Twin City Opera House

Overview

The Twin City Opera House has proved to be one of the most haunted locations in the State of Ohio and in fact, the United States. Teams from all over the Country have investigated it and have seen the activity first hand. The Opera House has appeared on A&E BIO Channel's MY GHOST STORY CAUGHT ON CAMERA, NBC NEWS, SyFy Chiller Channels SPOOKED TE REALITY SERIES by the Booth Brothers and Keith Age. The Twin City Opera House is the "Real Deal".... 14 known Spirits and 1 evil entity call the Opera House their home.

Do you Believe?

History

In order to understand the history of an entity as important as the Opera House, we should understand the culture in which was it was created. The doors of the Opera House Theater opened to the public in 1892, but the building really had its beginnings several years earlier.

In the mid-1800s Morgan County was flourishing. By 1850 the population had grown to nearly 30,000. (Today it is less than 15,000.) Present day ghost towns like Santoy and Rosseau still bustled with activity. Several railroad lines crisscrossed the county. River boats moved freight, commodities, and people along the Muskingum. Showboats made regular visits to the banks of the river. McConnelsville was a vibrant county seat, and along with neighboring Malta, housed dozens of flourishing businesses. Mills, factories, hotels, restaurants, and retailers of every description provided ready employment and the chance for an urbane lifestyle. Morgan County had a desire for leisure pursuits, and for more cultured forms of entertainment.

By the end of the 1880s, a majority of the McConnelsville council thought the town needed a more suitable place to house the village government. So a controversial and protracted process of building a new town hall began. It was a politically charged issue that was reported through the filters of the two partisan newspapers – The Morgan County Democrat and The McConnelsville Herald. The first disagreement centered on the make up of the building committee. The democratic majority of the town council demanded that the committee be comprised of democrat business leaders from the community. The mayor and the remainder of the republican minority council members were opposed to building the town hall and opera house. For nearly a year, the council was in a stalemate. Neither side could garner the majority votes required to ratify the building committee. In October 1889, the democratic majority exploited an opportunity to move the project forward. The council’s democrat president, acting for the mayor in his absence, called for a vote. Without the mayor’s vote, the tie was broken, and the committee was approved. A month later, the Morgan County courts upheld the legality of the appointments.

The building committee for the town hall and opera house was composed of George Donahue, Worly Adams, and W. C. Conklin. A second issue that had to be resolved was the securing of a suitable location for a structure as significant as the town hall for the county seat. As it happened an ideal spot was available. It was in the very heart of McConnelsville, in what the newspapers called the “burned district.” (Editor’s note: The story has persisted since at least the 1960s that the Opera House is built on the foundation of the Brewster or Brewester Hotel. The first reference we can find to the Brewster Hotel is in a pamphlet history of the theater, probably printed in the mid 1960s. The author provided no citations or references to the source the information. An exhaustive search of real estate records reveals no such entry. No references to a Brewster Hotel are found in any county business almanacs or atlases. No account of a fire in a Brewster Hotel can be found in any of the newspapers. Even though photographs or engravings depicting all of the other three corners of the square exist, none of the northwest corner has been located. Strangely, very little information exists about what occupied this prominent spot.) In 1889, the town council initiated a series of transactions through which they ultimately acquired lots 31 and 32 on the northwest corner of the public square. They immediately recommended proceedings to condemn enough the “burned district” to construct a town hall. The property was purchased for $4000. In reporting on the story, the republican editor of the McConnelsville Herald declared that the property was only worth half that amount.

The council employed H. C. Lindsay, an architect from Zanesville to prepare plans for the New Town Hall and Opera House. The building was to be three stories high, and cost about $16,000. The Town Hall would have a tower that would rise 108 feet above the sidewalks of McConnelsville. The third floor would feature a grand ballroom running the complete 63-foot width of the building. Ground was broken for the project on Monday, October 20, 1889. Some of Mr. Lindsay’s design principles were considered quite revolutionary. The Opera House’s ground floor auditorium was uncommon in the late 1800s, and it is one of the last remaining theaters of its period with that feature. The stage floor is “raked” or sloped by 3°, to allow the audience’s front rows to see the performers’ feet. The auditorium’s central “echo dome” contributes to the theater’s nearly perfect acoustics. Lines spoken from the rear of the stage can be heard perfectly throughout the room. The second floor would house the offices for the town government. The original plans for the Opera House tower included a clock. But as the project began to run over budget, that plan had to be abandoned. And for one last time, partisan politics entered the project. The town council had requested funding from the state legislature to complete the town hall. According to newspaper accounts, a republican contingent rushed to the statehouse and convinced the assembly that the democrat council was squandering money on the building. No more funds were approved for the McConnelsville Town Hall, and no clock was ever installed. Nearly two and one half years after ground was broken, the Town Hall and Opera House were completed. Because it had been such a politically charged issue, the republican editor of the McConnelsville Herald commented one last time on the project upon its completion. He stated that “the owl” would be keeping an eye on the democrat council. Before the GOP adopted the elephant as its symbol in the twentieth century, the party had sometimes used the owl as its mascot. That owl still adorns the keystone in the archway over the Opera House doors.

The formal opening was held Saturday, May 28, 1892. The opening was to be a grand affair. The program for the evening was the Arion Opera Company’s performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” The cast, crew and orchestra numbered nearly one hundred. All of the eight hundred seats that were then available in the auditorium were sold. Railway excursions had been arranged from neighboring towns to bring the cultured and the curious. Many of the ticket holders were not so much patrons of the opera, but curiosity seekers eager to see what the newspapers described as the “light of the day.” The Opera House was the first building in the county to be lit by the electric light. And so its grand opening was to be even more significant and spectacular. But fate held an ironic twist. The local generating plant failed. The theater was plunged into darkness, and it took a great deal of last minute effort to secure enough lamps to illuminate the hall. Before that was accomplished however, many visitors had turned and headed back to their homes. So, the opening was not as grand as hoped. The newspapers reported that although the crowd was small, they were treated to a spectacular performance. Since the electricity was deemed unreliable, it was decided to go back and complete the installation of the gas and oil fixtures, which had been called for in the original plans. Gas footlights were installed on the stage. A gas chandelier was hung in the dome, and could be lit through small ports that were cut into the dome’s perimeter.

The formal opening was held Saturday, May 28, 1892. The opening was to be a grand affair. The program for the evening was the Arion Opera Company’s performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” The cast, crew and orchestra numbered nearly one hundred. All of the eight hundred seats that were then available in the auditorium were sold. Railway excursions had been arranged from neighboring towns to bring the cultured and the curious. Many of the ticket holders were not so much patrons of the opera, but curiosity seekers eager to see what the newspapers described as the “light of the day.” The Opera House was the first building in the county to be lit by the electric light. And so its grand opening was to be even more significant and spectacular. But fate held an ironic twist. The local generating plant failed. The theater was plunged into darkness, and it took a great deal of last minute effort to secure enough lamps to illuminate the hall. Before that was accomplished however, many visitors had turned and headed back to their homes. So, the opening was not as grand as hoped. The newspapers reported that although the crowd was small, they were treated to a spectacular performance. Since the electricity was deemed unreliable, it was decided to go back and complete the installation of the gas and oil fixtures, which had been called for in the original plans. Gas footlights were installed on the stage. A gas chandelier was hung in the dome, and could be lit through small ports that were cut into the dome’s perimeter.

The formal opening was held Saturday, May 28, 1892. The opening was to be a grand affair. The program for the evening was the Arion Opera Company’s performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” The cast, crew and orchestra numbered nearly one hundred. All of the eight hundred seats that were then available in the auditorium were sold. Railway excursions had been arranged from neighboring towns to bring the cultured and the curious. Many of the ticket holders were not so much patrons of the opera, but curiosity seekers eager to see what the newspapers described as the “light of the day.” The Opera House was the first building in the county to be lit by the electric light. And so its grand opening was to be even more significant and spectacular. But fate held an ironic twist. The local generating plant failed. The theater was plunged into darkness, and it took a great deal of last minute effort to secure enough lamps to illuminate the hall. Before that was accomplished however, many visitors had turned and headed back to their homes. So, the opening was not as grand as hoped. The newspapers reported that although the crowd was small, they were treated to a spectacular performance. Since the electricity was deemed unreliable, it was decided to go back and complete the installation of the gas and oil fixtures, which had been called for in the original plans. Gas footlights were installed on the stage. A gas chandelier was hung in the dome, and could be lit through small ports that were cut into the dome’s perimeter.

The formal opening was held Saturday, May 28, 1892. The opening was to be a grand affair. The program for the evening was the Arion Opera Company’s performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” The cast, crew and orchestra numbered nearly one hundred. All of the eight hundred seats that were then available in the auditorium were sold. Railway excursions had been arranged from neighboring towns to bring the cultured and the curious. Many of the ticket holders were not so much patrons of the opera, but curiosity seekers eager to see what the newspapers described as the “light of the day.” The Opera House was the first building in the county to be lit by the electric light. And so its grand opening was to be even more significant and spectacular. But fate held an ironic twist. The local generating plant failed. The theater was plunged into darkness, and it took a great deal of last minute effort to secure enough lamps to illuminate the hall. Before that was accomplished however, many visitors had turned and headed back to their homes. So, the opening was not as grand as hoped. The newspapers reported that although the crowd was small, they were treated to a spectacular performance. Since the electricity was deemed unreliable, it was decided to go back and complete the installation of the gas and oil fixtures, which had been called for in the original plans. Gas footlights were installed on the stage. A gas chandelier was hung in the dome, and could be lit through small ports that were cut into the dome’s perimeter.

Paranormal Claims

Having investigated the Opera House over 100 times and collecting the stories of the dozens and dozens of paranormal teams who have also investigated there has given us the opportunity to put many pieces of a giant puzzle together. Serious paranormal investigations have been going at the Opera House since 2007. One of my favorite stories that we were able to put together is one about "Red-Wine Robert Lowery", "Elizabeth" and "Victoria". With EVP's, countless hours of investigating and the help of the Spirits, I will share a sad story we have come to know. Victoria a performer at the Opera House whose residence was believed to have been in West Virginia had a 10 year old little girl by the name of Elizabeth. Robert Lowery a stage hand at the Opera House was an unhappily married man. Robert and Victoria sparked a romance with each other and little Elizabeth was the result of this romance. Elizabeth would watch her mother perform at the Opera House from the catwalk with her father Robert.

Victoria was in McConnelsville one weekend to perform and had to leave Elizabeth at the Kennebec Hotel as she was sick and running a very high fever. Elizabeth went and performed at the Opera House which is just across the road from the Hotel. When Victoria returned to the Hotel after the show and she found Elizabeth's lifeless body in the bed. Her fever became to high and she passed away.

We have captured an EVP from Victoria saying that she was so sorry and she didn't mean to. We believe she is crying out in an apology to Elizabeth saying she didn't mean to leave her alone to die. We have captured and EVP from Elizabeth saying "I Forgive", whch we believe she is forgiving her mother for leaving her alone. After numerous times assuring Victoria that is was not her fault that Elizabeth died we later captured another EVP from Victoria saying "I'm OK now, really". Since this time we have been picking up more and more conversations with Victoria and Elizabeth. Robert continues to be the most active Spirit in the Opera House. He was nicknamed "Red-Wine Robert" after capturing an EVP from him saying "I've got Red Wine" back in 2009. Robert continues to romance woman who show up to meet him. He says that he prefers Red Headed woman with big busts. He has stated that Victoria met this physical description, however his wife did not.

Eric Glosser

There is no place quite like the Twin City Opera House in my opinion, I certainly haven't been anywhere else with as much variety of paranormal activity or anywhere I enjoyed investigating more. I have investigated the opera house over a dozen times now and you know what, I cant wait to go there again and try setting the cameras differently and changing up where the audio digitals are going based on what I have learned there from previous investigations or trying out new theories or techniques.

I also cant wait to try talking to and communicating with the spirits that are there. We have identified two distinct spirits that are very active up in the catwalk area above the stage, Elizabeth and ten year old girl who has given us her name and age thru EVPs and disembodied voices, whispering her age into a couple investigators ears and often heard giggling up in the catwalk, she even occasionally has been sighted peaking over the rail looking down on the stage. Then there is Robert who’s first EVP to us said "I've got red wine" and who may have been a stage hand or actor at the Twin City Opera House, he is particularly mischievous and often interacts with pretty woman guests and investigators thru EMF and EVP sessions and has even touched a few of them when encouraged.

Footsteps and odd cold spells are other phenomena that often occur in the catwalk and many times you can actually ask the spirits to cool the catwalk area down and watch your thermometer drop as you encourage them. Then there is a white lady who has been seen by many different people walking across the stage and up the catwalk stairs. Numerous times cameras and equipment has been moved, shut off or otherwise manipulated to thwart investigators catching evidence of her passage. Recently multiple sightings of an apparition darting up the left hand stairs to the stage and around the corner near the top of the basement steps have also been reported and the shadow activity in the basement has to be seen to be believed at times. A black mass has been photographed and caught simultaneously on two IR cameras down in the deepest part of the basement near the old closed off tunnel system that used to link the opera house basement to multiple locations about town. Loud growling is also been heard and at least two sightings of shadow men have happened to our own investigators while the lights were on and setting up and tearing down cameras was in progress.

EVP sessions with long question and answer sessions and EVPs later backing up yes and no questions have been a staple in the basement at times in our earliest investigations. Almost all areas of the opera house have yielded EVPs including the basement, catwalk, auditorium, concession stand, projection booth and ballroom. Loud running footsteps have repeatedly been heard coming down from the balcony as well as walking across other sections of the second floor. Music, singing, piano notes and other old time jingles have been heard in the opera house by many different people coming from no where. The upper two floors of the opera house have been unavailable for investigation up until recently but even there the ballroom and clock tower have produced EVPs and moving cold spots as well as strange noises coming from no apparent source in the ballrooms corners.

Ghost sightings and paranormal activity at the opera house has been reported as far back as the 60's when the ghost of Everett Miller an Usher there for 30 years was seen by 18 youths in the auditorium. Custodians and other employees have sometimes quit over personal experiences in the opera house and even today many of them are reluctant to go into certain areas of the opera house by themselves. One previous owner of the opera house, who lived there for a couple years actually ran out of the building after his encounter with the Lady in White on the stage, leaving the doors wide open to the night.

Several investigations of the Opera House by the Central Ohio Ghost Squad has yielded all sorts of evidence of paranormal activity including many personal experiences and even video footage of the black mass in the basement blacking out one of the still IR cameras while being recorded by a second camera across the basement. 300 startling EVPs have been discovered on audio digital recorders in a variety of locations at the opera house as well as having disembodied voices being heard by investigators and caught on camcorders and recorders, odd lights occasionally light up the stage while a little girls giggling can be heard in the catwalk. Cold spots have waltzed right thru myself and other investigators in the ballroom as well as small snippets of old time jingles and piano music being recorded where there is no music.

Several people have reported seeing shadows move in the basement including two instances of shadow men walking right past investigators while the lights were on and setup or teardown of the cameras was in progress. Loud footsteps coming across the 2nd floor balcony and occasionally coming down the balcony stairs have been heard many times around three or four in the morning while everyone is outside getting ready to lock the doors at the end of another investigation there. In short it is the most haunted place I have experienced for myself and I am always eager to experience it again as well as share it with others who have the same curiosity about things going bump in the night as I do.

Marty Myers

On January 23rd, 2010 a paranormal group from Cleveland (Shadow Seekers) had an investigation at the Opera House that left them in total awe. A camera was smacked out of an investigators hand in the basement causing it to break when it hit the ground and at the same exact time their camcorder went dead. They also captured a photograph of the notorious Black Mass in the basement. In the catwalk they set up a table with candy for Elizabeth and a glass of Red Wine for Robert. One of their members, veteran police officer from Cleveland cleaned the glass free of any fingerprints and sprinkled powder on the table all around the candy for Elizabeth. When they later returned to the catwalk they were astonished, there were a child’s fingerprints in the powder. They were even more astonished when they seen an adult sized fingerprint on the wine glass. There was absolutely no one in the catwalk between the times when these trigger devices were set up and when they went back to check on them. The catwalk also produced an overwhelming amount of EMF sessions. The K2 meters responding to questions, pegging into the red lights. An investigator had her pant leg pulled on and a second time on command, which also videoed.

The balcony of the auditorium was also very active. Investigators were having EMF Meters that were going crazy, which is very odd for the balcony area. An Investigator was seated when he felt a severe chill come over his arm and at that very moment the seat beside him slowly went down as if someone was setting down beside him, but there was nobody there. It also appeared as Everett Miller the long time Usher of the Opera House was working overtime on this evening. Investigators felt as if someone was following them around the auditorium, up the steps to the balcony and in the balcony. They would get sudden cold spots then verified by substantial EMF readings.

Prior to their investigation, 4 COGS members were watching a preview of their new movie premiere in the auditorium, but no one was back there at all. A few minutes after that incident another Investigator had a severe cold chill go through his left arm for a very brief moment. Approximately 15 minutes after the second incident a third Investigator went to the projection room to have the volume adjusted for the movie. When he left the booth and entered the balcony he noticed an apparition of a man setting right next to him in one of the seats. When he turned to get a better look it was gone. He then looked over at the end of that isle and seen another apparition setting there for a brief moment and it suddenly vanished too.

At the end of the Shadow Seekers investigation when two Investigators were locking and closing up the building they observed a large white ball of light go across the movie screen and then dissipate. They decided to set there for a few more minutes and the stage became brighter once again. To close, this was a very active evening for even “The Most Haunted Location in Ohio, The Twin City Opera House”. “The Phantoms of the Twin City Opera House”. Just a few minutes into the preview a COGS Investigator noticed the curtain to the left of the movie screen being pulled back in the corner as if someone was peeking out into the auditorium.

Eric Glosser

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