Granbury Opera House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Now, if you're rolling through Granbury and you spot that old stone building on the square, the one with the pressed tin detailing catching the light just so, well, that structure has lived more than one life, and it earns every one of them. It went up in 1886, solid stone, dressed up with that pressed tin detail like a rancher putting on his Sunday best.

Up on the top floor, Kerr's Opera House took up residence, and for a stretch running all the way to 1911, that upper story was about as lively a room as you'd find in Hood County. Vaudeville acts, dramatic productions, musical programs; the whole spread. Whatever was traveling through Texas looking for a crowd, Kerr's was ready to receive it.

Meanwhile, down on the lower floor, the building was doing an entirely different kind of business. A saloon. A saddle and harness shop.

Two grocery stores. So you had culture floating around up above and commerce humming along down below, which, if you think about it, is a pretty fair description of Texas in general. But here's where the story takes its turn.

The roof collapsed. Just gave up. And once a roof goes, a building doesn't wait around to discuss the matter.

The whole place deteriorated, and fast. Stone walls standing, yes, but the life had gone clean out of it. Seemed like that might be all she wrote for the old opera house.

Seemed that way. But in 1975, the Granbury Opera Association stepped in, restored the building, and reopened it, pressed tin and all. Some stones, it turns out, have more than one song left in them.

What the marker says

Pressed tin detailing decorates this stone structure, erected in 1886. Kerr's Opera House, which featured Vaudeville acts, dramatic productions, and musical programs, occupied the top floor until 1911. The lower floor housed various businesses, including a saloon, saddle and harness shop, and two grocery stores. Later the roof collapsed, and the building rapidly deteriorated. It was restored and reopened in 1975 by the Granbury Opera Association.