Lodi Opera House

The Lodi Historical Society reports the Lodi Opera house opened on January 26, 1905, and began showing movies on July 10, 1908, and installed a Motiograph projector on August 11, 1908. Sanborn Maps 1916 show it as the Van Buskirk Opera House, which was owned by Charles Van Buskirk. “Van Buskirk was a man of high morals who felt that liquor, tobacco and dancing were sinful. The saloons in Lodi appalled him and the Opera House was his way of offering an alternative”.

Constructed by local builders, Ed and Fred Cary in an Italian Renaissance Revival style, the building had a ground floor for retail business space and a basement. The second story was equipped with the stage, balcony and seating for 900 on a slowly sloping floor. It’s $32,000 cost in 1905 would be the equivalent of over a million and a half dollars in 2025.

The Lodi Opera House closed in 1914 and in 1919 Newfield and Sons Merchandise occupied the building until 1988 when Thornton House Furniture moved into the building. The building still remains and on June 1, 2019, the Historical Society held a ceremony placing a bronze plaque near the front door of the building.

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