Our Past Is Present January 2, 2018

January 2, 2018

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            This year marks the 120^th anniversary of the opera house in Junction City.  We will be sharing stories once a week during “Our Past Is Present” about the history and events that have taken place there.  This is the first of those stories.

            The Opera House was originally built in 1882.  After 16 years as the cultural heard of Junction City, the building burned one winter evening in 1898.  Within days the citizens had raised the funds to rebuild and nine months later it was reopened with a native stone theater attached to the original red brick City Hall.  The building was now an eclectic mix of materials and architecture very similar to the eclectic makeup of the town to which it belongs.   

             It was once again fitted with the latest and best in furnishings and equipment.  For the

next 25 years, it flourished as the heart of the community’s social life.  High school graduation

exercises were held in the Opera House until 1919.  Lectures and concerts of both local artists

and traveling groups frequently occupied the Opera House stage as well as special community

events which always rallied enthusiastic support from Junction Citians.  One of the events was

the homecoming banquet for the Junction City Company of the 20^th Kansas Regiment when it returned from the Spanish-American War in December of 1899.  The family members of the returning soldiers were all seated in the auditorium in assigned seats.  The returning troops marched down Seventh Street and through the stage doors to find banquet tables set on the stage.  As the troops ate, the band played and families sang and cheered.

            And… that’s today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.