The Opera House was on the second floor of a brick building on Main Street in the little town of Nyssa, Oregon (1). According to news items and advertisements in The Gate City Journal, Nyssa’s local newspaper, the opera house served as a sort of community center in the town. In addition to live theater, and moving picture shows, the opera house hosted dances, minstrel shows, church services, Lyceum courses, graduations, political meetings, and even wrestling matches (Ladies are especially invited!).
It’s a testament to the relatively small size of Nyssa--449 people in 1910; 563 in 1920 (2)--that one of the theater owners, J. Boydell, also conducted a number of other businesses simultaneously out of the opera house building: as justice of the peace, insurance salesman, real estate agent, and dispenser of hunting and fishing licenses (see left).
The last known mention of the Nyssa Opera House is its use on January 1st of 1923.3 It is unclear when the Opera House officially closed its doors, however sometime between the years 1923 and 1930 it was converted into a loan building. No photos of the Opera House during its original operation exist, but a photo of the building in 1939 can be seen. Based on the locations of businesses still standing when the photo was taken, in addition to Sanborn Maps from the time, the Opera House would have operated out of the second floor of the brick building on the right side of the photo at 6 Main Street.
