At 401 West Short Street in downtown Lexington, the Lexington Opera House rises in front of you. This theatre was built in 1886 to replace the former theatre on the corner of Main and Broadway after a fire destroyed that building in January 1886. The new Opera House was designed by the renowned architect Oscar Cobb and would open to the public on July 19, 1887, when the Cincinnati Symphony gave the opening concert.
The very next month it hosted its first dramatic production, Our Angel by the Lizzie Evans Stock Company, and quickly drew widespread attention throughout the region. Today the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its historical and architectural significance, and it remains in use: it is owned and operated by the Lexington Center Corporation and presents ballets, opera, children’s productions, family shows, comedy, music and professional national Broadway tours. Remarkably, it is one of only 14 theatres in the country built before 1900 with less than 1,000 seats that is still operating as a live performance venue.
Notice that this remains one of only fourteen theatres in the country built before 1900 with fewer than a thousand seats still hosting live performances.