DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1890, somebody in Bonham had a vision. A stock company, headed by a man named Benjamin Dabney, constructed an opera house right here on this site.
Now that right there is a statement of ambition. This corner of Fannin County was going to have culture, and it was going to have it in a proper building. Two years after it went up, a man named Ed D.
Steger purchased it. And that's when things really got interesting. Under Steger's direction, the place became known simply as the Steger Opera House, and it became a popular spot for the early residents of the Bonham area.
Theater productions came through. Traveling shows rolled in. Civic activities filled the seats.
Local talent got their moment in the spotlight. For the people of Bonham, this was the place to be. Now, the years have a way of changin' what a building gets used for.
The opera house eventually served briefly as a motion picture theater, and then, as time kept moving, a variety of commercial establishments came and went inside those walls. But through all of it, through every transition and reinvention, it remained a landmark in this town for many years. And then, in 1980, it was razed.
Everything Benjamin Dabney's stock company built in 1890, everything Ed Steger shaped into something the whole community gathered around, gone. The marker stands now where the building stood. Sometimes that's all that's left of a dream, a sign on a sidewalk saying: something remarkable happened here.
What the marker says
1890-1920 An opera house was constructed at this site in 1890 by a stock company headed by Benjamin Dabney. Two years later it was purchased by Ed D. Steger. Under his direction, the Steger Opera House became a popular spot for early residents of the Bonham area. It was the scene of many theater productions, traveling shows, civic activities and local talent events. the opera house later briefly served as a motion picture theater and then was used by a variety of commercial establishments. A landmark in the town for many years, it was razed in 1980.