all the modern improvements.  It has been built by Crookston business men and every dollar of stock was taken in the city.  The plans were drawn by Orff & Jarolamen, of Minneapolis, and they include the proposition that every one of the sixty sleeping rooms shall be an outside room.  They are all en suite and each provided with bath.  The office is directly behind the entrance and is a model of convenience and elegance.