History of the Guyer Opera House

In 1893, a gas explosion triggered a massive fire in the business district of Lewisville, Indiana . A block and a half of the north side of the National Road was reduced to rubble.

Absent from the fire was local physician Oscar K. Guyer, who was attending the closing ceremonies of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago . Dr. Guyer returned to Lewisville with eight other local families to discover his frame home and medical office in smoldering ash.

Within days of the fire, the Lewisville Town Board passed ordinances prohibiting frame structures from the center of town, and requiring metal or slate roofs for future buildings. Within two years of the fire, all of the lots destroyed by the fire had been rebuilt with brick structures including a second story apartment for Dr. Guyer and his family. Only lot 7 and part of lot 8 remained empty for the remainder of the decade.

Throughout this period, Dr. Guyer encouraged the town to build a public hall for entertainment. O.K. Guyer’s dream was part of a mid-western American phenomenon that occurred between 1860 and 1910. As communities carved homes and businesses out of the native forests, they came to a point in their growth where they wanted to erect a monument to their civic pride. Larger cities vied for county seats and built courthouses of which Indiana has some fame. Large and small towns built public halls or opera houses as their civic monument. Even though communities loved home and traveling entertainment, the term "theater" was in ill repute. Community auditoriums were called opera houses because it sounded more genteel. Opera was rarely if ever performed in mid-western opera houses. Henry County, Indiana, home of the Guyer Opera House, had 15 such halls or opera houses.

By the fall of 1900, Dr. Guyer had persuaded a large group of local citizens to form a group to build an opera house on lot 7. On October 19, 1900 , the Lewisville Public Building Association was chartered. Shares into the "profit making" venture were sold for $25 each. There was much interest in the project, but few purchased full shares. Sixty-eight investors garnered only $1,160 of the needed $10,000 for the building project. Most of the shareholders were from Lewisville .

Dr. Guyer purchased the western 2/3 of lot 7, and the First National Bank of Lewisville purchased the eastern third of the lot. On November 19, 1900, the First National Bank of Lewisville and Dr. Guyer officially conveyed to the Public Building Association "…a perpetual easement and right to build and maintain a public building and shall for public meetings and entertainment on the top of the said theater, and on the top of the first story of the brick building of the said bank."

The building efforts continued throughout the winter with limited funds. The Association borrowed money to furnish the new hall. A future generation would benefit from the financial troubles of the original opera house group. Funds lacked throughout the years to remodel or even repair the first labors of the Association.

The Holden Comedy Company of Indianapolis, fresh from an engagement at the grand English Opera House in the capitol city, opened the Guyer Opera House (as it was now called) on June 3 and 4, 1901. 500 people attended the festivities each night. One county seat newspaper called the Guyer "the handsomest opera house in the county, next to New Castle ’s Alcazar."

Helen Berry, a Lewisville seven-year-old at the time of the opening, recalled, "…everyone wore their Sunday best to the Guyer opening night…they arrived in horse and buggy from all around." Families served huge dinners to out-of-town guests before walking to the beautiful new opera house.

Throughout the summer and remainder of 190, the Guyer hosted local talent shows like "A Silver Medal Contest Featuring Seven Young Girls" and touring shows like "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," "Ten Nights in a Barroom," and "In the Rockies."

O.K. Guyer died in March of 1901 at the age of 49. Although not a shareholder of the project, he was considered the "spearhead" and honored with a funeral in the opera house and a commissioned work called the "O.K. Guyer March" performed by the Lewisville Band.

Road companies and local talent programs generated minimal revenues for the opera house in the early decades of this century. A particular company from Dayton , Ohio was recommended as a sure moneymaker during this period. The Dayton revue was called "Fanny Hill’s Girls" who appeared on stage in pink tights. The Guyer curtain dropped quickly on the Dayton girls and ended the welcome of touring shows in Lewisville .

Despite this scandal and the tragedy of a gun accident in the opera house during a Wild West Show, long time Lewisville people recall the happy memories the Guyer holds for them. They remember the box lunch socials where they met their first sweetheart, the dances on Saturday night, the moving pictures shown in the summer, the Christmas parties, rabbit suppers and high school commencements.

A Lewisville postmaster recalled his elocution recitals at the Guyer. "Everyone came," he said, "What else was there to do?" The opera house era ended in 1910 with the coming of the movies. From 1910 through WWII many opera houses were converted into movie houses, subdivided into apartments or razed for modern buildings. Lewisville ’s Public Building Association dissolved its charter after nearly a half century of activity.

During WWII, the second floor opera house was closed to the public because of the coke stoves located at each exit. After the war, a generation grew up in the community, unaware of the opera house. Older generations lost track of the days and events that centered around the Guyer in their youth.

The original store owned by Dr. Guyer was purchased by Ben King in the early 1950s. Mr. King also purchased the opera house room from the Association. In 1954, Tony and Caroline Peyton purchased the former bank property and the remainder of the Guyer lot from Mr. King. The lot was finally owned by one party.

The opera house was used for storage for over two decades. The brass push plates on the doors tarnished for lack of use. Plaster began to accumulate on the floor from roof leaks. The Guyer seemed to have served its purpose and like other old buildings across the county was dying the slow death of the forgotten.

In 1969, Dick Willis, a high school drama teacher from New Castle , Indiana , discovered the Guyer Opera House in rural Lewisville , Indiana . The second story auditorium was above an antique shop idle, empty, and forgotten. He spoke of the opera house and took friends to see it. A few years later, Willis and his wife, Vickie considered purchasing the building to open a commercial theater. While searching the National Road looking for background on the old theater, they learned the fascinating history of the opera house era and the fact that each of the communities in Henry County had an opera house at one time. The excitement and the vital qualities of the opera house era eventually buried the commercial theater idea, and the idea for the restoration of a non-profit gaslight Guyer developed.

By 1975, enough people were interested in the project primarily through the presentation of an opera house trunk show to some fifty organizations in a several county area and convinced people that preserving the Guyer Opera House was feasible. With the assistance of an eighteen-member board of historians, theater people, businesspersons, and art patrons, a not-for-profit corporation called the Raintree County Opera House Guild, Inc. was formed. The name Raintree County was taken from the novel of the same name by Indiana author Ross Lockridge who used Henry County as the basis for his 1948 best seller.

The initial board of directors established the following plan for the completion of the opera house project:

Phase I:     To acquire the building and began work on gaining National Register status

Phase II:     To make necessary and immediate repairs to the exterior of the building; to open the building to the public in order to begin a program of public awareness for the preservation project and to acquaint the public with the building, its history, and the goals of the Guild.

Phase III:     To renovate the larger of the two first floor rooms, to begin presenting entertainment and providing rental space to the public in order to acquire funds for restoring the auditorium on the second floor, and to build a growing public support for the opera house and for the programs presented.

Phase IV:     To restore the second floor 350-seat auditorium and backstage area

In 1975, the idea of preservation was considerably new to the area, and arts groups that could present plays, concerts, art shows, lectures, and other artistic/cultural/educational programs were limited. The Guild set to work to build an audience and develop an interest in preservation and the arts.

With the cooperation of the owners of the property, a series of open houses were held at the Guyer in 1975-6. The public toured the entire building and guides explained the past use and the future plans for the building. Through the sale of memberships in the newly formed Guild, and donations to the cause, the down payment for the building was raised and the Guild purchased the building in 1976.

Since the opera house did not meet codes for public occupancy, the Guild developed a series of activities in other locations to continue its two-fold tasks of developing interest in preservation and the programs that could be done at the Guyer. Summer Theater seasons were presented in New Castle , Indiana ; madrigal dinners, flea markets, bake sales, New York theater tours and talks and programs to service clubs and organizations kept the money coming in to carry on with the project, and continued to develop an audience for the Guyer.

When audiences would not come to events sponsored, the Guild went to the audiences with presentations of plays and entertainment at local fairs and festivals, through the media-radio, television, newspapers and the mailing of brochures concerning the opera house.

In 1980 the Guyer Opera House was listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and Places.

During the spring of 1980, a Raise the Flag at the Guyer Campaign was launched for funds to renovate one of the first story rooms as a Lobby-Theater. $20,000.00 was netted, and the Indiana Arts Commission granted an award of $1,000.00 for consultant fees for the architect.

Architect Don Perry of Indianapolis , with the aid to the board restoration committee, designed an area reminiscent of an Edwardian salon, Lewisville style. The original tin ceiling was preserved and repaired, the original woodwork was refinished and duplicated where necessary. Bank counters from the other downstairs room, which had been stored in the auditorium after a remodeling project, were redesigned as a room dividing ticket and refreshment area. Other bank counters were used as the basis for a movable display case to hold memorabilia of the opera house and Lewisville and as an exhibition area for three-dimensional artwork. The addition of a wall in the rear of the room created restroom areas and a kitchenette. Chandeliers were hung in the original gaslight fixtures of the room, and various donations completed the salon: a carpet from a Lewisville home c. 1920, a rosewood square grand piano, two antique lobby chairs, and various plants to create solarium effects for the front windows. The room was also equipped with heating and air conditioning and met all compliances with the Administration Building Council and the Indiana Fire Marshall. Professional contractors in the major areas accomplished the work, but skilled volunteers did much of the labor. Total cost for the renovation was $26,074.61.

In August of 1981, the Guyer Lobby was officially opened with a production of Norman Corwin’s "The World of Carl Sandburg." The three performances were sold out (maximum seating 110). The audiences expressed great pleasure with the effect of the room and were delighted with the performance in the intimate space of the Lobby Theater.

Since August 1981, the Guild has sponsored an event at least once a month. The programs were varied by design to attract different types of audiences to the building. By the end of 1985, 14,000 persons ( Lewisville ’s population is 500) had attended Guyer events.

As audiences increased and interest continued to develop, it became obvious that the upstairs could be completed and supported, and architects for the master plan were interviewed. Hans Nuetzel of Cincinnati was chosen for the project.

In the calendar year ending October 1983, over 4,000 persons attended Guyer activities, and fund raising netted $14,000.00 in 1982, and nearly $10,000.00 in 1983. Twenty-five performances of summer plays and Chautauqua events during the summer of 1983 reached a total of 83% capacity. During 1984, events averaged over 90% capacity. Membership in the Guild ($5.00 annual) is currently 400.

In his novel, Ross Lockridge states: "To find Raintree County , look on a map of Indiana forty miles from Indianapolis and forty miles from the Ohio border on the old National Road ." The Guyer Opera House is located in the center of that mythical microcosm. Preservation along the old National Road is growing and the Guyer is part of it. The Huddleston Farm House Museum (Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana) is in Cambridge City fourteen miles to the east. Centerville and Richmond , Indiana farther east have active preservation groups. To the west, historic Knightstown and Greenfield are involved in the preservation movement. The Guyer is the only preservation attempt of an opera house along the National Road in east central Indiana .

Audiences attend the Guyer from a seven county area bounded by Muncie , New Castle , Richmond , Rushville, Connersville , Greenfield , and Indianapolis . Audiences from the dozens of small towns within that area also attend…towns like Straughn, Markleville, Shirley, Mays, Milroy, Dublin , Mt. Summit , Hagerstown , and Falmouth . Audiences are a cross section of the area in age, occupation, and socio-economic levels. In researching the heyday, "that everyone came to the Guyer…the farmers came out of the fields, and the wagons came in from the country. Everyone in the town attended too." The Guyer Opera House is dedicated to restoring that ideal: universal acceptance of the arts.

Audiences experiencing the arts in a building rich in history and tradition will also experience the glamour of the gaslight era, making their participation one of special significance.