Piper's Opera House, B & Union Streets, Virginia City, Storey County, NV

Significance: Piper's Opera House is one of the birthplaces of American stage in the west. The first large Virginia City theatre was Topliffe's on C Street, built in 1862. Tom Maguire's D Street Theatre followed the next year, and it was purchased by John Piper in 1868. Destroyed by fire in 1875, he rebuilt on B Street. This second theatre opened on January 8, 1878. The dress circle, parquet, and gallery seated 900. It, too, burned following a masked ball, on February 13, 1883. Opening in 1885, the third has muslin surfaced walls, once wallpapered, a spring supported floor, and a rake stage. Elizabethan strapwork designs decorate the proscenium arch, highlighted with George Piper's portrait of William Shakespeare. Two-tiered boxes flank the stage and a suspended balcony surrounds the parquet. Performers appearing at Piper's included Maude Adams, Lily Langtry, Edwin Booth, Henry Ward Beecher, Joseph Jefferson, Helen Modjeska, Enrico Caruso, Lillian Russell, E.H. Southern, Houdini, Marie Dressler, Mark Twain, May Robson, Fay Templeton, Lola Montez. David Belasco was stage manager in the early years of his career. Productions ranged from Shakespeare, with "Hamlet" most often presented, to ballet, minstrel shows, musicals and melodramas. Political and social meetings held in Piper's include raffles, lectures, political debates, and religious services. Other entertainment filling the hall in the 19th century were dances, bearfights, and wrestling matches. Between 1907 and its closing in 1929, movies, roller skating and basketball games were held in the theatre.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-7
Survey number: HABS NV-15-7
Building/structure dates: 1885 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000458