Sunday, October 12, 2014

On This Date in Minnesota History: October 12

October 12, 1895 – Duluth’s Temple Opera House was reduced to rubble within 30 minutes after flames were first discovered pouring out of the roof by a city detective at about 12:15 a.m. The highest water stream thrown by the fire department fell two stories short of the roof, and before 12:45 only the front and alley wall of the theater was standing, the rear wall having fallen out at 12:30. The stage and auditorium had fallen into the basement even earlier than this, and the interior was a veritable furnace, the flames being fanned by a strong wind blowing from the west.1

Local newspapers reported that the “’interior of the building was like a hell. The flames were a perfect cyclone. They shot nearly 200 feet into the air.’ A firewall prevented the fire from damaging the Temple Opera Block. The Temple Opera House was not rebuilt, and the building’s ruins sat empty for ten years.

In 1905 the Temple Opera House ruins were converted into the Temple Rink, a roller skating facility designed by J. J. Wangenstein boasting a skating surface 140 feet long and 70 feet wide. In 1910, Guilford Hartley purchased the property, demolished the rink, and built the Orpheum Theatre on the lot.”2

1St. Paul Daily Globe; “Theater in Ashes. Zenith City Suffers a Severe Loss by Midnight Flames. Temple Theater Burns. Causing Destruction of Over $100,000 in Less Than Half an Hour. Masonic Orders Suffer. They Lose Heavily on Paraphernalia – Flames Soon Under Control.”; October 13, 1895; p. 1.

2http://zenithcity.com/zenith-city-history-archives/duluth-architecture/temple-opera-hous/




Duluth’s Temple Opera House

http://zenithcity.com/zenith-city-history-archives/duluth-architecture/temple-opera-hous/


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