Edgerton Town Hall & Park Opera House

Edgerton was settled beside the St. Joseph River when the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad was completed in 1854. The village was incorporated on December 4, 1865, and named for Alfred P. Edgerton, who donated the land for the park. He was an agent for Hicks & Company, a land speculation business. The firm of Von Behren & Shaffer built the town hall and opera house in 1884 for $7,998. The building and park became a hub of local activity. The park’s bandstand showcased the Edgerton Village Band and citizens gathered for picnics and festivities. (Continued on other side)

[Side B]: (Continued from other side) The opera house hosted many community events: concerts, plays, elections, court, lectures, commencements, dances, meetings, basketball games and traveling drama troupes, and featured a stage and a three-arch balcony of polished oak. Autographs of dozens of performers and speakers appearing from the 1890s to the early 1920s filled the wall behind the ticket booth. In 1925, the school built a new auditorium and many events relocated there. The opera house, appearing much as it had in 1884, was eventually abandoned. The village government vacated the town hall in 2009. On June 23, 2010, a storm destroyed the old town hall and opera house shortly before the Edgerton Historical Society could purchase and restore the building. Artifacts were salvaged from the opera house and are displayed at the historical society’s museum in the Edgerton Village Hall at 324 North Michigan Avenue.