Site of Old Sherman Opera House
Sherman, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formerly a 3-story Victorian structure with twin cupolas. Built by Capt. L. F. Ely, who made the bricks in his city factory. Lavish interior had carpeted aisle, damask curtains and red plush seats. Benches in economy section were called the "Buzzard Roost". From its completion (1881) until closing (1918), it helped make Sherman a cultural center. First show was operetta "The Mikado". Also given here were Shakespearean plays, musical reviews, temperance lectures and trained animal acts. Remodeled (1961) for commercial use. Original bricks remain.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Completed in 1881, the Sherman Opera House was a grand three-story Victorian building with twin cupolas, built by Capt. L. F. Ely from bricks fired in his own city factory. Its plush interior—carpeted aisles, damask curtains, and red seats, with cheaper benches nicknamed the "Buzzard Roost"—hosted everything from its opening production of "The Mikado" to Shakespeare, musical reviews, and temperance lectures. It served as Sherman's cultural heart until it closed in 1918.
Why it matters
Opera houses like this one were the cultural centers of Gilded Age America, bringing theater, music, and public debate to towns far from big-city stages.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · L. F. Ely
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Odd Fellows Hall
Sherman, TX
Built in 1875, this Odd Fellows Hall was the third home of a Sherman lodge organized in 1854, and it doubled as the town's civic heart — opening a 74-student school a decade before Sherman had a public one. Its Civil War story is striking: at a June 1862 meeting, every member but one aging brother left to join the Confederate army, and the lodge kept that meeting formally 'open' until the war ended. From its ranks came three Grand Masters of Texas and a Sovereign Grand Master of the World.
Kidd-Key College and Music Conservatory
Sherman, TX
Founded in 1875 as North Texas Female College, a Methodist finishing school for young women, this Sherman institution was rechartered in 1919 as a junior college and music conservatory. It took its later name from Lucy Ann Kidd-Key, the celebrated educator who led the school from 1888 to 1916 and built its reputation in music, literature, and the fine arts. Through its faculty and students, the college shaped culture well beyond North Texas.
Sherman Little Theater (The Sherman Community Players)
Sherman, TX
As the Little Theater movement spread across Texas in the 1920s, Sherman citizens formed their own community theater in December 1925, led by architect Rollin M. Rolfe and other local figures. Their first production came in 1926, and that same year they won first place in Texas's inaugural Little Theater competition in Dallas. Incorporated in 1950 as the Sherman Community Players, the group built the Finley Playhouse in 1954 and has remained a fixture of the city's cultural life.
First Presbyterian Church
Sherman, TX
Organized in 1871 by the Rev. R.E. Sherrill, First Presbyterian Church of Sherman grew alongside a city booming from new rail lines through northeast Texas. After Austin College relocated to Sherman in 1876, the congregation forged lasting ties with its students and faculty, even spinning off a campus-area church, and later ran kindergarten and pre-school programs. In 1995 it united with Trinity United Presbyterian to form Covenant Presbyterian Church.