Virginia City's Piper's Opera House Still Puts on a Good Show

  Piper’s Opera House is one of Virginia City’s most enduring landmarks. Built in 1885, the opera house is a giant wooden and brick arched structure that symbolizes Virginia City’s heyday as one of the west’s wealthiest and most sophisticated cities.

  The list of performers who appeared at Piper’s read like a “who's who” of 19th and early 20th century entertainment giants, including Nevada-born soprano Emma Nevada, actor Edwin Booth (brother of John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln), bandleader John Philip Sousa, magician Harry Houdini and actress Lillie Langtry.

  The site of the opera house, on the corner of B and Union streets, was originally known as the Piper’s Business Block because it was owned by John Piper, a successful local businessman.

  Starting in about 1860, Piper operated a number of businesses on the street including Piper’s Old Corner Bar, on the corner where the opera house is located today.

  In 1867, Piper acquired an establishment known as Maquire’s Opera House, which had opened in 1860 on D Street. Following the disastrous Great Fire of October 1875, which destroyed most of Virginia City, Piper rebuilt his properties, shifting the site of his rebuilt opera house to its current location on B Street.

  The new Piper’s Opera House opened behind Piper’s Old Corner Bar in about 1877. Another fire burned down the opera house in 1883, which Piper rebuilt sans his saloon.

  The opera house managed to survive the downturn in Virginia City’s mining fortunes during the latter part of the 19th century, but, in 1918, a performance by Polish pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski was reported in Virginia City’s Territorial Enterprise newspaper as the hall’s last official concert.

  During the following decade, the building was used for a variety of public events ranging from community dances to boxing matches and community basketball games.

  The opera house was finally shuttered in 1929 and sat empty for many years. In 1945, Edward Louis Zimmer (John Piper’s grandson) reopened the building as a museum, which it remained until 1969, when his daughter, Louise Driggs began gradually restoring it.

  In the 1970s, a new concrete foundation was added as well as improved electrical wiring and fresh canvas on the walls. It served as a theater again for more than a decade.

  In 1997, the opera house was sold to a nonprofit organization, the Piper’s Opera House Program Inc. The group embarked on an ambitious fundraising effort to renovate the old theater, which, in recent years, has been reopened for performances and guided tours.

  Despite the years, the opera house has retained its 19th century Victorian charm and is worthy of a visit.

  Piper’s Opera House is open for tours on select days from April to October. There is a nominal admission charge. Additionally, the Opera House hosts regular community events, performances and lectures. For more information, go to the Opera House web site, https://pipersoperahouse.com/.