Our Past Is Present June 26, 2018

June 26, 2018

            You are reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            For the past five and a half months, we have been reserving Tuesdays to share information about the Opera House in Junction City, which is experiencing its 120^th Anniversary as a building where traveling shows, minstrels, plays, movies, graduations, and shows by local talent have been a part of that history.   Today’s story comes from an article written by our Curator, Heather Hagedorn, which was published in the Junction City Daily Union in 2016.  Her primary source of information was from an interview, which was recorded of Keith Hemenway, who was 83 years old in 1985.  He shared memories of some of the people and places he knew as a young boy growing up in Junction City.  This is some of what he shared about the Opera House:

            “The main entrance to the opera house was on the Jefferson Street side of the building.  On the corner facing Jefferson Street was the fire station. There were two black horses used to pull the wagon.  The harness was hanging up over the horses and there was a brass pole the firemen would slide down.  They would pull a cord and the harness would drop down over the horses and the firemen would just have to fasten a few buckles and the horses would be ready to go.  The early driver that I remember was named Charlie Sipperly and, if I’m not mistaken, he drove a delivery wagon for my uncle, E.H. Hemenway before he went to the fire department. 

            Next door in the same building was the city hall and police departments.  There were one or two cells in there – used mostly when Chief Nickerson would pick up some Junction City man who had had too much to drink and he’d let him sleep it off overnight.  Across the street to the North in the old Coryell building was the city clerk’s office.  Tom Dorn was the city clerk at the time.  The opera house had some very good and interesting shows come there.”

            Well, next Tuesday, we will finish what Keith Hemenway had to say about those interesting shows.  So, keep reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.