The Camden Opera House Block is a historic multifunction building at 29 Elm Street in the center of

Camden, Maine Camden is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is ...

, United States. Built in 1893 after the town's great 1892 fire, it is one of the town's most prominent buildings. It houses town offices, a social meeting hall, and a 500-seat theater. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1986.

Description and history

The Camden Opera House Block is located near the southern end of Camden's downtown business district, opposite the town common on the southwest corner of Washington and Elm Streets, and within the Camden Great Fire Historic District. It is a rectangular brick three-story structure, with storefronts (now mostly occupied by town offices) on the ground floor, the theater and meeting spaces on the second floor, and a large social hall on the third floor. The exterior styling is Romanesque, with round-arch windows on the third floor of both street-facing facades, and the main entrance recessed in a round-arch opening on the Elm Street facade. On November 19, 1892, a fire swept through downtown Camden, destroying a large number of wood-frame commercial structures, including the town offices, numerous fraternal meeting facilities, and the town's opera house. The Opera House was one of the most prominent buildings constructed in the wake of the fire, designed by Lewiston architect Elmer I. Thomas and completed in 1893. The building was designed to house not just town offices and the theater, but meeting spaces for local business organizations and the local post office, as well as two retail storefronts. In 1932, the former post office space, facing Washington Street, was remodeled to serve as Camden town offices. This renovation, which included a new

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

facade, was designed by

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

architect E. Leander Higgins. Since that time, the town has expanded into other parts of the building. The theater is used for town meetings, local productions of all types, and is one of the host sites of the Camden International Film Festival. Camden Opera House Block 05

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External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures completed in 1893 Buildings and structures in Camden, Maine Town halls in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Knox County, Maine Historic district contributing properties in Maine Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine 1893 establishments in Maine

Description and history

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