Garth Hall, the Haden Opera House and Ann Hawkins Gentry

Written By Matt Fetterly

On January 18, 1884, an elaborate opera house opened at the northeast corner of 9th and Broadway. Called Haden’s Opera House after its owner Joel H. Haden; it was on the second and third stories of an ornate three story building. The building was constructed around 1878 and had been known as Garth Hall. Haden remodeled the building to seat 1,246 with two balconies and four private boxes. Although the Haden Opera House lasted for less than twenty years, burning in a fire in 1901, it was the center of social life for Columbia. It hosted traveling actors, minstrel shows, lectures, and local musicians. It also showed the first movie in Columbia in 1897. It was in the Haden that the people of Columbia, along with students and faculty, gathered the morning after the Great Fire of 1892 that destroyed Academic Hall on the University of Missouri campus (See prior blog entry.) The meeting was held on Sunday, January 10, all church services were canceled as all the ministers were at the Opera House. Rousing speeches were given by University President Richard Jesse, Missouri Governor David R. Francis, and others. Students were urged to not abandon their studies and with only one or two exceptions all 584 students stayed enrolled. An announcement was made “that all the churches, halls and other public buildings in Columbia had been thrown open for the use of the University, and that work would go on uninterrupted.” This included the Haden Opera House and classes began again on Tuesday. “All classes were provided for, and not a recitation was missed.”

Before Joel H. Haden bought the building it was known as Garth Hall. It was constructed around 1878 and played host to similar social events, minstrel shows, and other theater shows. In 1880 Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins came to play a concert in Columbia. Wiggins was a piano player who was born a slave and known for his ability to play anything he heard. Famous in his day, he was blind and likely autistic. A feature of his concerts was to challenge the audience to play something that Blind Tom had never heard, which he would then reproduce perfectly. At the Columbia concert Wiggins’ manager challenged anyone in the audience to reproduce the tunes. A sixteen year old Blind Boone stepped forward. Boone, who had just started performing publicly, would succeed where many others had failed and repeated Blind Tom’s music note-for-note. This legendary duel between Blind Tom and Blind Boone was the most famous concert ever held in Garth Hall, and it kick started Blind Boone’s long career. Unlike Tom, Boone would become wealthy and maintain control over what he did and where he went. Boone and his manger John Lang Jr. became early black philanthropists in Columbia (see prior blog entry.)

Before Garth Hall was built around 1876, the corner was the location of an important two story brick house and business. Constructed before 1836, it was bought by Ann Hawkins Gentry in the 1850s. She operated Columbia’s post office in the front half and Gentry’s Tavern in the back half. She was the second women appointed postmaster in the United States and one of Columbia’s leading pioneers. The Gentry cabin was the first cabin in Smithton, and her husband Richard Gentry was Columbia’s first mayor and postmaster. When her husband died in 1837 she inherited both the Gentry tavern and postmaster position, which she eventually moved to 9th and Broadway. She was very likely Columbia’s first woman business owner and Gentry Middle School is named after her.

It is difficult to find a more historic plot of land than the northeast corner of 9th and Broadway. First it was one of Columbia's early brick homes, constructed before 1836. Second that house was turned to Columbia’s post office and tavern by Ann Hawkins Gentry. Third, Garth Hall was constructed and hosted the famous duel. Fourth, the building was remodeled by Joel. H Haden into the Haden Opera House and it held classes of the University of Missouri after the Great Fire of 1892. When the Opera House burned in 1901, a new three story Haden Building was constructed and rented to business and boarders. This Haden Building burned in yet another fire in 1921. After the fire the Boone County Trust Company erected a two-story white terracotta building that “utilizes beaux-arts architecture and classical revival elements, like…Corinthian pilasters.” This building was purchased by Commerce Bank Company in 2006 and still stands in 2023; it is still called the Haden Building. The Haden Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property to the Downtown Columbia National Historic District. Below are pictures of every building known to stand at the corner, beginning with the Gentry Tavern.

The Gentry Tavern and Post Office (with the chimneys) sometime before 1876

From the State Historical Society of Missouri

The Haden Opera House circa 1895

From the Columbia Herald 25th Anniversary Edition in the private collection of Matthew Fetterly

The Haden Opera House after the 1901 Fire

From the State Historical Society of Missouri

The present Haden Building, home of Commerce Bank

Taken by Matt Fetterly on January 17, 2023

Inspired by the preservation of historic buildings, our group, CoMo Preservation, hopes to help homeowners, landlords, and institutions prevent the destruction of historic architecture. Original period styles might be replicated, but will forever lack the social history of authentic structures. The preservation of historic buildings is necessary for Columbia’s residents, students, and visitors to achieve a sense of place and, it follows, for our city’s continued economic success. If you want to join us in our mission sign up for our mailing list to receive news and updates.

Sources

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Matt Fetterly

Matt was born in Columbia, Missouri and is an 8th generation Boone Countian. He is an alumni of Hickman High School and the University of Missouri. Since 2011 he has worked for Shakespeares Pizza, as a truck driver and distribution manager, visiting and selling locally produced frozen pizza in all 115 Missouri counties, as well as Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska. He is also a professional percussionist, working at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre since 2012, and has performed with the Maples Repertory Theatre, Central Methodist Theater, University of Missouri Theater, Columbia Entertainment Company, Talking Horse Productions, Maplewood Barn Theater, Columbia Community Band, Columbia Jazz Orchestra, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Columbia Chorale, The Tipper Gores, Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and the 9th Street Philharmonic. A lifelong love of Columbia inspired him to preserve a growing collection of over 170 books about Columbia and Boone County. A related project is preserving and cataloguing books and ephemera manufactured by the E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, once Columbia’s largest business. He specializes in local natural history, black history, indigenous history, lgbtq+ history, and cultural history more generally (particularly architecture, music, art, theater, and cemeteries). When not playing music or writing about local history, he enjoys hiking, caving, camping, and floating, in the forest and prairies of Mid-Missouri.

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