page_title: Brown's Hall-Thompson's Opera House
hierarchical_section_title: Brown's Hall-Thompson's Opera House
caption_attribution_description: Pioche is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lincoln County, Nevada, United States, about 180 miles (290 km) northeast of Las Vegas. Its elevation is 6,060 feet (1,850 m) above sea level. Pioche is the county seat of Lincoln County. It is named after François Louis Alfred Pioche, a San Francisco financier. The town's population was 1,002 at the 2010 census. The first European-American settlement of the area occurred in 1864 with the opening of a silver mine. The settlers abandoned the area when indigenous communities effectively mounted resistance to colonization. Recolonization launched in 1868, and François Pioche bought the town in 1869. By the early 1870s, it had grown to become one of the most important silver-mining towns in Nevada. The town had a reputation for being one of the roughest towns in the Old West. Local lore says 72 men were killed in gunfights before the first natural death occurred in the camp. This legend is immortalized by the creation of Boot Hill, now a landmark in the city. Pioche is known for its "Million Dollar Courthouse", built in 1872. The original cost of $88,000 far exceeded initial estimates and was financed, and refinanced with bonds totaling nearly $1 million. An aerial tramway carried buckets of ore from the mines to the Godbe Mill. The tramway ran during the 1920s and 1930s and was used for the transportation of silver and nickel ore. Although the tramway is abandoned, its cables still stretch over parts of the town, and its ore buckets still hang to this day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioche,_Nevada en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_... The Gem Theater (also known as Brown's Hall or the Opera House), Pioche, Nevada. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 84002074
context_page_description: Thompson's Opera House, also known as Brown's Hall, Brown's Opera House or the Gem Theater, is a small theater building in Pioche, Nevada. The Opera House is a wood frame building built in 1873, attached roughly to the adjoining brick Gem Theater, a 1937 masonry cinema.
  The Opera House was used as a community meeting house, dance hall and theater. The theater was built by Aleck Brown in September 1873 and featured a performance of Pygmalion and Galatea for its opening night, with a cast of professional actors from San Francisco. The Opera House was purchased in 1891 by Alexander S. Thompson of Pioche. Thompson renovated the floor and enlarged the stage. After Thompson's death in 1905 his sons Charles and Frank took over, remodeling in 1907. The Opera House screened its first silent movie in 1915. In 1935 the Opera House was renamed the Gem Theater after Frank Thompson took over sole management, but in 1937 he built a new Gem Theater next door expressly for movies. The Opera House declined from that point.
  The two story rectangular building shows elements of the Greek Revival style with its shallow front gable/pediment.
context_section_description: Thompson's Opera House, also known as Brown's Hall, Brown's Opera House or the Gem Theater, is a small theater building in Pioche, Nevada. The Opera House is a wood frame building built in 1873, attached roughly to the adjoining brick Gem Theater, a 1937 masonry cinema.
  The Opera House was used as a community meeting house, dance hall and theater. The theater was built by Aleck Brown in September 1873 and featured a performance of Pygmalion and Galatea for its opening night, with a cast of professional actors from San Francisco. The Opera House was purchased in 1891 by Alexander S. Thompson of Pioche.  Thompson renovated the floor and enlarged the stage. After Thompson's death in 1905 his sons Charles and Frank took over, remodeling in 1907. The Opera House screened its first silent movie in 1915.  In 1935 the Opera House was renamed the Gem Theater after Frank Thompson took over sole management, but in 1937 he built a new Gem Theater next door expressly for movies. The Opera House declined from that point.
  The two story rectangular building shows elements of the Greek Revival style with its shallow front gable/pediment. It originally featured a one-story porch across the width of the facade with a balustrade above, removed but now restored. The front is covered with clapboards while the side and rear are sheathed in board and batten siding. The structure is framed with heavy timber in a post-and-beam arrangement. The ground floor housed commercial space and dressing rooms. The main hall is on the second floor, entered by steep stairs from the street. A shed-roofed addition to the rear is built into the hillside and houses the stage at the second floor level.
  The Opera House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is one of three 19th century theaters remaining in Nevada.
caption: View of the Gem Theater; the old opera house is on the far side
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