208 - 210 (today) W. Main
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Address: 202-206-208 W. Main (200-204-210 today)
Built: 1866 Builder: Colonel H. H. Vinton for Jarvis C. Train Building name: Train’s Opera House This building consisted of three storefronts.The building owners, Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis Train, operated the Opera House on the 3rd floor. Many different types of entertainments including dances, parties, political speeches and club events were held here. After a fire in 1909 destroyed the third floor, Mrs. Train had it rebuilt, enlarging the stage, adding scenery and prop rooms, and increasing the seating capacity to 400. From the 1980s-2000, the Flat River Antique Mall had consignment booths upstairs. In 2003-4, Main Street loft condos were completed on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The basement could be entered from a stairway outside along the east wall of the building. It was occupied by businesses such as Blume Bros. Cigar Factory (1895), Hoffman’s Plumbing Shop (1908-1920s), Will Stone, dry cleaning (1920), dealers of Hudson and Essex autos and most recently Flat River Antique Mall vendors. In 1873, Ambrose Mitchell advertised her Train’s Block Restaurant. Meals of meat, potatoes, butter and bread, 25c. Tea or coffee extra. 208 W. Main (210 today): The western storefront was H. B. Church’s boot & shoe in 1885, Jim Hanlin’s saloon in 1892 followed by the VanArsdale Saloon which was here at the time of the 1909 fire. There were two saloons side by side at the same time. Yeiter sold furniture from this storefront, 1929-1938, followed by Roth and Sons Furniture, Beachum’s Furniture, Lippert Pharmacies offices, and Flat River Antique Mall which also had a lunch/snack business in the front northwest corner, Fuze, and Fandangled Custom Apparel. Images: Train’s Opera House, 1893. The first storefront on the left would have held a Restaurant/Billards; the center a tailor shop and the 3rd a saloon. The outside stairway to businesses in the Basement is visible on left of photo. Train’s Opera House, 1908; “Star Theater 5c” is written on the window of the storefront on the left. It was called a vaudette because vaudeville and silent movies were the entertainment of that day. The middle and right storefronts were saloons. The Printing office of The Lowell Journal is on the 2nd floor. Enter the “Door to the Rink”, which is the set of double doors between the 1st and 2nd storefronts, to get to the roller skating rink. |
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