Opera House

Opera House, Est. 1887

Bartow’s first venue for entertainment began at this site in 1887. From this location and additional others across downtown, the Opera House was stage, dance hall and eventually movie theater for a growing community. To learn more about the events and performers at the Opera House, click this stop.

Opera House

  • <p>Site of the original Opera House. Jayme Jamison, Polk County Historical Association.</p>
  • <p>Opera House.</p>
  • <p>Cleveland Presidential Campaign, 1892. Library of Congress.</p>
  • <p>Summerlin Students perform a Tableaux Vivant, 1894. State Archives of Florida – Frisbie collection.</p>
  • <p>Dr. L.S. Oppenheimer &amp; Daughters 1919. Tampapix/ Author Unknown.</p>
  • <p>Opera House &amp; Dixie Theatre Manager, T.L. Marquis. Retrieved, Memories of Florida by Rowland H. Rerick no image credit listed.</p>
  • <p>Interior of Bartow’s Dixie Theater, circa 1907. State Archives of Florida – Frisbie Collection.</p>
  • <p>Line at Ritz Theater to see a Roy Rogers Film (1949). State Archives of Florida – Frisbie Collection.</p>

  • Opera House