Page 9 - Volumn 43-Number 03 07-13-20

A legacy of excitement about Antoinette Hall…

The Pulaski Citizen reported extensively on the Opera House in the 19th centu-
ry. Here are some excerpts from articles that capture the feeling of excitement
about the entertainment facility along with a glimpse of the circumstances under
which the Opera House was built.
“Pulaski, Tennessee, is to have one of the largest and most magnificent halls this
side of Cincinnati,” announced The Pulaski Citizen on June 26, 1868.

The opening of the opera house on December 25 of that same year began an
era in Giles County of unprecedented cultural and community growth.

Pulaski, like many towns with a population under 10,000, has a square that is built
around a central courthouse. In early 1868, the entire east side of this square
was destroyed by fire. Many plans were put forth for
rebuilding, but in June of 1868 Angenold Cox an-
nounced plans for a magnificent hall to be construct-
ed.

Cox contracted a Nashville architect, M. D. LeMoyne,
to render plans for his proposed building, the first to
be erected after the fire. The street level floor was to
house two merchants with an ornate performance
hall to be located in the second story.

The Pulaski Citizen printed the following description of
the proposed building.

“The next two houses are of the same dimensions 80 feet long by 21 feet wide
with a vault and bathroom in each and large airy cellar underneath, while two
stairways 7 feet 3 inches wide will lead to the mag-
nificent hall in the second story. We have seen a
drawing representing the interior of the hall, and we
feel no hesitancy in saying that in point of accessi-
bility and easy exit from, in point of convenience of
arrangement, elegance of finish, capacity, ventila-
tion and style of architecture, it will have no superi-
or this side of Cincinnati. The ceiling will be 34 feet
high, arched and frescoed in the most modern style,
while each end of the building will contain six large
windows, and on each end of the roof, three large
dormer windows and in the center of the roof a ven-
tilator. The hall will be 41 feet wide by 80 feet in the
clear, 20 feet of which will be occupied by a model
stage and private boxes. The floor at the rear will be elevated 4 feet to a level
with the stage and supplied with settees after the style of those in the Masonic
Hall in Nashville. Capable of seating 500 people exclusive of galleries, the whole
building will be fireproof, lit by gas and supplied with water from a large cistern in
the rear. Mr. Cox has already had applications from first-class theatre managers
for a five-year lease on the hall but has not made any disposition of it.” The idea
for Mr. Cox’s proposal hall came about because of an article published [in The
Pulaski Citizen] in 1867 entitled “Amusement Wanted.”
The first amusement performed in the hall was on Dec. 25, 1868, at which time
a local group, the Ben Johnson Club, with a choice selection of players and a
splendid cast of characters, dedicated the new magnificent building. The news-
paper observed that “this is perhaps the finest and most tastily arranged theatre
in the South as the enterprising proprietor has lavished money and time in its
structure and has adorned it with all the beauties and improvements of the age.”

Summer 2020 INLEAGUE | PAGE 8