Barrett's Hall, Champaign, IL

W. C. Barrett built a three-story brick block at the North-East corner of Main and Hickory Streets.  It was given the address of One Main Street.   The opera house was on the third floor of the building.

The building was sold to Henry Swannell, proprietor of the drug store on the ground floor, and C.S. Morehouse in March, 1873. They made some renovations to the opera house space.

Barrett's Hall was remodeled in August, 1882.  It was renamed the Champaign Opera House.

Burdick Hotel, Kalamazoo

The origins of hospitality on the present site of the Radisson Plaza Hotel date to August 1850 when construction of an imposing four-story brick structure began. Built by Frank Dennison and initially known simply as Dennison’s brick block, the new building occupied one hundred feet of frontage along Main Street, today’s Michigan Avenue. The Kalamazoo Gazette described the architecture and facilities in grand terms, noting a large archway which defined the main entrance. From this entry, a broad hall extended through the building creating space for two stores.

The Luce Block

The four-story brick building fronts on Monroe at the SW corner of Justice, the portion of street visible at the left (now Ottawa Ave.) Signs on the front the the building advertise the various tenants such as "Foster Brothers, Great New York City Stores" and the "Commercial College." The street level shops display their wares on the sidewalk in front of the various businesses. Originally the fourth floor was used as an assembly hall. A horse and cart are on the far right and a gas street light is on the corner.

Farrar Hall, Erie, PA

Erie beat a path to the shops and stores in West Park Place to buy clothes, groceries, hardware, imported foodstuffs, silverware, paintings, books, real estate, insurance; and to seek the services of lawyers (the 1879 City Directory listed 15 attorneys on North Park Row), doctors, engineers, and dentists. People went there to bank, to buy tickets on the Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad, and possibly to school at Erie Commercial College; but above all, they went to be entertained.

Union Hall, Fredonia, New York

In 1871 the American Block was built, with its Union Hall at 9 East Main Street, billed as “the best public hall aside from the Opera House at Dunkirk.” It was a lavishly frescoed room with seating for 1,000, although the main entrance had to be altered in 1872 to eliminate drafts. The competition that Union Hall offered was too much, and at that point, the Concert Hall in the Center Block, in effect, went out of business and was sold to be remodeled as a Masonic lodge.

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