As settlers arrived on the Great Plains and towns began to spring up, music became an important source of entertainment. Neighbors living on isolated homesteads gathered for barn dances, and traveling musicians performed for contributions from the audience.
William Pitt's Brass Band was one of many groups that played concerts and accompanied dances. When instruments were scarce, music had to be improvised. One pioneer remembered, “We had no music, so I was called to make music for the dance, being a good whistler.”
Perhaps it is a little surprising that settlers also hungered for more refined forms of entertainment. As towns were established, one of the first orders of business was building an opera house. “Opera House” was a rather grand term for what was often a rudimentary structure. Sometimes the opera house occupied the second floor of a storefront or courthouse.
While the opera house served as a center for a variety of community events and entertainment, opera itself was the centerpiece. Settlers regarded opera as a symbol of culture and civilization. On this date in 1886, readers of the Wahpeton Times learned that the Andrews Opera Company would be in town to present “The Mikado” at Seely’s Opera House. The newspaper reported that the production would be “superior to anything we have yet had in this section of the country.”
The opera house was more than a gathering place. It symbolized a cultured society that emphasized genteel behavior. Programs presented there were intended to deliver uplifting moral messages and bring a taste of the civilized East to the Wild West.
Automobiles, population shifts, and motion pictures led to the decline of opera houses. By the 1920s, they had largely fallen out of favor. No true frontier opera houses were built in Plains towns after World War I, but North Dakota is fortunate to retain several original examples. A museum now occupies the old opera house building in Ray. The restored opera house in Maddock houses a restaurant, a coffee shop, and the library, along with space for community events on the second floor. The Ellendale Opera House has also been lovingly restored and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dakota datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Wahpeton Times. “The Mikado.” Wahpeton ND. 6/10/1886. Page 1.
- Heritage Gateway. “Life on the Trail.” https://heritage.uen.org/resources/Wc8b8ab5aebd77.shtmlAccessed 5/21/2026.
- The New Yorker. “Opera on the Plains.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/31/opera-on-the-plainsAccessed 5/21/2026.
- In the Company of Plants and Rocks. “Laramie’s Opera House: Culture on the Frontier.” https://plantsandrocks.blogspot.com/2020/05/laramies-opera-housesculture-on-frontier.htmlAccessed 5/21/2026.
- Ellendale Opera House. “History.” http://www.ellendaleoperahouse.com/content/blog/opera-house-historyAccessed 5/21/2026.
- Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. “Frontier Opera Houses.” https://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.mus.018.htmlAccessed 5/21/2026.
- My Dakotan. “Maddock Opera House City Show Piece.” https://mydakotan.com/2022/01/restoring-community-history/Accessed 5/21/2026.
- Ray, North Dakota. “Ray Opera House Museum.” https://www.raynd.com/community/ray_opera_house.phpAccessed 5/21/2026.
