Cook's Opera House

Cook's Opera House. Town of Pendleton. With the discovery of natural gas, the turn of the 20th century brought great prosperity to Madison County. It also brought a high level of entertainment. Traveling shows crisscrossed the country via rail, performing in suitable venues. With trains passing through town, Pendleton became one of five Madison County communities with its own opera house. , Dr. Ossian Cook, a physician and one-time Pendleton postmaster, acquired this building in the 1890s and once used it as a post office. He sold it to his older brother, Dr. John W. Cook, also a physician. By 1898, it was an opera house, with significant capacity. On Nov. 2, 1900, gubernatorial candidate Col. Winfield Durbin of Anderson addressed an audience of 400 here. , In 1900 and 1901, the Pendleton Gazette mentions varied events at Cook's Opera House: receptions, speeches, band concerts, performances by local players, minstrel shows, an oyster supper, commencement exercises, a hypnotist, and traveling theater companies. , A story on Feb. 2, 1900 may explain why the opera house did not last long. “Peck's Bad Boy, as given at the opera house Wednesday evening, was a fine show, and the house should have been crowded. Worse shows are often seen at Indianapolis. Why do not Pendleton people patronize more liberally the high-class shows which come here? If they did, the Band could insure them the worth of their money every time, but as it is, it is a hard matter to induce the best companies to stop here.”