Upham’s Opera House

Location: Hoffman Street between Grand and St. Joseph, Saugatuck
Date: 1870-1900s

Upham Hall Highlighted

In 1870 Captain Sherman Upham constructed an “opera house” on Hoffman Street, directly across from the present All Saints Church. Complete with kerosene floodlights, it operated helter-skelter as a public auditorium until about 1920. In 1900, for example, it offered a lecture on “monastic life,” a “St. Patrick’s Ball” in March, the “Old Maids of America” meeting in July, and a “colored minstrel” in August.