The Hodge Opera House is what used to be where the Bewley Building is today in downtown Lockport. It was a grand building, a center of culture and commerce in the City of Lockport in the late 19th century. It first opened in 1872. It was perhaps the most illustrious building in Lockport's history. It burned twice in spectacular blazes. In the near fifty years of its history, it was the scene of some of the top national entertainment which visited Lockport as well as serving as an office building. Its demise came early in the 20th century. The painting below is on display at the Niagara County Historical Society in Lockport.
Lockport student of history, John P. Hicks, Jr. reseached some of the history of the Hodge. Here is his report:
The Hodge Opera House was erected by the late John Hodge. His Merchant's Gargling Oil was the biggest and most prosperous business in the city. Construction of the building began in 1871 with the arrival of 55
tons of Ohio sandstone by canal.As was the custom in those days, the Opera House was on the top, or the third floor. On the floors below were some 50 offices and places of business. The building was steam heated and lighted by gas.
The theater portion of the building was constructed to seat approximately 2000 people. It included a ramp so live animals could be brought on stage for circuses and other events.
The structure was very decorative. On it's dome, 38 feet in height were found frescoes of the nine muses and portrait's of Washington, Jefferson, Hunt, Lincoln, Garfield, Irving, and Morse. A vivid scene of the Grand Canal, in Venice, was on the curtain. The first opera house had a tower on the corner of Main and Market Streets designed for a public clock, but it was never installed.
A presentation of Hamlet by the leading tragedian of his day, Edwin Adam's, opened the theater in 1872, to a full audience. The admission prices for this attraction were high for those days. The lower part of the house being $2.00, the gallery a dollar and the boxes $15.00. Every seat was taken.
Lockport residents were treated to a wide variety of entertainment, From play's like Julius Caesar to lectures by Horace Greeley, Oliver Vendali Holmes and Clara Barton to name a few.
The original Hodge Opera House was destroyed by a fire on January
5, 1881, The fire was believed to have been started by a carelessly thrown cigar butt. It was discovered about 8 PM in a cafe operated by Henry Levi in the basement of the opera house.The fire department was called and extinguished the blaze, which had spread along the floor and up one wall before it was noticed. Burning embers in the wall, however, were overlooked. The flames crept up the partition to the first floor where a new fire broke out about 5 AM the next morning. The firemen were then called back to extinguish the fire which had gained considerable headway. The blaze destroyed many valuable records of City proceedings and births before
1881.John Hodge immediately began the erection of the second opera house which was opened in
1882.The rebuilt opera house hosted a memorial service for President William McKinley, who was assassinated in Buffalo in 1901. It continued to run entertainment until 1914 when the theater was ripped out. The whole building was then used for offices. This was due to the rise of motion pictures which made the legitimate theater no longer profitable in small cities such as Lockport.
Next door to the opera house stood the Merchants Gargling Oil Company. Shortly after 1 PM on February 25,
1928 a fire broke out in the basement of the Merchants building where the flammable "Gargling Oil" was stored.The fire quickly spread throughout the building and over to the top floors of the Hodge Building. Firefighters fought the blaze in zero degree weather with a strong wind for the better part of 24 hours. Although they were able to contain the fire, they were unable to save one of Lockport's most prized landmarks.
No serious casualties were suffered in the blaze. Damages were estimated at $100,000.00 to Gargling Oil and $250,000 to the Hodge Building. Firemen poured 11,000 gallons of water on the fire
Rumor had it before the fire, that Buffalo theatre interests were thinking of buying the Hodge Building to convert it back to a theatre for motion pictures.
Even in its death the building offered a spectacular sight with its ice-encrusted hull and eerie beauty. An era in Lockport's history was over.
By Clarence "Dutch" Adams
The first Hodge Opera House was built in 1871-1872 by John Hodge, President of the Merchant's Gargling Oil business. It was the first modern theatre in Lockport and was primarily erected as an opera house and theatre. Also occupying the building was the post office, which was moved from the Arcade Building on Pine Street, the office of the Federal District Attorney, suites occupied by the lawyers and physicians, and stores on the ground floor. The building was four stories high with walls built of stone and brick. The theatre portion occupied the third floor and a portion of the second floor. The overall size of the building was 92'x 73'. In the center was a dome 38 feet high.
This first Hodge Opera House was destroyed by fire on January 5, 1881. About 8 o'clock in the evening of January 4 a small fire broke out in a cafe operated by Henry Levi in the basement of the Hodge building. It was caused by a cigar butt thrown into a sawdust filled box used as a spittoon. This fire was extinguished but flames had entered the walls and about 3 o'clock in the morning of January 5 a new fire erupted. Flames spread rapidly and in a short time both the Hodge Opera House and the Merchant's Gargling Oil building were destroyed.
The post office had been located in the Hodge Opera House so after the fire it moved to three rooms in the American Hotel located across the corner on Main and Locust Streets where the F & M Bank building was built later. There was so much confusion that Postmaster John Hubbard and Deputy Postmaster Sears Dickerson organized a delivery force and this was the first mail delivery ever made in Lockport. The delivery force was discontinued later when the post office secured new quarters.
John Hodge was uncertain whether he should rebuild the opera house but the citizens of Lockport encouraged him and collected contributions totaling $7000 toward a new building. Hodge decided to rebuild but he refused to accept the $7000 donation. The opera house was rebuilt and the second Hodge Opera House was opened on Feb. 28, 1882. There was an auditorium that measured 86 feet wide and 76 feet from the front wall to the orchestra pit. The stage was 36 by 40 feet. The stage was so large that New York City big theatrical productions would stop in Lockport before going on to Buffalo. From the sidewalk on Market Street a reinforced runway enabled horses and even elephants to reach the stage. The theatre had 1200 numbered seats and 800 extra seats. The ground floor had stores, the post office and the printing plant, business and editorial offices of the Union Sun. The building was occupied by offices, stores, the Harrison Bowling Alleys, Ira M. McCoy bindery, lodge rooms of the Eagles, the Moose, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. With the coming of motion pictures the theatre business eventually decreased, the theatre was dismantled in 1914, and the building was remodeled into an office structure.
The second Hodge Opera House fire occurred about one o'clock Saturday afternoon February 28, 1928. The temperature had been 3 degrees above zero the previous night and the weather continued windy with freezing temperatures on Saturday. The fire erupted in the boiler room of the Merchant's Gargling Oil Company building, which adjoined the opera house and was owned by Joseph Roturdo. It quickly spread to the Hodge Opera House and 24 hours later the entire block lay in ruins. Eleven million gallons of water were used in fighting the blaze. Edwin J. Coyle was Chief of the Lockport Fire Co. Volunteer fire companies from other towns assisted, including volunteer firemen from Wilson, Medina, Newfane, and N. Tonawanda. A pumper from Niagara Falls and two trucks from Buffalo also assisted at the scene. Ashes were found over a mile from the site of the fire. A newspaper article stated that it was fortunate that there was about 4 inches of snow on the roofs of the houses, preventing the houses from catching on fire. Many people who owned buildings in the area manned their own hoses to put out small fires that erupted on their property. Windows in the Lockport Light, Heat and Power Company building across the street were cracked and employees of the Light, Heat, and Power Company manned their own hoses and formed a bucket brigade.
The Way The Hodge History Ended In Lockport In 1928:
Many of the stores and businesses in the area kept their buildings open for the firemen to come in and warm themselves including the Light, Heat and Power Company building and the Kresge Store. The Salvation Army as well as many of the businesses in the area provided hot coffee & sandwiches for the firemen. Fire fighting continued all night into Sunday morning and the Lockport Light, Heat & Power Company connected searchlights on adjoining buildings to supplement the searchlights on the fire trucks. One searchlight was on the third floor of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank on Main and Locust. Another searchlight was located on the building across Market Street.
After the fire Richard Bewley began planning a new building. It was built by the Bewley-Truesdale Construction Company of Lockport. William Truesdale was President of Bewley-Truesdale Company, George Bewley was Treasurer and William Bewley was Vice President and secretary. The Bewley brothers also had a canning business and William Bewley was a Representative of the First District of Niagara County in the State Legislature. George Bewley was engaged in the Bewley Realty Company, which developed Bewley Pkwy & Carlisle Gardens.
The Bewley Building opened on March 9, 1929. The rear and west walls had been added onto the old foundation. The original stone walls and chimney of the former Hodge Opera House can be seen when viewed from the rear of the parking ramp. It is a fivestory building larger than the original four-story height of the former Hodge Building and has 200 individual offices on floors two through five with ten retail stores on the first level. Charles C. Bewley was owner and manager of the Bewley Building until his death in 1984.
Each office in the Bewley Building has sinks with hot and cold water and connecting doors from office to office to provide a suite of offices and each office views the Canal, Market Street or a lighted courtyard. There is a full basement with a walk area under the front sidewalks. In
1955, a self-operating elevator was installed, the first of its kind on the Niagara Frontier. A new marquee was added in the 1960's to replace the individual store awnings that were in various states of disrepair and a new granite facade was installed over the old stone. Also in the 1960's the building corridors were remodeled and lightened and in 1982 the original wooden double hung windows were replaced. In 1991 the marble walls and granite floor were installed in the lobby.
I realize they had boxing at the Hodge Opera House. The name would indicate band concerts, plays, high school graduations and lectures ' I suppose they had to generate enough money to pay the bills and according to the reports in the
Union-Sun, boxing brought in a big crowd.The big fight is scheduled for Wednesday night between Hugh McCann and Mike Donovan. Donovan is the speedy invincible middleweight from Rochester. It is expected that a large delegate of Rochester fans will accompany him. Hugh McCann is the Lockport fighter and has been training hard for this bout. The two met in Indianapolis earlier this year, and McCann was not satisfied with his performance and feels he will be much better this time.
McCann is training hard. Every morning with a half a billiard cue in his hand, he runs out Niagara Street and across the snow covered fields to the Mineral Springs and back to the city, carrying a gallon of mineral water which he says is healthful. He trains all day in the gym, and when the bell rings Wednesday night, he will be in the pink of condition.
Donovan is not an aggressive fighter and plays the waiting game. His hard body acts like steel armor to the blows of the average fighter. So far he hasn't been knocked out. McCann says he is going after him and make him fight. It should be a grand fight.
In the preliminaries "Kid" Fairburn is taking on Tommy Murphy, both local boys. Murphy moved to Lockport recently with a reputation as a brawler and a big ego. He says he can dispose of Fairburn easily. The other preliminary is between Jimmy Duffy and Tommy McCall. Duffy has been training with McCann and the fans will see a much improved fighter. Tickets are on sale at the Hodge Opera House box office, Staats, Lerch's Poolroom and Thurston's Poolroom. The previous week the World's Championship roller skating races were held at Thurston's Walton Skating Rink.
Well, the fight night is here, Wednesday February 16, 1910. Local ticket sales have been brisk, the trains and trolleys are bringing boxing fans to the Lockport depots. Main and Market are filling up with people walking to the Opera House. The program starts promptly at 8:15 PM so the Buffalo and Rochester folks can catch their trains home.
The first event is Johnny Cleary, the sweet voiced Buffalo newsboy, singing several songs. His singing was well received and the audience showed their appreciation by tossing silver coins onto the stage. There followed a wrestling match and then a barrel boxing exhibition by Mike Coogan and Fred Smith. This was side splitting and entertaining, until one of the barrels broke. The two boxers were blindfolded and continued for another two rounds. (if anyone knows what barrel boxing is, we would like to know about it.)
A third preliminary match was added at the last minute. A four round bout between two Lockport lightweights, Willis Mulligan and Carl Mc Donough. The crowd was pleased with their speed and aggressiveness.
Tommy Murphy and "Kid" Fairburn mixed it up for six rounds. Murphy was the favorite of the crowd because of his style and skill in ducking and jabbing, but Fairburn had the edge in weight and he prevailed.
Next was Lockport's Jimmy Duffy and Buffalo's Tommy McCall. They were pretty even in the first round but Duffy came out in the second round with a few lightning like upper cuts and put McCall flat on his back. Duffy was supposed to box "Kid" Irish, but the "Kid" didn't show up. ( I don't blame him, I wouldn't have showed up either.)
Now it was time for the main event, McCann vs. Donovan. Duffy was McCann's second, "Kid" Fredericks was Donovan's second. Paddy Galvin the Rochester referee gave the men their instructions and the bell rang. As expected Donovan held back with McCann being the aggressor. Part way through the first round McCann opened a cut over Donovan's left eye. In the second round Donovan was more aggressive and they were about even.
In the third round McCann let loose with a series of jabs and opened a cut over Donovan's right eye. After the bell rang, they went to their corners. Donovan sent his second "Kid" Fredericks over to McCann to see what he had in his glove. McCann shoved him away and Donovan came over and asked the same question, with more shoving. McCann left the ring and ran back stage pulling his left glove off, with Donovan and his followers right behind him.
McCann managed to get rid of whatever was in his glove and Donovan accused him of having a "pound of lead" in his glove. Donovan ran back to the ring and announced to the crowd that McCann had a "pound of lead" in his glove. McCann came into the ring and denied it.
From that point on the evening went downhill. The crowd started shouting and hollering that they wanted their money back and spilled over into the hallways and onto the stage. McCann ran upstairs to a room he had rented. Donovan, Johnny Cleary, (the singer,) the barrel boxers and the other performers followed. A Union-Sun reporter got McCann to admit that he had an aluminum strip over his knuckles, which he claimed was legal. Referee Paddy Galvin chimed in and said it was not legal and had he known it he wouldn't have let the fight go on. (Why didn't he look his gloves over before the fight?) Donovan was sticking to his "pound of lead" accusation.
Meanwhile, downstairs the crowd was getting out of hand, and Police Sergeant Raff and several patrolmen were summoned to restore order. The Buffalo and Rochester people were heading to the depots, but some of the locals were forming gangs and roaming around town.
It took several hours for the police to restore order. Back in the upstairs room in the Opera House Donovan and the other performers had given up on getting McCann to admit having lead in his gloves. They demanded payment for their night's work. McCann responded by saying he didn't have any money. This didn't help a bit. It was the wee hours of the morning before they came to a settlement. The Opera House managers came to the conclusion that if there was another fight night, McCann wouldn't be part of it.
Poor John Hodge. He sold all that Gargling Oil and built a cultural center for Lockport only to have it taken over by a lead gloved boxer and an unruly mob. John Hodge must have turned over in his grave that night.
The foregoing information was taken from several issues of the February 1910 Union-Sun. It was written by John "Kid" McHall who never had occasion to use boxing gloves, with or without lead.
By Clarence "Dutch" Adams
The Lockport Business Institute, B.S. Underhill principal, began in 1898 at 31 Hodge Opera House. It was taken over within a year by the Ryan family and classes were held at 33-34 Hodge Opera House. There were four Ryan sons and one daughter involved with the Lockport Business Institute - the sons were John Franklin, Edward Lawrence, Daniel Longfellow and George D.; the daughter was Marguerite B. Ryan.
The Ryan family lived in Nunda, Livingston County, NY, where the Ryan children were all
born and attended the Nunda public schools. The four brothers came to Lockport in 1898 and assumed the ownership of the Lockport Business Institute. They roomed first at 268 Genesee Street, the home of James Atwater; then when their sister, Marguerite, came the following year to teach shorthand at the Institute, they all roomed at 41 Locust Street.John Franklin Ryan went to high school in Nunda, then attended the Underhill Business Institute of Rochester. He came to Lockport when the family started the Lockport Business Institute, but moved to Buffalo and attended the University of Buffalo law school while still remaining involved with the Institute. He received his law degree from the University of Buffalo in 1912 and had law offices in the Ellicott Square Building. He moved to Perry, NY, in 1921 and continued his law practice there. John Franklin died March 14, 1957, in Perry.
Two of the Ryan family died very young. Daniel Longfellow died of tuberculosis August 2, 1903, at the age of 26. Marguerite, who taught shorthand at the Lockport Business Institute, died May 31, 1904 at age 24. George D. Ryan also left the Lockport Business Institute in 1903, although he still lived with his brothers in Lockport until 1905 when he moved to Hatts, NY.
In 1904 the institute was being run by only two of the brothers, J. Franklin and E. Lawrence, who had moved to 283 East Avenue, a house owned by J. Franklin. In 1906 the following advertisement appeared in the Lockport City Directory school during the past seven years has prepared 600 young men and women for office work and business. Many of those have gone to the highest and best paying positions to be had. The Underhill Shorthand, the best system to be had, is taught here. We furnish competent assistants to business men. Ryan Bros. Hodge Opera House. Bell phone 2203.
The Ryan Brothers continued to operate the Lockport Business Institute until 1915, although in 1910 J. Franklin Ryan was living in Buffalo where he had his law practice. E. Lawrence lived at 35 Chestnut Street in Lockport. In 1915 the Lockport Business Institute was located at 11-13 West Avenue and the proprietor was Edward L. Ryan. Lockport Business Institute ceased operation in 1919.