Memorial Opera House: Built by Veterans, Visited by Presidents
Indiana
The Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso was built in eighteen ninety-two by the Grand Army of the Republic, the fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans, to honor Porter County soldiers who died in the war. Designed by local architect Charles Lembke in a Romanesque style, it was completed in November of eighteen ninety-three. What followed was a century of American public life under one roof.
Local legend says William Jennings Bryan spoke here during his eighteen ninety-six presidential campaign. Theodore Roosevelt came. John Philip Sousa performed.
The Marx Brothers played the stage. The building is still standing and still hosting performances in Valparaiso, making it one of the few surviving GAR memorial halls in the country with an unbroken tradition of public use.
