Gilroy’s
Old Music Hall
Written By Elizabeth Barratt
L
ocated near the southeast corner
of Fifth and Eigleberry Streets, the
Music Hall was once part of the
center of town, occupying an ideal position
across from the one-time city offices, jail
and the Vigilant Fire Engine Company.
Even after 1905, when municipal services
moved to the new City Hall at Sixth and
Monterey Streets, the Music Hall, later
renamed the Opera House, lasted another
two decades.
For over a half-century, the site hosted
concerts, vaudeville shows, educational
presentations, speeches, school graduations
and political rallies.
The first known public function at
the Music Hall was a Christmas Ball held
in 1874, not long after the building was
completed. With removable seating, the
interior provided space for numerous large
community events. As Memorial Day and
July Fourth observances drew to a close,
it was the spot where citizens gathered for
patriotic literary exercises, as a wrap-up
to the day’s outdoor parade and picnic
festivities.
With a 750-seat capacity, the Music
Hall was a draw for touring groups. A
typical announcement of the era appeared
in the Gilroy Advocate in November 1899.
It proclaimed, “At the Music Hall Monday
Night, Gorton’s Famous Minstrels of
New Orleans will perform new acts and
laughable oddities, along with a main
72
street parade scheduled for noon and a
grand finale concert. Prices: 35 cents, 50
cents and children 25 cents.” Speakers on
cross-country lecture circuits featured such
diverse presentations as a 60-member cast
performing “Grand Fairy Speciale and
Melodrama” in 1883, and in 1892, a mind-
reading presentation by Alexander J. McIvor
Tyndall. Successful tours sometimes stayed
on for three-night performances.
Built on the site of a burned-out livery
stable in 1873-74 just a few years after
Gilroy’s incorporation, the Music Hall
endured as a place of public gatherings
until the 1920s. Portions of the old red-
wood structure were later incorporated into
Gilroy’s first American Legion Building and
National Guard Armory.
Over the years, not all the Music Hall
shows received enthusiastic attendance. A
February 1900 article in the Gilroy Advocate
observed the dreary performance of a well-
attended minstrel show, “There are 8 or
9 women, 4 men and a small boy in the
company. No musicians among them. The
company appeared to be more interested in
the merry mood of the audience than with
their own performance. The voices of the
company were strained and harsh. The men
mumbled and were not understood.”
Political rallies met at the hall, as did
large assemblies held to air public issues. In
1903 eight teachers of the Gilroy Grammar
School brought a complaint before the
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
MAY/JUNE 2016
Board of Trustees against the principal,
Mr. Denton. Calling him a harsh task-
master, the women protested against his
labeling of them as “hussies and sluts.”
Infuriated Gilroyans met at the Music Hall
to demand Denton’s resignation.
The Music Hall was the scene of
graduation ceremonies and other school
events. Bands and youth orchestras per-
formed in concerts, such as one held in
March 1901 to commemorate the opening
of the coastal railroad route connecting San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
On December 9, 1905, Mr. Frederick
MacMurray entertained audiences with
a violin concert. The son of the local
Presbyterian minister, he was the father of
future film and television personality, Fred
MacMurray.
The town’s first films were shown at
the Music Hall in 1905, by then upgraded
sufficiently to be renamed the Opera
House. Moving pictures were shown every
two weeks.
The Opera House continued to draw
audiences until the end of 1921, when
the Strand Theater opened on Monterey
Street. Besides offering the latest in cinema,
the movie house had modern dressing
rooms and a full capacity stage for live
performances, making it Gilroy’s new,
popular entertainment spot.
The Opera House building stood silent
until 1926, when the local American
gmhtoday.com